Community Account: Success Stories from PA’s Education Investment

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Research and Reporting Activity

Submitted by Philadelphia St... on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 15:25

Philadelphia Student Union played a key role in creating a 2009 brochure entitled, "Community Account: Success Stories from PA’s Education Investment." Download it here: http://www.phillystudentunion.org/phillystudentunion/documents/Community...
 
This Community Account was the culmination of several months of collaborative work by Philadelphia Student Union, Good Schools Pennsylvania, Education Law Center, Juntos/Casa de los Soles, Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition and Pennsylvania ACORN to track spending of the recent funding increase and to monitor improvement.
 
These organiziations worked together to evaluate many Southeast Pennsylvania School District PA-PACT plans and monitored their implementation. In the process, we met with and discussed
PA-PACT plans with hundreds of community members all over the region. Where we found problems, we’ve communicated concerns to school district administrations. But more often, we found successful education investments.
 
PSU members conducted interviews with several dozen students, teachers, parents and administrators to hear firsthand accounts of what had improved (or not improved) inside their schools as a result of increased education funding. Students used audio recorders to capture these interviews and then transcribed them. This process was very successful in terms of building relationships with interviewees and strengthening students' interview skills.
 
Next, PSU students (along with members of the other participating groups mentioned above) selected key quotes from the interviews they had conducted, and organized them for publication in the brochure. We then held a photoshoot of the people who contributed testimony. The photoshoot was combined with a legislative training that empowered people to effectively lobby their legislators about preserving the funding formula and continuing to increase education spending until adequacy targets were reached statewide.
 
Once PSU finished the design and creation of the actual brochure, all the groups involved (Philadelphia Student Union, Good Schools Pennsylvania, Education Law Center and Pennsylvania ACORN) used it as a tool for discussion and advocacy in dozens of legislative meetings throughout the Spring and Summer of 2009.

Campaigns: 
Equitable School Funding

Activity Information

What students and communities are you learning about or reporting on?
What educational elements and reforms are you learning about or reporting on?
What educational resources are you learning about or reporting on?
What education policies and laws are you learning about or reporting on?
How did you or will observe and learn about these things?
Obtain written documents or policies
Perform research on the Internet
Take a tour of a school
Sit in on a classroom
Meet with school officials
Notes: 
We conducted interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators about how increased funding was improving their school (or not)
What research did you or will you perform on the Internet?
Read local school or district policies
Read state policies
Read state laws
Read what other education organizations are doing
Find information about local, state or federal meetings or hearings
How did you or will you document what you observe and learn?
Notes: 
We created a "Community Account" brochure that includes photographs and testimonies; and a data sheet. SEE 'Activity Links and Media'
What were or are the most effective ways to use what you observe and learn?
Meet with school officials or policy makers.
Make a presentation to the school board.
Notes: 
We presented the Community Account to legislators, city councils, school supintentents, press, etc. We used it as a tool for advocacy.
What were or are the potential barriers to performing these actions to observe and learn?
Some important information is not available on the Internet
Notes: 
At times, it was difficult to obtain copies of specific districts' PA-PACT plans. PA-PACT plans can be useful tools for effective monitoring
What were the outcomes of your observations and learning experiences?
You share what you learned with others.
You identify other issues that require further observation and learning.
You strengthen existing relationships.
You meet important people who can help you with this work.
You document real problems.
You use your new understanding to influence education policies and laws.
Notes: 
In addition to highlighting successes, the interviews helped us identify problems and take measures to hold the proper people accountable.
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