Abstract
The goal of the advocacy plan is to provide action plans to the community. The community
would be given knowledge and resources to combat the following issues. The selected school
need is chronic absenteeism and lack of parental support, which harm student achievement. The
selected community needs to address the number of language English proficiency students that
are in our school and the lack of knowledge on how to serve them best. The community plays an
important role in following the action plans. There are measures in place to ensure that the
projects are sustained for access and success.
Advocacy for Meeting School-Community Needs
The selected school need is chronic absenteeism and lack of parental support, which harm
student achievement. The need to support families in developing their understanding of the
importance of school is substantial. Student attendance is greatly affected by their home life.
Students with parents who are working odd hours to make a living for their families lack the
support of parental guidance in the evenings. The action step is to provide mentor students with
students who show chronic absenteeism. The mentors will teach through a workshop provided by
school administrators, counselors, and staff. This workshop will be presented each quarter and
students identified will be given a mentor each quarter if needed. The mentors will be observed
by staff and administration. Students will serve as peer mentors. In order to be considered a
mentor, students will undergo training that directly relates to the topic of coming to school and
being prepared to be a part of the school community.
Students with chronic absenteeism have various reasons that affect their attendance and
success in school. “Researchers categorize the underlying causes of truancy into four groups:
student-specific factors, family-specific factors, school-specific factors, and community-specific
factors” (Jacob & Lovett, 2017). The targeted interventions for each specific student should
equal the factor that is affecting students and their school attendance. Parental support and
involvement would also increase through the interventions that are targeted to each student.c
The selected community needs to address the number of language English proficiency
students that are in our school and the lack of knowledge on how to serve them best. Students
come to our schools knowing very little about the American culture and the English language.
Students need more opportunities to share their own customs and cultures with the school. The
schools need to focus more on how to include English learners in the school community within
their own cultures and languages. The community, students, and staff would need to be involved
in the plan to address this need. The action steps include creating community events that
showcase the various cultures of our students. This event would occur three times throughout
the school year. Students and families are also encouraged to participate in evening classes to
learn about English, finances, and job opportunities. The events will be graded on the amount of
community members that attend the events.
Students who identify as English Learners should have access to additional resources in
order to be successful in school. “To support international students’ academic success, it is
necessary to offer support services specifically designed for international students at the
institutional level. These services should include English-language courses, tutoring, and
supplemental courses that will help to improve their language and academic skills” (Martirosyan
& Hwang, 2015). The services provided will support and identify how to best support English
learners in school.
Community Advocacy for Communication & Distribution
The community resources report includes an infographic including resources in the
Princeton City Schools community in the areas of non-profit organizations, faith-based groups,
businesses, and counseling services. The need for student absences and the lack of resources for
English Learners can be worked on through the resources provided in the annotated directory.
The infographic should be uploaded to the district website. This will allow community members
to quickly identify their area of need and what resources are available in their area. The
infographic provides quick information about the name of the organization, who to contact, their
number, website, and information about what the resource specifically benefits the school
community.
The infographic will also be printed and will be distributed across the school district.
Students and families will also have access to the infographic in the student centers where paper
copies of all resources can be found. The infographic will be discussed at board meetings. The
board meetings will also spend time discussing the various resources available. Each meeting
will focus on a resource in a different area of need. The district will begin to discuss how to
identify when a family's student would benefit from one of the resources. The district will also
provide information on funding that can be available to families in order to afford some of the
resources that are offered to the school community.
Advocacy for Sustained Access
In order to implement change that is effective, sustainable, and there is long-range access
to services for community members, students, and staff the plan needs to be outlined in language
that everyone can understand and access. The action plan to address the needs of student
absenteeism and lack of representation and resources for English Learner students should be
posted on the district website. The district website would provide a space for members to submit
resources that have benefitted their students and families. The website section would also
provide knowledge to families about the resources that are available, how to sign up, and
information about the cost of participating.
Both action plans would be presented at the monthly board meetings. The board meetings
would spend part of the meeting discussing the two action plans and the next steps of the action
plan. The committee groups for each action plan would also convene monthly to discuss
progress. The groups would consist of a board member, administration, staff, students, and
various community members. Community members would have access to the resources that are
funded through these action plans. Stakeholders from the community serve as partners to fund
the action plan and to provide mentors for families in need.
Conclusion
The intended audience in focus is the school community, specifically families and their
students. The school district is working to include all stakeholders in training that involves the
need to improve the quality of education and community for our students. The action plans are
working to decrease the amount of students with chronic absenteeism. The second action plan is
providing more resources for English Learners to better immerse themselves in the school
community.
References
Jacob, B.A., & Lovett, K. (2017). Chronic absenteeism: An old problem in search of new
answers. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/chronic-absenteeism
-an-old-problem-in-search-of-new-answers/
Martirosyan, N. M., Hwang, E., & Wanjohi, R. (2015). Impact of English proficiency on
academic performance of international students. Journal of International Students,5(1),
60–71. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v5i1.443
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