the business role in improving math and science achievement

(6) Encourage Employees, Especially Those Who Are Parents, and Other Community Stakeholders To Increase Their Involvement with Local Schools To Help Students Achieve Challenging Academic Standards

The process of building system-wide capacity to support increased math and science achievement requires input from all stakeholders–parents, teachers, students, business and community leaders, elected officials, and others. "Selling" the process is important, as is an ongoing communications strategy to engage the public. We also know that the children who do best in school are those whose families care about their education and are involved in their learning. Given the importance of education to the caliber and competency of our future workforce, many employers have found ways to encourage involvement by their own employees in helping students learn. Businesses win too by improving employee morale, productivity, and motivation. Here are a few options that every employer can consider: Create and promote policies that make it possible for employees to be involved in classroom or after-school activities by providing flextime, matching leave, job-sharing, or time off. Support programs at the worksite or in the community that help train employees to become involved in education. Work with schools to help them better meet the needs of employed parents through better scheduling of parent/teacher conferences, voice mail, and parent resource centers in schools. Help establish a homework hotline for parents, and support employee-led efforts that provide mentoring, tutoring, and guidance to those students most in need.

IN POLICY AND PRACTICE... Informing parents and students about academic standards The Boston Plan for Excellence is a local education foundation which funds whole-school change in the city's public schools. To generate support for the district's new academic standards, the Boston Plan is collaborating with the Boston Public Schools and the daily newspapers to produce two new publications for parents and citizens. "Great Expectations," funded by BankBoston, John Hancock Financial Services, and Fidelity Investments, is published four times each year and inserted pro bono by The Boston Globe into local editions of the paper. Parents and citizens can also get copies of the colorful tabloid through the schools, libraries, health centers, and other sites. In all, 200,000 copies are being distributed. With a 300,000+ circulation, The Boston Herald is dedicating one page each month to "Learning Matters," with information for parents on how to help their children meet the new academic standards. Each issue includes a feature specific to the standards; one issue described the "what and why" of new state tests, for instance, while another issue suggested how to help a child with a science project. For more information, contact Mary Ann Cohen at 617-350-7600. Engaging Students in Math The Greater Milwaukee Education Trust's MATH, IT'S NOT A PROBLEM! is a public information campaign targeted at stimulating middle school students' interest in math achievement. Components of this campaign include: (1) videos featuring application of math in real life situations–including how to use math to lay out an itinerary for getting to Sturgis with the CEO of Harley Davidson and demonstrations of math usage at other local businesses, including Allen-Bradley and the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. These videos were sent to every eighth-grade math teacher in the district along with a teacher's guide; (2) movie trailers featuring Motown stars talking about the importance of math for kids' futures; and (3) the annual MATH GAME–over 200,000 middle school students across the state each year for the past 5 years have played this applied math game. Local popular radio stations and other media outlets team up with The Trust, local corporate sponsors, and Milwaukee math teachers to develop all questions and highlight the 613 prize winners a year. For more information, contact Edward Anhalt at 414-287-4145. Connecting Parents, Students, and Schools through Voice Mail The American Business Collaboration for Quality Dependent Care started the Bridge Project in 1995, which connects parents and schools through voice messaging. At the end of the school day, a teacher simply picks up any phone and records a summary of the learning experience. The brief message tells parents about homework assignments, study expectations and how parents can help. When parents call to listen to the message, they can find out how to manage and support their children's learning at home. The American Business Collaboration, composed of 21 corporations, including American Express, Allstate Insurance, and NYNEX, funded implementation of the Bridge Project in 102 schools which serve children of their employees. The project is currently being expanded to more than 225 additional schools nationwide. For more information, contact Jerold Bauch at 615-322-8080.