Borrowing from core of the Big Apple

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Clark County School Board members came to Manhattan in search of a schools superintendent. They're heading home with fresh ideas for Las Vegas schools, including a way to get parents more involved.

New York educator Eric Nadelstern may or may not be chosen to head Clark County schools. Board members thought that a journey into his world would help them decide.

They didn't expect the trip to pay other dividends, such as meeting Danyelle Gonzalez, who might represent an answer to a nagging question in Las Vegas. Why don't parents reach out to their children's teachers and schools?

Gonzalez said many New York schools faced similar questions until the district created a new job title three years ago -- parent coordinator. One is assigned to every campus here of more than 200 students.

On a blustery day last week, Gonzalez arrived at the Ella Baker School shortly after 7:45 a.m. Over the next 10 hours she organized tours for visitors, put the finishing touches on an upcoming potluck dinner and helped several families resolve concerns about their children -- all things for which teachers and administrators have little time.

"If I wasn't here, I don't think the school would have time for lot of these things," said Gonzalez, who is responsible for helping 275 families with students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Clark County School Board Vice President Sheila Moulton said parent coordinators are just one of the ideas she's gleaned from her visit to help her decide between Nadelstern, the chief academic officer for new schools in New York, and the other finalist, Walt Rulffes, interim superintendent of Clark County schools.

"No matter who we ultimately choose, there are lessons we can learn," Moulton said. "I love the idea of one person dedicated to helping our parents."

Moulton said she planned to explore the concept further once the board chooses a superintendent.

Coordinators arrange special events, including potlucks, family-reading nights and open houses. In some cases the coordinators also function as a liaison, sitting in on meetings between parents and school staff.

"Part of why we created the parent coordinators was that people said the school environments were not welcoming to parents," explained Jemina Bernard, executive director of the Office of Parental Engagement for the New York City Education Department. "There was a huge commitment of resources to turn that notion around. We know the more parents are involved in their child's actual education at the school level the greater the chances of actual success are for that child."

Each school's coordinator reports to the principal. Salaries range from $27,000 to $39,000 for a 35-hour workweek in a district where teacher salaries begin at $43,436.

About 10,000 people applied for the 1,200 positions in the first year of the program. New York City, the nation's largest school district, has 1.2 million students and about 1,400 schools.

The effect coordinators are having may be difficult to measure. But New York City is going to try, Bernard said.

"We know parental involvement means making sure kids get to school on time, helping them with their homework, talking to them at night about their day," Bernard said. "But no one has figured out how to link parental involvement to actual student achievement."

The district knows that attendance at fall parent-teacher meetings rose to 600,000 last year, an increase of 100,000 over the year before even though student enrollment remained essentially the same.

Several Clark County school administrators, told about the program, said they liked the idea but might prefer spending the money to address other needs.

For instance, Marsha Irvin, superintendent of the district's northeast region, created a pilot program assigning mentor teachers at 20 schools to work with newer hires. Teacher turnover has declined at the schools, and a recent grant from the state Legislature will allow the program to expand to 40 additional campuses, Irvin said.

"Parents are certainly critical and important, but to have staff to help directly in the classrooms and with the students, that has to be the first priority," Irvin said. "If we had the money, I would love a parent coordinator at every school."

Jolene Wallace, superintendent of the district's southwest region, said she welcomes any changes to help the district work with families. If funding falls short, the district should consider parent coordinators at a regional level, similar to the assistant superintendent positions assigned to the five geographic offices.

"There are all kinds of wonderful things we could do if we had the resources," Wallace said. "It's when we don't that we have to make the tough choices and prioritize."

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at emily@lasvegassun.com.