Mission Statement

The Partnership for the Educational Village provides children and their families with comprehensive help toward academic success and empowered lives, drawing on the resources of school, family, college, community agencies, and businesses. An integral part of the Project is the interprofessional preparation of education and human service professionals to provide them with the knowledge, skills, collaborative attitudes, and confidence they need to work effectively with children and families at risk.

Vision, Goals and Activities

The planners of this project believe that the effective education of poor children requires a broadening and coordinating of the responsibilities of their schools and communities to include the education and welfare of their families. The Partnership for the Educational Village provides children and their families with accessible, high-quality, comprehensive, collaborative, and sustainable educational and family support programs. The project offers educational opportunities for preschoolers, elementary children, adult family members of the Ford/Highlands community, and college students, as well as professional development for educators and school human service providers. It offers a variety of family support programs, including family education, links to social service organizations, health programs, and counseling. A working partnership of school, college, community agencies, and business people have planned together, monitor, and provide direct services to the projects constituencies. We feel that our efforts will result not only in transforming and sustaining changes in the participating organizations and in the training of professionals, but also in empowering and moving the families involved toward self-sufficiency and greater voice in decisions affecting their lives. Given the strong commitment of a cadre of Ford staff, Salem State College professors, community agency representatives, members of the Lynn Business Education Foundation, and the Lynn Family Support Coalition, and the support of administrators in the Lynn Public Schools and at the college, we are determined to carry forward our plans for a “sea change” in the education of urban poor children and in the professional preparation of those who will with them. This project has significant educational benefits for students and faculty at Salem State College. It provides meaningful, guided fieldwork placements for students headed for careers in Education and the human services and regular structured opportunities for sharing professional perspectives across fields. It provides students with faculty, school staff, children, and family members with ongoing experiences to learn, plan, and work together in seminars, workshops, courses, and committees. It offers students leadership positions and important co-curricular experiences as club leaders, mentors and tutors. It gives teacher-leaders associated with the College’s laboratory schools and its PALMS math/science/technology program the chance to mentor college students and Ford school teachers. Finally, it brings professors from several fields into an interesting school/community setting, where they will learn from each other and from the school’s constituencies.

Project Goals

Goal 1: To unite school, college and community resources in a comprehensive and effective approach to the education of poor schoolchildren and their families.

Objectives:

a. Project leadership will be carried out by a Steering Committee comprised of representatives of school, college, and community, which serves as the monitoring and communication vehicle for all aspects of the project. b. Onsite services to children and families involved in the project display real contributions and expertise by the school, college, and community. c. Family Education Programs empower adult members of the Ford community to make decisions and implement programs appropriate to their educational needs.

Activities:

The Project Steering Committee consists of members of the school staff, college education and human services faculty, community agency and business representatives, and Ford family. The project enrolls adult family members who qualify in college courses - English composition, computer literacy held on weeknight evenings at the Ford School. College Learning Center personnel conduct skills tests to assess skills levels and course appropriateness. Enrolled students are offered academic and personal counseling during and following these courses to aid them in educational and career decisions as well as to build confidence. Education faculty provide fieldwork supervision for practicum and prepracticum students in the building. SSC Nursing faculty provide supervision for Nursing students in the building. Lynn Community Health Center staff provides a weekly evening clinic for health Services and health education, as well as supervision for SSC Nursing students. SSC Social Work faculty supervises Social Work graduate students working with children and families in the building. SSC Social Work faculty and graduate students conduct support groups for parents, sixth-grade teachers, and adult students enrolled in onsite courses. SSC Learning Center staff conducts skills assessments for adults enrolling in onsite college courses. Lynn Business Education Foundation provides information on job-related skills, needs and community development to the project Steering Committee and to the Family Education Center. The Lynn Family Support Coalition participates with project staff in activities designed to disseminate this model, including regional and national presentations, contributing to the project newsletter and website.

Goal 2: To provide academic Enrichment Programs for children at the Ford Elementary School after school and in the summer, and exposure to a college campus, its resources, programs, and students.

