PYC was a community-based organizing network of parents/guardians, students, and community stakeholders in the Winooski and greater Burlington area, who supported the transition to an educational experience that is proficiency-based in the public school setting. Parents and Youth for Change also partnered with Vermont Interfaith Action for community organizing training and
support.

Parents and Youth for Change focused on organizing parents and youth in Burlington and Winooski. Proficiency based learning is a way to systematically approach public education so all students will achieve at high levels without gaps among subgroups. This aligns with the state of Vermont’s Flexible Pathways Initiative or Act 77, which approaches student-centered learning by creating Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs).

Parents and Youth for Change received financial support, technical assistance, and inspiration from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Center for Youth & Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE) of Roger Williams University (formerly known as the Annenberg Institute for Education Reform at Brown University). Together, the NMEF and CYCLE provided the time and space to create safe, professional learning communities among school reform practitioners across New England.

The PYC Approach

With the goal of creating education opportunities that account for specific students needs, PYC aimed to discover power through relationship building and learning together.

This process began with members getting to know each other and identifying issues that both parents and students are affected by, and ended with securing commitments from decision makers to implement solutions. In the middle there was lots of learning, sense making, sharing experiences, reflecting on our process, food, and laughter!

Watch the video on PYC’s Spring 2016 public action meeting!

PYC Accomplishments

• Family Friendly Report Card in Burlington

  • A self-assessment, developed by a former Burlington Home-School Liaison and generated by students and parents or as a report to share generated by or with teachers, advisors and guidance counselors. It is also meant to be an educational and planning tool to help students and families to better understand how classes are organized and the path to career-college goals.

  • Examples of the family friendly report card can be found here and here.

• Key partners in the discipline system reform with the Burlington School District

  • Parents and Youth for Change facilitated a listening campaign and research meetings with influential members of the Burlington School District to learn how to best integrate restorative practices into the disciplinary program.

  • Read the PYC Discipline Research Report here.

  • PYC staff completed the Summer Institute in Restorative Practices hosted by the Community Justice Center in St. Johnsbury, Vermont as well as continuing ongoing workshops with Advancing Restorative Justice in Schools practitioners.

• Winooski Transportation Pilot Program

  • PYC helped to secure funding for a transportation pilot that will shuttle students to school during the coldest winter months to make getting to school safer, more timely, and less stressful for families in Winooski.

  • Ongoing meetings with Winooski families to determine the best pick-up locations, how to use travel time productively, and what types of data to analyze to determine what impacts the pilot may have on student outcomes in the district.
    
    

• New advisory program for Burlington High School students

  • PYC surveyed 100 students and had 1:1 interviews with roughly 90 teachers from Burlington High School to learn about the hopes and concerns of how an effective advisory program at BHS could be designed.

  • PYC worked with BHS to propose an advisory program that focused on understanding how students develop and reach their college and career-readiness goals.

  • PYC continues to assist the school with monitoring and assessing its progress. Read more about it here.
    
    

• Education Matters Report

  • PYC’s work has also informed the education policy research report published by Voices for Vermont’s Children at the state level.
     

• Student-Led Forums

  • Student-Led Community Forums in Burlington, Winooski and South Burlington, addressing post-2016 presidential election community needs. Working with three of the most diverse high schools in the State of Vermont, these forums engaged a significant number of student leaders, community partners, and participants from many different parts of the community.

  • A summary of the student led community forums can be found here.

PYC Partners