A year ago, we selected a partnership between Springfield Education Association and Springfield Public Schools to receive $1.25 million grant for their plan to improve student achievement through our Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative.
Now, they are putting that plan into action. In December, they announced the expansion of their home visits program, one of their key strategies. At the announcement, SPS superintendent, Alan J. Ingram, spoke about the importance of parent engagement:
“We know home visits go a very long way in engaging parents who otherwise, and for a myriad of reasons, would not be prone to visit their child’s school to receive important regular updates on their progress.”
Springfield teachers make home visits: wwlp.com
The announcement received great media coverage in their local communities with stories in the local television media and newspaper, and an editorial was also featured in the local paper.
Parent engagement is one of the three areas of focus of the NEA Foundation’s theory of change and we applaud Springfield’s efforts. They are off to a great start and we look forward to supporting their hard work to improve student achievement for all students in their community.