MARYLAND BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE FOR EDUCATION

Glossary:
Some Definitions of Terms

Accountability

The obligation of a school to demonstrate empirically that it is effectively educating students.  This is usually accomplished through standardized tests in core learning areas and statistics on attendance and graduation rates.

Business Partner

A business (or the designated person within that business) who has made a commitment to helping to bring about sustained improvement at a school, whether through membership on a School Improvement Team or some other long-term agreement.  This is in contrast to the more narrowly philanthropic role of a sponsor or a donor.

Critical Friend

A commonly-used term for the role of a business partner in relation to a school.  It refers to the unique function of a business partner in helping a school, over the years, to continue to develop new strategies and solutions.

Education Reform

A movement to improve student performance through school improvements such as high standards, assessments of student performance, and greater accountability on the part of schools themselves.  This usually involves School-Based Decision-Making (see below) and partnerships with businesses, parents and neighborhoods.

Partnership

Any number of ways in which a business can play an ongoing role in helping a school to improve student performance.   This can include membership on a School Improvement Team (see below), provision of facilities or expertise, or other sustained forms of assistance.

School-Based Decision-Making

An approach in which an individual school has the power to make its own decisions about programs and resources, in partnership with members of the surrounding community.  This is largely based on the leadership role of the School Improvement Team (see below).

School Improvement Team (SIT)

A group of people, affiliated with a school, who work together to develop and implement strategies for that school to improve (see School Improvement Plan below).  A SIT may include a variety of members, including the school principal, teachers, business partner, parents and community members.   A SIT's mission is to measurably improve student performance.  It can achieve this through staff reorganization, curriculum changes, enhancement of facilities or other means.

School Improvement Plan

The blueprint developed by a School Improvement Team for achieving higher student performance at a particular school.   The School Improvement Plan sets goals - and a timetable for reaching them - in light of clearly-understood priorities and resources.

Making Contact:
A Director of Resources

Maryland Business Roundtable Foundation, Inc.
111 S. Calvert Street, Suite 1720
Baltimore, MD  21202
410/727-0448  Fax:  410/727-7699

Maryland State Department of Education
Director, Partnerships Development
200 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD  21201
410/767-0369

National Association of Partners in Education, Inc. (NAPE)
901 N. Pitt Street, Suite 320
Alexandria, VA  22314
703/836-4880  Fax:  703/836-6941

Maryland Association of Partners in Education (MAPE)
c/o Anne Arundel County Public Schools
2644 Riva Road
Annapolis, MD  21401
410/222-5414

Greater Baltimore Committee
School Business Partnership Coordinator
111 S. Calvert Street, Suite 1700
Baltimore, MD  21202
410/727-2820

School Partnership Coordinators:

Allegany County Public Schools
108 Washington Street
Cumberland, MD  21502
301/759-2000

Anne Arundel County Public Schools
2644 Riva Road
Annapolis, MD  21401
410/222-5000

Baltimore City Public Schools
200 E. North Avenue
Baltimore, MD  21202
410/396-8700

Baltimore County Public Schools
6901 Charles Street, Greenwood
Towson, MD  21204
410/887-4020

Calvert County Public Schools
1305 Dares Beach Road
Prince Frederick, MD  20678
410/535-1700

Caroline County Public Schools
112 Market Street
Denton, MD  21629
410/479-1460

Carroll County Public Schools
55 N. Court Street
Westminster, MD  21157
410/751-3000

Cecil County Public Schools
201 Booth Street
Elkton, MD  21921
410/996-5400

Charles County Public Schools
P.O. Box D
LaPlata, MD  20646
301/932-6610

Dorchester County Public Schools
700 Glasgow Street
Cambridge, MD  21613
410/228-4747

Frederick County Public Schools
115 E. Church Street
Frederick, MD  21701
301/694-1000

Garrett County Public Schools
40 S. Fourth Street
Oakland, MD  21550
301/334-8900

Harford County Public Schools
45 E. Gordon Street
Bel Air, MD  21014
410/838-7300

Howard County Public Schools
10910 Route 108
Ellicott City, MD  21042
410/313-6600

Kent County Public Schools
215 Washington Avenue
Chestertown, MD  21620
410/778-1595

Montgomery County Public Schools
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, MD  20850
301/279-3000

Prince George's County Public Schools
14201 School Lane
Upper Marlboro, MD  20772
301/952-6000

Queen Anne's County Public Schools
202 Chesterfield Avenue
Centreville, MD  21617
410/758-2403

