Parents stop skipping school

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Dole Middle School Principal Myron Monte meets in his office with curriculum coordinator Julia Poell. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Monte made it his mission to get parents involved.

In so doing, he tackled one of the most frustrating problems faced by Hawai'i public schools today. A national study published last fall in Education Week showed that 48 percent of Hawai'i's fourth-graders and 80 percent of its eighth-graders attend schools where principals cite a lack of parental involvement. For eighth-graders, it is the highest percentage in the country.

Dole Middle School, in Kalihi Valley, serves three public housing projects and has a high percentage of immigrant or second-generation students. Like other schools across the nation, it has been tasked with getting parents to shoulder some of the responsibility for their children's education as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Today, a year later, participation in parent-teacher conferences at Dole Middle has more than doubled, and a recent workshop for parents drew 60 people — 20 times the turnout before Monte worked his "magic."

The turnaround is a lesson in patience and experimentation. After many months, Monte finally hit on the best incentive to get parents involved at Dole Middle School: an eighth-grade graduation ceremony.

"In this day and age — with all those requirements for No Child Left Behind — it's really easy to lose sight of the hope," Kanagawa said. "When someone can ... really gather the community around something they believe in, and still align it for student achievement, it makes for the perfect package."

Monte had tried throwing a free spaghetti dinner at the school to give him a chance to talk to parents about Dole. He ended up eating a lot of leftovers when 15 parents came, out of the 760 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

He pulled out all the stops for his next effort. "I said, 'OK, I'm going to really wow those guys. I'm going to have bingo,'" he said.

He borrowed a bingo machine, got a rebuilt computer as the grand prize, assembled Dole T-shirts into four-packs for prizes and filled two tables with corned beef, Spam, pork and beans, and cases of juice and soda.

The first bingo night was held at the school. Eight parents showed up. "Just by virtue of the draw, seven parents won," Monte said.

The second bingo night was held at Kuhio Park Terrace, where many Dole students live. Monte and his staff hauled tables, chairs, the bingo machine and all the prizes to the housing — all for eight participants, seven of whom were winners from the night before. "They wanted the computer," Monte explained.

But even with the disappointing turnout, Monte was able to gather input to find the key to getting parents to take an interest.

"They didn't care what I was teaching. They didn't care if their kids learned. What was important to them is that, 'You know, you folks used to have graduation. How come you not doing 'em now?'"

So Monte agreed to a graduation ceremony — the first one will be held June 7 at Farrington High School — but stipulated that only students whose parents fulfill participation requirements will be able to take part.

Parents must join the Parent Teacher Student Association, meet their financial obligations, participate in the school's annual fund-raiser and attend two mandatory student-led conferences and a graduation meeting. In addition, parents have to implement and monitor a homework study hour at least five nights per week.

Only about half of the 279 eighth-graders' parents have showed up to graduation meetings so far, but Monte will hold makeup sessions for those that participated in the student-led conferences. On Wednesday, he started holding weekly eighth-grade assemblies to build enthusiasm for graduation.

Eighth-grader Dioncia Sossin left the assembly excited by Monte's description of the ceremony, which will take advantage of Farrington's large video screens. "It's going to have our picture and accomplishments and our friends and family are going to be there."

Principal Monte checks in on Student Council officers and eighth-graders Adriane Saguibo and Selwyn Morales as they discuss extracurricular activities. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

No matter how many students take part in the graduation ceremony this year, Monte hopes participation will pick up if younger students are impressed by the ceremony. Gear Up's Kanagawa is optimistic that sixth-graders particularly will be inspired to work toward graduation.

Parent involvement is now required of schools by the No Child Left Behind Act. Recent audits showed that most of the 25 Hawai'i schools set for restructuring under the federal law lack adequate parental involvement.

Experts say it is harder to get parents involved in middle and high school, as many are re-entering the workforce. Parents are less concerned that their children can get to school safely, so they rarely come to campus. Worse, their attempts to get involved are rebuffed by adolescents and teenagers trying to assert their independence.

Reconnecting with her children after years of working nights, Cris Ah Mow-Moeava has seen firsthand the difference parental involvement makes in the education of Jasmine, 13, and Isaiah, 11.

Having her around forces the kids to buckle down, she said. After school, she makes them turn off the TV after a while and do their homework in front of her — a big change from the days when their dad worked 16- to 20-hour days and she was answering phones for Straub Clinic & Hospital.

Without parental supervision, homework was not a priority. "The kids would just say they were tired and that they'd do it later," she said.

Jasmine said it's a relief to have her mother around when she can't figure things out. "Some of the work I don't understand, and she makes it more clear for me. If I really, really need her, she's there. I can say, 'Mommy! I need you.'"

Joy Saren, whose daughter Tiyani is in sixth grade at Dole, found value in a recent parenting workshop on gangs. She also enjoyed her daughter's student-led conference with her teacher. "It gave us a lot of information about what they're doing in their classes."

Both were part of the school's efforts to get — and keep — parents engaged.

Joy Thomas, whose son Vaughn is in the sixth grade, makes it a point to stay on top of his homework. "I want him to get his work done because I don't want any notes or phone calls home saying he didn't improve, or he lost his recess or lunch," she said.

Vaughn doesn't like doing homework, but he does like his mom taking an interest. "(It makes me feel) very important," he said.

Principal Monte said all students would benefit from parental involvement, because the school day isn't long enough to give students the help they need to meet standards. "Student achievement and student gains cannot really happen unless we have the support of parents in the home," he said.

Of the school's 760 students, 300 are honor students, self-motivated to learn, Monte said. The school is now trying to identify the less-successful students and reluctant learners who aren't turned on to school.

While it's hard to tell yet whether the graduation program has made an impact on student achievement, Monte has no doubt it has increased parent involvement. Compared with about 36 percent of parents who showed up for parent-teacher conferences last school year, between 74 and 78 percent of parents attended new student-led conferences in November.

"That, for this school, is astronomical," Monte said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.