Family Leadership Institute Page 1 - MESN

Family Leadership Institute
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The Family Leadership Institute (FLI) is a multifaceted educational curriculum focused
on providing families with the knowledge, tools and inspiration to help their children
succeed in school and in life.
The Family Leadership Institute (FLI) was originally designed as a culturally-specific
educational program focused on providing immigrant and migrant Hispanic families the
knowledge, tools and inspiration necessary to help their first and second generation children
succeed in school and in life.
The FLI curriculum continues to help
families of diverse ethnic, racial and
cultural backgrounds grow as individuals,
parents and leaders.
Through a series of ten modules, parents
are provided the skills, abilities and
attitudes necessary to enhance their own
personal success to serve as better role
models for their children.
During the FLI program, parents are
encouraged to become engaged in their
children’s education in an effort to achieve
academic success.
Proud FLI Graduate presents the Flores-Romero
Action Plan. Houston, May, 2008.
The workshops are conducted in both
English and Spanish. Each workshop
contains a series of lectures, participant
discussions, storytelling, role-playing, group
and individual activities.
FLI Parents work together at a FLI Workshop.
Family Leadership Institute
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For the last thirteen years, Consuelo has
dedicated her life to empowering a new
generation of leaders. She has worked with over
one million children and their parents across the
United States through Educational Achievement
Services, Inc. (EAS), a human development
company she founded in 1994.
As a grassroots activist, Consuelo saw first-hand
the challenges that many families were facing.
She knew that they needed to take their
communities back so she created the Family
Leadership Institute curriculum. Today, the
Family Leadership Institute is helping families
succeed in over seven states throughout America.
Born and raised along the border in a small barrio
in Laredo, Texas, Consuelo Kickbusch is all too
familiar with the challenges of poverty,
discrimination and illiteracy. Although she grew
up without material wealth, she was taught by
her immigrant parents that she was rich in
culture, tradition, values and faith.
The values she learned as a child were reinforced throughout her career in the U.S. military.
After graduating from Hardin Simmons University, Consuelo entered the U.S. Army as an
officer.
After a twenty-two year career in the military, Kickbusch chose to honor her mother’s dying
wish to get back to her roots and become a community leader. Since then, she has
dedicated her life to preparing tomorrow's leaders today.
Family Leadership Institute
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Educational Achievement Services, Inc. (EAS) is a human
development company that strives to motivate, inspire and
develop the next generation of leaders With long-term
programs, one-day conferences, trainings, or motivational
speeches, EAS serves clients ranging from corporations to school
districts and helps many people from corporate executives to
school children.
Educational Achievement Services (EAS) was founded in 1994 by
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch. Kickbusch started the company
from her living room on a dream and a prayer. Today, EAS is a multi-faceted company
offering many different programs, products and services to clients like Wal-Mart, Boeing,
and McDonalds. Staying true to its core values and “service before profit” motto, EAS also
works with the community at a grass roots level in schools, churches, and family centers
across the country.
EAS was founded on eight CORE values including: Humility, Gratitude, Respect, Dignity,
Courtesy, Work Ethic and FUN!
Additionally, EAS, Inc. also offers SLiCK, which stands
for Student Leadership Inspired by Consuelo Kickbusch.
SLiCK is a revolutionary, innovative and interactive
series of student leadership workshops geared towards
nurturing the leadership skills within students to
achieve personal growth in a desire to create positive
change in their lives and community.
SLiCK was created as an individual program, but it
enhances the teachings of the FLI Curriculum. When
the FLI and SLiCK operate simultaneously, it is an ideal
combination which maximizes the effectiveness of
both programs.
Family Leadership Institute
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The objective of the Family Leadership Institute is to teach parents and caregivers the
art and skills of family leadership in support of academic achievement and life success
for their children by using a practical, ten-step approach.
Goals
x
x
x
Increase engagement of families in their children’s education.
Provide purpose, tools, and direction to parents and their children to
achieve academic success and success in life.
Produce a cadre of knowledgeable and committed parents and
caregivers who actively support school and community efforts to benefit their
children and encourage other families to do the same.
Program Features
x
x
x
x
Modules can be tailored to the specific needs of individual schools and
school districts.
Workshops can be delivered in English or in Spanish by licensed FLI
practitioners.
The FLI program incorporates community resource speakers to inform
participants of the types of local assistance available.
The FLI can be coupled with existing and/or specifically designed
English-as-a-Second Language/adult literacy programs.
Highlights
x
x
x
The FLI has graduated over 2,000 graduates nationwide.
The program has been recognized by the Office of English Language
Acquisition (OELA) Department of Education as one of the three “Best
Practices” parent programs in the country.
Research-based data shows improved parental involvement and
increased academic achievement for Houston Independent School District
(HISD.)