Somerset County Public Schools
30411 Mount Vernon Road
Princess Anne, MD  21853
410/651-1616

St. Mary's County Public Schools
41770 Baldridge Street
Leonardtown, MD  20650
301/475-4230

Talbot County Public Schools
P.O. Box 1029
Easton, MD  21601
410/822-0330

Washington County Public Schools
820 Commonwealth Avenue
Hagerstown, MD  21741
410/791-4000

Wicomico County Public Schools
101 Long Avenue
Salisbury, MD  21804
410/742-5128

Worcester County Public Schools
6270 Worcester Highway
Newark, MD  21841
410/632-2582

We gratefully acknowledge NationsBank for its financial support to fund this handbook.

We also acknowledge The Business Roundtable for providing some sources of information for this handbook.  We thank The Jacob and Annita France Foundation, Inc. and Robert G. and Anne M. Merrick Foundation, Inc., and the Freddie Mac Foundation for the initial support of the Maryland Partnership.

Credit is also due to Bruce Jacobs, the author of this handbook.

Many businesses provide assistance to schools in a variety of ways.  MBRT believes that, historically, businesses and schools have underestimated the importance of their interdependence and have underutilized each other's strengths and resources.  Over the past five years, MBRT has developed a model of business involvement in the school improvement process.  Its underlying philosophy is:  business involvement with a school should relate directly to improving student achievement.  At the very least, a business partner should serve as a full member of the School Improvement Team.

This publication includes:

• Why school business partnerships?
• What does a business partner do?
• The possibilities are endless: alternatives for partners
• Making partnerships work: answers to common questions
• Making contact: a directory of resources
• Glossary: some definitions of terms

Why School Business Partnerships?

We ask incredible things of our schools today.  As our economy and our culture become more global and increasingly technological, we expect our schools to not only prepare students to reach higher standards that will enable them to meet the challenges of the next century, but also to make the changes needed in an environment of social instability and limited resources.  If our schools succeed in producing graduates who can think and learn effectively in tomorrow's world, businesses will be among the first to benefit.  That is precisely why businesses have been among the first to commit themselves to the growing school reform movement.  It is both good conscience and good business.

Why School Reform?

Because, in Maryland and nationally, it has been apparent since the late 1980's that our schools had to change.  As the era of heavy industrial dependence gives way to the era of global information, graduates must be nimble with their minds as well as their hands in order to survive - not only in employment, but in everyday life.  The business world today, as well as society as a whole, demands new skills in learning, problem-solving and communicating.  And to keep up with these changes, our schools are increasingly called upon to raise standards of student performance and to see that students reach them.

But accomplishing real reform is not easy.  It has required a new approach: taking a hard look at the results of education, and seeing that the bottom line of teaching is learning.  Ultimately, the push for higher standards, and for schools to be measured by how their students perform, is a push for measuring schools by results.   In the words of one former longtime teacher who is now active in school reform, "It used to be that if a student failed, a teacher's attitude was, 'I taught it.   You didn't learn it.'  Now, with schools being judged by how students perform, the idea is, My students have not been taught until they have learned."

It's a huge distinction.  In Maryland, it has meant far-reaching change in how schools are run and evaluated, with a resulting shift to what is called "School-Based Decision-Making."  The idea is for each individual school to be responsible, and accountable, for the performance of its students.  This became official in 1990 with the state's establishment of the Maryland School Performance Program, which created four basic tools for reforming schools:

• statewide standards for student academic achievement and participation;
• an annual "school report card" for grading individual schools by these standards;
• a process for improving schools that need help; and
• recognition or sanctioning of schools for success or failure.

When it comes to making needed changes, schools cannot go it alone.  To meet higher performance goals, they need the kinds of strategic thinking, entrepreneurial energy, and focused expertise that business can provide.

What makes School-Based Decision-Making work are the same two vital ingredients that enable any business to solve organizational problems: access to information about key strengths and weaknesses, and a process for continuous improvement.  In the case of our schools, the critical information is the data (now available for every school statewide) about how well students are actually doing: in core areas of demonstrated learning, in attendance, in dropout rates.  And the process for solving school problems is the statewide network of School Improvement Teams - one in every school - in which committed people sit down over a school's "report card" and get down to the long-term work of helping that school to improve.  The School Improvement Team is where school reform really happens.  It is where business people, with their skills for planning and strategic thinking, can play a singularly vital role.

What is a School Improvement Team?

