You are working for an organization such as a school district, charter management organization, a nonprofit education-related organization, a funder, or a government agency (the organization I choice was a public Elementary school).
Your organization has asked for your guidance and expertise in developing a new family engagement proposal for the organization– they have had limited success in the past with engaging families.
For this assignment, choose a role that you will take on as the person asked to design the proposal (for instance, district leader, executive director, consultant, etc.), the type of organization, and the target audience for your strategy (see the chart below for examples). You are free to choose any geographic area you’d like, but please identify your choice at the outset of your paper.
We encourage you to choose a context that will be relevant to your future professional goals.
The audience for the paper must reside within Bronfenbrenner’s mesosystem (not addressed to a child or student). Listed below are examples. Do not feel limited to just these.
The proposal/paper should outline your strategy, including the following key components:
• The specific need you are seeking to address;
• The context;
• Your two or three primary goals;
• The proposed actions that will help you achieve your goals;
• A rationale for your proposed actions that draws on the local context and materials from class such as existing research, theories, frameworks, effective practice strategies;
• The challenges you anticipate, and how your strategy will mitigate them
Elements of strong papers include:
1. Clarity regarding each of the required components of the proposal: the need, goals, actions, rationale, and how you will mitigate challenges. You should present a coherent and clear strategy that pulls each of the required elements together neatly. Be sure to identify your role, organization, and audience in the plan.
2. A limited scope. It is far better to write thoroughly about two or three well- defined goals than superficially about many.
3. A consistent framework. We strongly recommend that you use no more than two frameworks, theories, etc. to present the rationale and argument for the goals and strategies of your initiative. Again, be thorough but keep it simple. Important: Be sure to explain terms and frameworks from the course to your audience clearly and in user-friendly language. Remember, you a writing to an audience that has not taken the course.
4. Integration of learning from a variety of sources (for example, from readings, lectures, group discussions, experiential activities, previous experiences).
5. Effective writing. Your paper should be internally consistent and well organized. We will be concerned if a paper seems to say something on p. 7 that contradicts what was said on p. 5. Also, pay close attention to writing mechanics (grammar, spelling, typos). Use APA style.
6. Some creativity! Don’t be afraid to offer a unique solution to an existing challenge.
7. Time spent getting support and guidance from either the Teaching Team and/or the Writing Center.
Rubric
1. Argument. A quality proposal will
offer a strong and compelling
argument. It will clearly articulate the
context, the need, the benefit, and
feasibility of your strategy. Each of
your strategy’s components will be
held together by a coherent vision for
a family engagement and partnership.
2. Rationale. The rationale for your
proposal is well grounded in what you
have been learning in the course. The
rationale should:
a) Align the proposal with the
problem you are trying to solve and
the goals you are trying to reach.
b) Be grounded in frameworks from
class. Frameworks should ground the
strategy clearly rather than be
superimposed on the proposal.
c) Rely on research and evidence (Be
sure to use readings/materials from the
class but feel free to augment with
outside readings/materials, if
appropriate).
3. Organization & Clarity. Papers are
well organized and coherent. The
structure of your paper should be easy
for the reader to follow. The paper
must be written clearly for an
intelligent but naïve audience: key
concepts and details must be
explained. Papers should use APA
style and be proofread to avoid
careless mistakes (grammar, spelling,
typos, etc.).
4. Risk-Taking and Creativity We encourage you to be creative in your strategy design, and to push the boundaries of the field (and yourself!). This is a chance to try out new ideas.