Partners at Lake Washington - PALS, or Partners at Lake Washington Schools program that involves corporate employees in public school curricula

Business Horizons, Sept-Oct, 1993 by Ron Barnes, Karen Bates

Every Wednesday afternoon, Gary, an IBM manager, walks into an alternative high school in Kirkland, Washington. He works individually with a number of students, listening to them struggle with their math problems. Instead of jumping to solve the problems for them, he coaches and guides the students in finding the answers on their own. An integral part of the classroom, Gary works closely with both the students and the teacher to ensure that the students are successful. One young woman whom Gary is helping, adorned with purple hair and a black leather jacket, recently commented, "Even though he looks straight, he's an OK guy."

At an elementary school several miles away, Craig, a GTE supervisor, is surrounded by a dozen small bodies as he walks into the classroom. "Mr. Ortloff! Mr. Ortloff is here!" they shout as they yank on his tie and trousers with paint-smeared hands. Later, as the teacher assigns students to small reading groups, a second-grade boy pumps his fist and exclaims "Yeah!" when he is called to work with Mr. Ortloff.

These business people are part of a program at Lake Washington School District called Partners at Lake Washington Schools, or PALS. They are among 75 employees released by their companies between two and four hours each week to work with students in the classroom. Four major corporations in the Seattle area-Boeing Computer Services, IBM, GTE, and McCaw Cellular Communications - are participating in PALS. Employees, referred to as partners, work under a teacher's guidance to improve students' academic achievement and help them gain a broader understanding of the relationship between school and business. They can choose one of the district's 37 schools in which to work, or they may request to participate in their own children's schools or classrooms.

The use of the word "partner" rather than "volunteer" is an important distinction. Every employee who participates in PALS is part of a company that has made a commitment to work with Lake Washington schools in creating and implementing processes of human resource exchange that will benefit students, teachers, and businesses alike. The district works with designated coordinators at each firm to design, implement, coordinate, and evaluate the district-business partnership efforts.

Partners and teachers decide as a team how the partners can best use their skills in working with students. These individual partnerships take many forms. Four partners are working with the faculty of a high school math department. They assist students with algebra and calculus and demonstrate how these principles are used in the "real world." in a student survey completed at the end of the 1991-92 school year, just four months into the program, 67 percent of secondary students said they had improved their academic performance as a result of working with a partner. One teacher reports, "He [the partner] can get students to zero in on their algebra in instances where they are otherwise not motivated."

Besides working with small groups and individual students, partners at many elementary schools are also teaching. An employee of Boeing Computer Services is teaching computer programming to teachers and students using LOGO, a software program purchased by the school for his use. At another building, an IBM marketing representative teaches a computer class during lunch and recess. Last year he averaged 20 students in each weekly session. Others work as a team with teachers in the lab, teaching third-graders word-processing skills. A corporate manager who is also a musician works with a school's music teacher, sharing his expertise in planning and management to better organize each class to meet the learning objectives. This team was also awarded a restructuring grant by the school district to test the effectiveness of teaching music with computers. Their experimental results showed that accelerated and more in-depth learning took place with the computer-aided instruction - results that will affect the district's entire music program.

PALS has also produced benefits for participating employees and their organizations. This is a critical piece of the partnership concept. Evaluation results show that more than half of the participating partners feel happier after they return to work. More than three-quarters feel they have contributed to improving the education system. During an emotional testimonial at a partnership recognition event, one participant said that without PALS and his firm's commitment he would never have had the opportunity to be involved directly in the education of his three children. Each week he divides his time among their three elementary classrooms, assisting not only his own children but many others. The Boeing Company (which, along with IBM, was first to take part in PALS) has a corporate-wide goal to support K-12 education. Employees include this experience on their performance evaluations and are recognized through the formal appraisal system for their contributions to the community.