Family Leadership Institute
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The FLI Curriculum is based on a 10 module approach. Each session focuses on
different leadership development topics that can include guest speakers, group
activities and field trips.
1. Home: Where Leadership Begins
Each participant is able to identify his or her own leadership style and
preference.
2. Self-Identity: Past, Present & Future
Parents define elements of self-identity and explore how self-esteem affects
the family.
3. Living in Two Worlds: Cultural and Generational Perspectives
Cultural pride and traditions are highlighted. Participants will learn about the
pressures children face related to drug and alcohol experimentation, peer
pressure, teenage pregnancy, depression, suicide, and other relevant issues.
4. Storytelling and Journaling: Valuing Literacy through Family History
The value a family places on literacy in the enjoyment of reading has a profound
effect on the ability of children to acquire the reading
skills essential to success.
5. Education: The Key to a Better Future
Parents focus on the essential role of education in the
economic, social and intellectual well-being of their
children. Facts and national statistics on reading and
mathematics are presented.
6. College Field Trip: What Does Success Look Like?
Participants visit a local community college or a fouryear university to understand that a college education
for their child is attainable and is a realistic family goal.
Clovis, NM parent listens to
the facilitator’s message
during a FLI workshop.
Family Leadership Institute
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7. Improving Family and School Relationships: Partnerships for Success
Strategies for building relationships with teachers, staff, and administrators are
addressed. Parents become true advocates for education and school staff.
8. Facing Challenges at Home: Coping Strategies for Success
Participants set goals after they identify the obstacles and behaviors that keep
them from achieving personal and family goals, such as healthcare issues and
financial education.
9. Creating a Family Action Plan: Roadmaps to Success
Parents develop their vision, missions, goals, and objectives, creating an action
plan of how to support their children to achieve success in school and in life.
10. Celebrating Family Academic Excellence: Success As a Way of Life
The culmination of the course includes families making presentations to
members of the local school board or other educational administrators.
Participants share their successes and their children’s academic progression.
Linda Rivera is recognized for her
contribution to the FLI program.
Las Vegas graduating class Dec. 2007.
Parents and School Administrators
listen to the keynote speaker at the
Dec. 2007 Las Vegas graduation
ceremony.
FLI Parent Graduation
The final element of the Family Leadership Institute is a graduation ceremony
for parents who have actively participated in the program (criteria for
graduation is determined by the school district). Certificates are given to each
qualified parent and a keynote address is given by either the facilitator of the
program or an administrator of the local school district.
Family Leadership Institute
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Dr. Gene Schmidt Superintendent, Bridgeport School District
“Love for learning begins in the home. The Family Leadership Institute’s simple
but powerful message to the families of Bridgeport, Washington became the
rally cry, which led to increased parent involvement and launched our school
district on its way to two National Title 1 Distinguished School awards and
created a strong family-school partnership. As family participation in the
educational lives of our children increased, so did the improvement in student
achievement in the classroom. The reception to the FLI training was
unbelievable. New community leaders emerged. Our Latino population gained a
voice. New Latino businesses were opened in town. Student achievement in
school improved. A community once divided became whole.”
David Briseño Executive Director of Federal Programs, Clovis Municipal Schools
“The Family Leadership Institute is the foundation for our parental involvement
program in the Clovis Municipal Schools. More than any program I have had the
pleasure to implement in my 25 years in education, the FLI truly transforms the
participants in the program into leaders and effective parents. After 5 years of
implementation and with over 400 parent graduates of the FLI, our graduates
can be found on a number of school level committees and just recently, two of
our shining stars represented parents on the District’s strategic planning
committee. They are everywhere and are having a positive impact on the
education of their children.”
Elizabeth Celeste Humphries, Supervisor Title III, Multilingual Programs, HISD
“The Family Leadership Institute sponsored through Title III funding has been
in the Houston Independent School District for the past 5 years, graduating over
600 parent leaders. This program has improved the lives of many families as
well as the academic achievement of their children. We have had parents
continuing their education, opening their own businesses and even one parent
that became a bilingual teacher in our district.”
Family Leadership Institute
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For more information on how to bring the FLI to your school and community, please contact:
Cynthia Rocha
[email protected]
1.210.410.1904
Family Leadership Institute
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THE FAMILY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE
2004–2005 TO 2007–2008
Adjusted NCE
# Parents
Introduction
The Family Leadership Institute (FLI) is an educational curriculum aimed at parents and
caregivers, with the goal of providing them with family leadership skills in order to support academic achievement and life success for their children. The program has been offered in the district since the 2004–2005 school year. It is offered in the district through a contractual arrangement with Education Achievement Services, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The FLI was originally designed to serve immigrant and migrant Hispanic families. Its two
main areas of emphasis are, first, to provide participating parents and caregivers with the skills
and inspiration needed to enhance their own personal success and to allow them to serve as role
models for their children. In addition, the program places strong emphasis on parental engagement, and attempts to increase parents’
Participants
180
162
Through the first four years of the FLI, 504 par150
ents graduated. Figure 1 shows the number of par131
127
ents completing the FLI by year. Enrollment was
120
highest during the first year and has declined each
84
90
year since, mainly due to availability of funding.
