Writing about businesses in his book. Fast Forward: The Best Ideas on Managing Business Change, James Champy (1996) says that early in most organizational changes, no one may know what these changes will mean to the individual. "Concerns cannot be met by a one-way form of communication," he warns. "We must mobilize managers to have conversations with people across the organization about the drivers and implications of the change program. It's in the give and take of discussion that people will discover the truth about what's likely to h^>pen'' (p. 10). Yet, some of today's school leaders complain that discussions witii parents frequentiy sQrmie progress as much as they support it (Dykstra & Fege, 1997). Therefore, schools are left with the concern that if they go to parents to gain input, they may find needed changes halted. But if they fail to do so, support for and confidence in schools are eroded. So what are the leaders of today's schools to do? Perhaps Richard A. Gibboney put it best when he writes in his book. The Stone Trwrqjet, "Widespread and fimdamental school reform will only come when the larger socieQr demands and forces it" 252). School/hning rnirnnmiicatinn According to the National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs developed by the National Parent Teacher Association, when there is commimication, too often school or program communication is one-way without the chance to exchange ideas and share perceptions. Further, effective home-school communication is the two-way sharing of information vital to smdent success. So a key component to building successful parmerships with j^milies is an increased emphasis on two-way conamunication. Traditionally, schools send mfonnational notices or requests to parents who are then expected to read and take the appropriate action. Schools usually assume parental support for their requests and expectations and rarely ask parents to express their opinion or reaction (Bamett, 1995). 10 procedures of individual school buildings, the school administration of individual school buildings, the teachers and professional staff of individual school buildings, and the siq>port staffe of individual school buildings. 8. To create a model instrument to be used by school districts in the 1998-99 school year. Hypotheses to be Tested This investigation sought to identify discriminating, reliable, and valid criteria to be used by schools to create evaluation instruments for parents. Specific hypotheses to be tested were: 1. The reliability of the items on a parent evaluation questionnaire about the board of education, made up of items firom the literature and selected by a judgment panel, will be greater than or equal to .7S. 2. The reliability of the items on a parent evaluation questionnaire about the district administration, made up of items from the literature and selected by a judgment panel, will be greater than or equal to .75. 3. The reliability of the items on a parent evaluation questionnaire about the programs, policies, and procedures of an individual schoo...
