Handout 8: Building a Program Profile

Instructions: Read the following statements. For each statement select a score from 1 to 4:

1 = Not true of our program
2 = Somewhat true of our program
3 = Mostly true of our program
4 = True of our program

IS OUR PROGRAM FAMILY-CENTERED?

  1. Parents receive support from the program but are also included as decision makers, policy makers, and program designers.
  2. Parents choose their own level of involvement and are not judged by staff for their choices.
  3. Parents are involved from the beginning on all program issues and planning.
  4. Parents are trained to be effective committee and council members.
  5. Policies and procedures recognize the value of parents' observations of their own children's development.
  6. There are social activities for parents and families.
  7. There are ways for parents to help the Head Start program (for example, fund-raising or doing fix-up work, organizing activities).
  8. Priorities are based upon what the parents wish to focus their energies on.
  9. Parents identify what resources and opportunities are acceptable to them from a complete list of what is available.

IS OUR PROGRAM ACCESSIBLE AND INVITING?

  1. Efforts are made to involve women and men from all racial and national origin groups in parent activities.
  2. Interpreters from different national origin groups and other types of help ers (such as sign language interpreters or respected community members) are available to help with parent involvement activities if needed.
  3. Some parent involvement activities take place out in the community.
  4. Members of the Policy Council are representative of the program population by race, gender and national origin.
  5. There are equal opportunities for involving working parents.
  6. There are educational activities and training for parents which helps them work with their own children at home.
  7. Child care arrangements are made for meetings and other parent activities if needed.
  8. Parent communications are written clearly and simply (at a 6th to 8th grade level), using language the family can understand.
  9. Opportunities and procedures are clearly communicated to parents at the beginning of each year or when children are enrolled.

IS PARENT INVOLVEMENT SUPPORTED IN OUR PROGRAM?

  1. There is a shared vision of parent involvement, written up as a directive, policy or guideline.
  2. The program has the resources (for example, funding and staff) to give strong support to parent involvement activities.
  3. Parent involvement is part of every staff person's responsibilities.
  4. The parent involvement component plan is available for staff and parents to read.
  5. The plan provides for staff training in parent involvement and parent training to help them be more effectively involved.
  6. The plan calls for an ongoing review of parent involvement activities.
  7. Parents have been involved in the plan's development.
  8. The program has made connections with community organizations, service groups and religious groups that serve families in the program.
  9. All staff make an effort to communicate regularly and positively with parents.

Scoring for the Program Profile: Score your program's efforts in parent involvement on the three separate scales below.

IS OUR PROGRAM FAMILY CENTERED?

28-36 points: Congratulations! You have a family-centered program in place.

18-27 points: You have the elements of a good parent involvement program, on which you can build a family-centered program.

9-17 points: You are missing the elements needed for an effective family-centered parent involvement program. You may want to explore further staff development on creating programs that are family-centered.

IS OUR PROGRAM ACCESSIBLE AND INVITING?

28-36 points: Bravo! Your program is accessible and inviting to a range of Head Start parents.

18-27 points: You have a range of parent involvement activities. Consider how you could expand on these activities to make them more accessible and inviting to all parents.

9-17 points: You need to rethink your parent involvement opportunities to attract diverse parents to activities. Ask parents for their ideas.

IS PARENT INVOLVEMENT SUPPORTED IN OUR PROGRAM?

28-36 points: !Felicidades! Your program has broad-based support for parent involvement.

18-27 points: You have some supports in place upon which to build more.

9-17 points: You need to increase your support for parent involvement. Consider identifying a team of staff and parents to assess current levels of support and identify areas for improvement.



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