A School Improvement Team, or SIT, is a group of people who work together, in partnership, to guide a school through improvement.  When a business joins a SIT as part of this partnership, it is not to serve as a benefactor who "takes in" a needy school.  It is, instead, to join a group of equals who meet regularly to act as part of the process of improving a school.  A typical SIT may have approximately five to ten members, and may include a variety of people from the school community: school principal, teachers and staff, parents, business persons, neighborhood leaders.  What draws them together is a sense of collective responsibility: that is, in a real sense, their school.

As the Maryland State Board of Education describes it, a SIT "is charged with the responsibility to study the school's report card and other information and craft a measurable and reasonable plan that steers the school toward high expectations of achievement."  The key word is "achievement."  In the end, the job of a SIT is not to improve a school's decor or to replace worn-out lawn mowers, but to measurably improve student performance.  Members of a SIT, armed with what the data reveal to be the school's strengths and weaknesses, combine their talents and resources to improve the school in whatever ways might be necessary: from school rules and staff roles to instructional resources.

Just as in the case of a corporation, a SIT carries out strategic planning to meet realistic goals.  But the bottom line, in this instance, is the success of our children.  And this is where today's schools so greatly need the involvement of people from the business world - as caring partners in the day-to-day work of improving schools.

What Does a Business Partner Do?

A business partner, as a member of a School Improvement Team, attends regular team meetings and applies his or her talents and resources to making the school tangibly better.  This involves an honest, open, working relationship with the school principal.  The shared mission, against which the team will judge its efforts, is to measurably improve student achievement.

In this age of prioritizing school budgets, businesses tend to assume that schools want one thing from them: financial support.  To be sure, donating money or equipment in a targeted way to a school is a praiseworthy and much-needed act of generosity.  But a partnership is something else entirely.  A business partner makes a personal commitment to being part of a team effort to improve a school.  He or she attends regular SIT meetings, helps to develop a long-term strategic plan, and works cooperatively with other team members toward measurable progress.

He or she becomes what many in education reform call a "Critical Friend" to a school: an ally willing to stay the course.  It is precisely this kind of shoulder-to-shoulder teamwork, rather than the philanthropic "adopt-a-school" attitude, that many schools crave.  One superintendent spoke for many educators when he said:

"...don't adopt me.  I'm not an orphan.  Don't give me a handout.  I want a hand, and I don't want to share your profit margin.  I want to share in the profit of ideas."

Ultimately, all school-business partnerships have the same tightly-focused mission: to measurably improve a school's level of student achievement.  But for a business person willing to participate as a SIT partner, the synergy can be as unique and creative as the partners themselves.  A business partner can offer any number of eagerly-welcomed talents or perspectives to a School Improvement Team: experience3 in analyzing data or quantifying goals, willingness to take risks, ability to build community support for school change, an understanding of bureaucracies, knowledge of technology and software, fiscal expertise, management and staff training skills, long-range vision, and much more.  There are no rules about what qualities a business "should" bring to a SIT, except that they help the school to improve.  Like any partnership, a school-business relationship will tend to forge itself over time.  But for schools and businesses looking to get the most out of working together on a School Improvement Team, paying attention to a few vital dynamics from the outset can increase rewards and prevent problems.  As you enter any possible partnership, consider three points that have proven crucial in school-business teamwork:

1.  Know what you are prepared to offer, and what you expect in return. Schools and business partners alike often feel awkward about initially setting terms.  As one school partner remarks, "For both of us, starting the dance seems to be a difficult step."  But it is essential that you have clarity early.  State what you are willing to offer (and what you are not) and what assurances you want in return.  Be prepared, as well, to listen to what the school really needs.  But if your business has one clear area of expertise to offer, spell it out.  If you expect a certain level of communication and procedure, say so up front.  If you are a school principal who wonders whether a potential partner can commit to attending SIT meetings, ask.  Better to know now, and to act accordingly, than to surprise each other later.

2.  Be ready for give and take.  You have a right to set your own basic terms about participation before you commit to joining a SIT.  But once you're in, you're on a team.  Be ready for discussion, occasional disagreement, and careful consideration of solutions.  A SIT brings many points of view, and sometimes differing priorities, to the table.  The challenge is for the group to channel its cumulative judgment into making the right changes for "your" school.   Coming to an understanding of one another's perspectives is critical.  One tactic that serves some SITS well is for members (e.g., a business person and a school principal) to "shadow" one another through a typical working day.  Often, a formal signed contract, even if only as a gesture, also helps to cement a partnership.

3.  Agree on what is to be accomplished. Before a SIT partnership can succeed, its members must first define success.  It is crucial, in the early stages, to agree upon desired outcomes and the benchmarks that will be used to measure them.  What specific improvements in student performance are desired for the school?  What changes will have to be made in order to achieve these improvements?   How will the results be measured?  Agreeing on answers to such questions is the first priority for any SIT.  A clear mission, and a clear set of measurements, are essential if a SIT partnership is to be effective and rewarding.  A school, after all, is a slow-growth investment; specific program improvements may only gradually translate into higher test scores.  School partnerships often last for years, and a well-mapped plan can make all the difference for long-term results.

Considerations for Potential Partners

The Possibilities Are Endless:  Alternatives for Partners

For businesses who opt not to join a School Improvement Team, there are countless other ways to act as effective partners: volunteering, lending expertise, providing equipment, and innumerable other options.  Be open-minded.   Sincere dialogue between school and business will reveal what works.

When joining a School Improvement Team is not an option, there are still limitless partnership alternatives.  With good communication and negotiation, anything is possible.

At Carter Woodson Elementary School in Baltimore City, for example, Baltimore Sun Company employees are intensively tutoring and mentoring students.  At Beacon Heights Elementary School in Prince George's County, PEPCO has organized a very popular "Junior Achievement" program in which company volunteers teach students about economics.  At Northeast High School in Anne Arundel County, Harbor Hospital has put on a health screening fair for school staff, and also donated use of its facilities for strategic development retreats.  And, for more than 600 educators from across the state, Perdue Farms has provided a special 2 1/2-day course in team-building.

Every partnership is unique.  But, as examples, here are some areas in which business partners commonly help schools:

• Training teachers and students in a field, e.g., computers
• Helping teachers and students to learn more about business
• Providing job training for students and job shadowing for teachers and staff
• Mentoring or tutoring students; establishing work-study programs
• Providing consultants for school staff training, e.g., team-building
• Helping schools to establish improved systems, e.g., bookkeeping
• Analyzing data, e.g., revealing interconnection of attendance, grade reports and test scores
• Helping students to develop volunteer or cultural programs

Making Partnerships Work: Answers to Common Questions

How much of my time will a partnership require?

Typically, School Improvement Teams meet for two hours once or twice a month.   A business partner can expect to invest a total of four to eight hours per month, depending on the situation.

How can I find potential school or business partners?  Who should make the first move?

If you are seeking a potential partner, local school district partnership coordinators and chambers of commerce can be good sources of information.  You can also contact a school principal or a business directly with your inquiry.  In any case, be aggressive in your search.  Too often, potential partners on both sides simply wait to be approached.

How do I choose the best possible partner?

Look for compatibility and proximity.  Choose a partner who genuinely needs what you offer, who can meet your own expectations, and who is located within reasonable reach.  Be willing to say no to a partnership that does not meet these criteria.   Look for long-term compatibility; generally, partners are asked for a three-year commitment.

Do I need training?  Is it available?

Training is both advisable and available.  The Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, in collaboration with the Maryland State Department of Education, provides training for business partners and school principals on the school improvement process and expectations within partnerships.  We also offer model contracts and tools for reviewing progress.  See Making Contact.

Is there a preferred time to begin a partnership?

Yes.  The beginning of the school year, in August or September, is the best time for a partnership to begin, since it provides an entire working year.  Ideally, conversations leading to the partnership will have begun the previous school year.   In any case, talk with your potential partner and agree on the timing.

Once in, can I quit?

Of course.  Generally, a business should treat its school partnership as a position rather than as one employee's personal interest.  If the key school partner leaves, the company assigns an appropriate successor.  This assures needed continuity and top-down company commitment.  In the event that a business (or a school) must alter or terminate the partnership, the other party should be given adequate lead time.   Some partners use non-binding "contracts" as a gesture of agreeing on fair terms of commitment.

What is the one most important thing I should know?

Know what you are willing and able to do as a partner.  If you are clear about what you bring to the table, you will never find yourself trapped in an inappropriate role.  And you will make the strongest possible contribution to improving a school.

Do I need protection from any legal liability?

It depends upon the nature of the partnership.  When tutoring or mentoring is involved, for example, some partners establish formal guidelines to clearly define roles and expectations for tutor-student contact.  Provision of direct services may also require clear delineation of responsibilities.  Some partners draw up actual written agreements for participants to sign.  Others do not.  If you are not certain what is appropriate or necessary in Maryland, consult your local Board of Education or school principal.  MBRT can also provide resources.

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