Objectives:

a. Each year, 120 children in Grades 3-6 successfully complete 6-week after-school clubs on the Salem State College campus as demonstrated by their attendance, club projects, and post-program evaluation surveys. b. Each year, 15 children successfully complete the colleges summer enrichment program Starting Early at Salem State (SEA). c. Each year, 80 children attend a cultural and athletic event at Salem State College accompanied by project staff and Ford school teachers, administrators, and parents.

Activities:

60 children attend each of two 6-week after-school programs in either computers, arts and crafts, or drama/movement. Each 6-week session includes a tour of the college and a presentation by SSC students who are "Admissions Ambassadors." The project provides tuition to 10 children who enroll in the SEA Program for Grades 5 - 8, choosing from an array of course options in the arts, literacy, computers, and media. The project provides tuition to 5 children who enroll in SEA Too for Grades 2 through 4, where they will participate in a multidisciplinary, multiactivity program of academic and extracurricular activities.

Goal 3: To restructure and refine the focus of the education of teachers, social workers and school nurses headed toward careers in urban settings toward more effective and comprehensive delivery of educational services to children and their families through Interprofessional Training.

Objectives:

a. Education, Nursing, and Social Work students will successfully complete required field experiences at the Ford School, guided and supported by experts in their fields and by experts in related fields. The quality of their experience, including their understanding of interprofessional issues and collaborative techniques, will be assessed through observation, self-designed materials and strategies, reflective journals, and pre- and post-surveys. b. Education students will successfully complete field experiences in non formal educational roles in order to observe, teach and learn about children outside the regular classroom setting. Their learning will be assessed through observation, surveys completed by children, children's work produced in these clubs, and pre- and post-surveys.

Activities:

Education practicum students (student-teachers), prepracticum Education students, Social Work students, and Nursing Clinical students complete required field experiences at the Ford School, supported by faculty from within their fields and cooperating practitioners in the building. They attend interprofessional seminars co-led by an Education faculty member and a Social Work faculty member with Nursing faculty, school staff, parents, and community agency personnel participating as needed. Discussion topics include common concerns about children and families across fields, professional responsibilities and boundaries, techniques for collaboration, communicating with families and other professionals, conflict resolution, and stress Each semester, 10 Education students lead After-School Clubs for Ford children at Salem State College. A new course entitled “Partnerships for Families: An Interprofessional Approach” has been developed to be offered in the Summer of 2000 as an Institute for 3 graduate credits available to working professionals in education and human services, as well as graduate students in these areas. The course will be led by faculty from Education, Social Work, and Nursing, with additional presentations by Ford school and community agency staff.

Goal 4: To disseminate a model of collaborative school-based family education and support.

Objectives:

a. Information describing the project is distributed to area school systems and community and state agencies through print materials, regional meetings, a Summer Graduate Institute a Website, and a brochure. b. An Institute for Family and Community Education Partnerships will be established at the College to provide technical support to school systems and agencies seeking to collaborate on programs aligned with our model. c. The Project will provide feasible means for family members to influence policy decisions affecting education and family life in the region and the Commonwealth.

Activities:

A brochure describing the project will be distributed to area school systems and community and state agencies. The Steering Committee will host a meeting of education and human service professionals and graduate students to discuss common issues and multiple perspectives on the education of children and support for their families and to describe the work of the project. A new course entitled "Partnerships for Families: An Interprofessional Approach" for working education/human service professionals and graduate students will be offered in the Summer of 2000 as a Summer Institute available for 3 graduate course credits, co-taught by a team of Education, Social Work and Nursing faculty. An Internet Website will provide information on project goals and activities and related readings. It will be updated to inform readers about pending legislation and policy initiatives, and provide E-mail and "snail mail" forms for contacting regional legislators and state executive staff. The Institute for Family and Community Education Partnerships will broadcast the availability of staff for consultation to schools and community agencies. Project participants attend meetings of the statewide Project Family Map, Family Support Coalitions, family education/service networks, and other meetings concerned with policies and programs related to project goals.

Interview Corner
	Dr. Claire Crane is the Principal of the Ford Elementary School
Please introduce yourself and Ford Elementary School. Tell us about your school population. Who are your community partners? Why does this project work? What advice do you have for urban schools?