60
The ethnicity of the parents attending the FLI has
30
been, overwhelmingly, Hispanic, with 98.6% of
parents indicating that Spanish is their home lan0
guage. Most of the parents (97.5%) also indicated
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
that their country-of-origin was somewhere other
Grade
than the United States. A large majority list Mexico
as the country-of-origin (88.1%). Other Latin Figure 1. Number of parents completing the
FLI for years 2004–05 to 2007–08.
American countries make up most of the remainder.
Over the same time period, there have been 765 children of FLI participants enrolled in
HISD schools. The majority of these FLI students are LEP (68%), and are comparable in many
ways to the overall LEP population in the district. They are mostly Hispanic (99.4%), with a
home language of Spanish (93.9%). Similarly, the percentages of FLI students who are immigrant (11.5%), at-risk (83.8%), are served by Title-I programs (98.0%), or are economically disadvantaged (95.3%), are similar to those of the district LEP population
Results
100
Student Performance:
FLI
Control
Stanford 10 results for all students have
75
been collected which reflect their performance
before, during, and after their parents’ participa50
tion in the program. Mean normal curve equivalents (NCEs) were collected for each of the five
56 56
51 52
50 49
49 47
25 49 46
areas of reading, mathematics, language, science, and social science. A comparison group of
0
students was matched to the FLI students on
R
M
L
Sci
SS
ethnicity, LEP status, gender, grade level, and
Subtest
campus attended.
Figure 2 shows the adjusted mean Normal Figure 2. Adjusted NCE scores for FLI and
matched comparison groups.
Curve Equivalent (NCE) scores from the five
*
Adjusted NCE
Stanford subtests, for both FLI students and the matched comparison group. These results indicate that at least for the reading subtest, the FLI group had higher post-FLI performance than
did the comparison group (adjusted NCEs of
100.0
48.6 vs. 46.1).
FLI LEP
Control LEP
As mentioned earlier, approximately two75.0
thirds of the FLI students were also classified as
LEP. A parallel set of data analyses focused
50.0
only on these students (see Figure 3). There, it
can be seen that FLI students again have an ad50 50
25.0 37
44 45
42 40
42 35
36
vantage over the group of comparison students,
this time on the language subtest (adjusted
0.0
NCEs of 42.0 vs. 35.1).
R
M
L
Sci
SS
In conclusion, the findings from FLI stuSubtest
dents overall as well as those from the LEP subgroup suggest that parental FLI participation Figure 3. Adjusted NCE scores for FLI LEP and
matched comparison groups.
had a measurable, if modest, impact, on the academic performance of students.
Parent & Caregiver Attitudes:
Parent surveys have been administered to 279 parents over the span of the program, and major findings are summarized as follows:
x 98% of parents were involved in parent-related activities at their child’s school.
x 77% reported that they had enrolled in classes to improve their English skills.
x 98% said they used strategies learned from the FLI program in their homes
x 93% said that they had received career guidance for their children through the FLI.
x 95% said that the FLI had affected how much time they spent with their children.
x 97% believed that the FLI had affected their child’s performance at school.
x 92% said that interactions with school leaders had changed as a result of the FLI.
Children’s Attitudes & Beliefs:
A number of the children of FLI participants have been involved with the SliCK program
(Student Leadership, Identity, Knowledge, and Culture). SLiCK is a parallel series of leadership
workshops for middle and high school students whose parents participate in the FLI., and is offered by the same group (EAS, Inc.) providing the FLI workshops for parents.
A brief survey has been administered to most student participants in the SLiCK program
(n=84). Students were polled on their attitudes towards school, motivational levels, and, more
generally, how they perceived their current school environment. Also, in spring 2007 the same
survey was administered to over 4,000 LEP high school students in the district. Results have
shown that on half of the survey items, responses of SliCK participants are significantly more
positive than those of the district’s LEP high school population.
Conclusion
The Houston Independent School District has offered the FLI program since 2004–2005.
This program focuses on providing parents and caregivers with family leadership skills in order
to support academic achievement and life success for their children. Results from the first four
years of the program show that parents reported increases in attitudes and behaviors reflecting
leadership and involvement in their children’s education. Parents also believed that the program
had affected their children’s performance in school. Children involved with the affiliated SliCK
program also showed more positive attitudes towards school. Finally, statistical analyses found
modest but significant increases in children’s academic achievement in the areas of reading (all
students) and language (LEP subgroup only). Findings on whole suggest a positive impact of
the FLI program on both parents and children.
*