Jayne Gest photo/Dover Post Company
Family & Community Engagement Support Student Success, says Co-Author of Beyond the Bake Sale

National education expert Karen L. Mapp presented evidence of the strong correlation between family engagement and students’ academic achievement at a lively discussion hosted by the Vision 2015 Panel on Family and Community Engagement at Wilmington University on January 31. Dr. Mapp, a lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-author of the 2007 book, Beyond the Bake Sale, addressed educators, administrators, parents, and interested members of the community about the critical role that parents play in their children’s education.

Co-chaired by John Carwell, Jr. of the Rodel Foundation and Constance Moran of the Delaware Department of Education, the Vision 2015 Panel on Family and Community Engagement includes parents, teachers, community leaders, and government representatives. The Panel is committed to developing a common definition of family and community engagement in education to help Delaware’s schools become the best in the world.

--Dr. Mapp's presentation
--Q&A with Dr. Mapp
--Press coverage: "Parental involvement
key to student success"

Congratulations, Superstars!

Capital’s East Dover Elementary; Milford’s Lulu Ross Elementary; Indian River’s Long Neck Elementary; and Red Clay’s Delaware Military Academy, North Star Elementary, Stanton Middle School, Brandywine Springs Elementary, and Conrad Schools of Science have been presented with the 2008 Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Superstars in Education award for implementing and sustaining creative teaching practices that have resulted in student achievement.

Press coverage: "Eight schools get 'Superstar' status"

Visionaries

“It doesn’t matter what the families look like, where they come from, what their educational background is, their race, their ethnicity; if they are engaged in their child’s education we see kids doing better.”

--Dr. Karen Mapp of Harvard University, Wilmington University, January 31, 2008

Real-World Learning Opportunity for DMA Students

The Delaware Military Academy (DMA) partners with the Greenbank Mill Associates (GMA) to offer an honors engineering course that provides Cadets with a hands-on opportunity to gain real-world skills, while helping to restore the 16th century Greenbank Mill. Since 2003, Cadets have contributed more than 3,200 hours of community service-- the equivalent of over $10,000 worth of restoration work. Through this partnership, which focuses on the history, science, and technology of mill’s era, Cadets learn advanced math, science, and problem-solving skills. Learn more.

Research

Research concludes that there is a significant, positive relationship between family involvement and student achievement, which holds true for families of all economic, racial/ethnic, and educational backgrounds and for students of all ages. For example: