Standards in focus: principals often find it difficult to explain to parents all the components of standards-based reform. Focus-group research shows how school leaders can provide clarity and make parents our partners in reform

With the creation of a statewide testing and school accountability system in 1999, California policymakers rapidly made terms like "percentile rank," "Academic Performance Index" and "growth targets" familiar to public school parents and staffs. Less clear, however, was the philosophy of high universal expectations and state-determined academic standards that from the foundation upon which state testing and accountability are supposed to be built.

In its new video project, EdSource provides an overview that explains to parents all the components of standards-based reform and how they fit together.

The project began with focus groups of potential users and audiences for the video. EdSource held 10 groups to discover what parents understood about standards-based reform and how principals saw the communication challenges. Because the video--"California's Commitment: Raising Academic Standards for All Students"--is translated into Spanish, a particular effort was made to understand the communication needs of Spanish-speaking parents.

EdSource found that parents were often unaware, confused or mistaken about many aspects of the reform effort. Principals brought into clear focus the challenges they face trying to explain their efforts to improve student achievement and obtain community support. The insights we gained were used to shape the video's content and approach, right down to the use of teachers as key spokespeople in the video.

Along with a better understanding of the confusion that persists among parents related to standards-based reforms, EdSource also gained some valuable ideas about how to provide some clarity. Those lessons could be of value to school administrators as they work to make sure parents, community leaders and new staff members see beyond test scores to the larger goals and challenges involved in helping all students achieve more.

What is a standard, anyway?

A number of the parents in the focus groups expressed confusion about the term "standard" and its relevance in evaluating students. Some interpreted the standard as the minimum level of performance--a bar a student must climb over--rather than the skills and knowledge a pupil should acquire. There was no sense of "mastery" of a subject. Others equated standards with eligibility for college. Spanish-speaking parents said they often "don't know what they don't know."

One middle school principal chastised himself and other principals: "We have done a really lousy job of bringing parents up to speed because we are talking beyond them. Parents don't understand unless they are very educated and have really researched what the standards mean."

Pam Brady, vice president for leadership for the California Stare PTA and an outreach consultant for EdSource, agreed: "I'm finding parents are confused by the terminology and don't understand what it all means and what their role is."

The EdSource video offers this description: "The academic content standards are learning objectives that make clear what all students at all schools should know and be able to do at each grade level." Educators need to provide clear, concrete examples of need to provide clear, concrete examples of the standards, giving parents and community members a sense of what students are expected to learn. The explanation needs to include how the standard is translated into classroom instruction and what students' work will look like when they have attained mastery.

Communicating the specifics

Parents don't necessarily need to have all the standards explained if they understand the concept, are aware of key benchmarks, and know how the knowledge builds from grade to grade. In general, specific examples appear to be more effective than an overall summary. And presenting those specifics over time in "manageable bites" works best, said Sylvia Soholt of KSA Communications, who facilitated EdSource's focus groups and served as a consultant on the video. "Parents are really interested in materials that help them learn what their children are supposed to know," she said. "They want that information in a format that's manageable, and they want to get it often."

By concentrating on a few examples, educators also avoid another concern raised by principals: Some standards are very clear, they said, while others are quite vague.

Many districts--particularly at the elementary level--are using standards-based report cards as a way to begin this conversation with parents. Principals are also educating parents at "back-to-school nights." In the overall meeting, the principal defines the concept and then classroom teachers discuss how the standards will be implemented in their class that year--what Johnny will be expected to be able to do by the end of the school year and how the teacher intends to help Johnny achieve subject mastery.

However, not all principals or teachers are able to explain the standards succinctly. One parent noted that at her school she doesn't "find the correlation between 'this is what we're planning on doing this year and this is how it fits into the standards.'" Recognizing this is often an issue, EdSource hopes the video may also serve as a professional development tool for school staff members who need to improve parent communications.