Coming Soon to the School District of Philadelphia: Academic Parent Teacher Teams!
The FACE Office, in partnership with WestEd and the William Penn Foundation, is bringing Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT) to Philadelphia!
Overview
The purpose of this K-3 family engagement early literacy initiative, sponsored by the William Penn Foundation is to fund and support nine elementary schools as they plan, develop, and implement Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTTs), an evidence-based system of family engagement that strategically connects families and schools to advance student learning and achievement.
The APTT model is a classroom-based, teacher-led, data-driven family engagement model focused on supporting children’s academic goals by linking home and school learning.
The APTT model replaces traditional parent-teacher conferences, allowing teachers time to plan, prepare, and facilitate APTT meetings.
Classroom teachers invite families to participate in three 75-minute group meetings and one 30-minute individual, parent-child session annually. During APTT meetings, teachers share actionable data, review grade-level skills, and demonstrate concrete activities and strategies families can do at home to help students master skills. Families practice the learning activities and review their student’s individual progress data to set 60-day academic goals for their child. By implementing APTT, schools take responsibility for engaging in a collaborative process to build strong relationships with their students’ families and to empower those families to make concrete contributions to student growth and school improvement.
Selected schools will receive training, coaching and technical assistance from WestEd during the 2018-2020 school years. WestEd and the District will work collaboratively to ensure that schools are prepared and supported to do this exciting and rewarding work.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants are elementary schools with K-3 grade bands. Each school is required to:
Implement the APTT model in at least two classrooms per K-3 grade level during the 2018- 2020 school years;
Select a team that includes the principal, an academic/literacy coach, and all K-3 participating classroom teachers to attend an initial two-day professional development, June 14-15, 2018; and
Host WestEd coaches four times a year for planning and coaching with teachers, and to attend APTT meetings and debrief with the school staff.
Available Funds
Awarded schools will receive resources and support for allowable expenditures, including:
Compensation for staff to attend professional development in June, and an evening APTT parent meeting in October.
Strengthen family outreach for participation, i.e. brochures, posters, flyers, etc. to promote APTT meetings.
Materials for families to take home after meetings.
Supplies to conduct meetings.
Light refreshments, snacks.
Other necessary allowable expenses as needed.
Important Dates and Deadlines
February 16, 2018—Grant Application due
March 16, 2018—Awardee Schools Announced
Week of April 9, 2018 (one-day / 1 hour)—WestEd Awardee Schools Visits
June 14 – 15,2018—Two-day training
How do I submit the application?
Complete the APTT application using this link: https://goo.gl/forms/TOBLKS2uHDgsand73
For more information about APTT, please see the powerpoint presentation located at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JbPIMK0Lk-HMOBfB_4LF74N74aiOx4Yq/view?usp=sharing
Who do I contact for questions?
Jenna Monley, Executive Director, Family and Community Engagement, jmonley@philasd.org
Yolonda Edwards, Director of Operations, Family and Community Engagement, ybedwards@philasd.org
