Impact Results and Reviews

MegaSkills® Education Center
The Home and School Institute, Inc.

The MegaSkills Programs are recognized programs with an established academic and character development track record extending over fifteen years.

The MegaSkills programs have been adopted by schools across the nation. Sites where the program has been used with documented success include Lowndes County, MS, Edgewood, San Antonio, TX, Winslow Township, NJ, San Diego, CA, Broward County, FL, Louisville, KY, Lyford, TX, and Fairfax County, VA.

The MegaSkills Program is identified by the Character Education Partnership (CEP)

as a nationally recognized character education program, and over 300 websites link MegaSkills and character education.

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2008: MegaSkills Essentials in the Classroom Training

            Winslow Township, NJ

Responses indicated that Winslow Township educators learned from the trainers model lessons and watching peers teach the MegaSkills lessons to colleagues. These practice lessons, role-playing, group activities, and high levels of interaction were highlighted as strengths of the training format.

Winslow Township participants noted that the training content stressed practical uses of the MegaSkills Essentials in the Classroom curriculum while emphasizing academic learning. A major thrust was incorporating and integrating learning and discussion of the MegaSkills into academic lessons through all curriculum areas including literature.

The MegaSkills Essentials in the Classroom Program was evaluated to be a valuable in-service experience. The Winslow Township educators, after learning how to use the program and developing Action Plans, indicated they will be implementing it immediately.

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Research Findings: 2006

            In Support of the work of MegaSkills

Psychological Science, Dec. 2005

Study by Duckworth and Seligman:

Reported by Gerald Bracey in the Kappan March 2006:

“What distinguishes top students from others? Are they simply smarter? If so, what explains the wide range of performance among children with equal IQ?”

The results suggest that self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent. The researchers also state: “…we believe that insofar as grade point average reflects performance on hundreds of exams. Papers, class discussions and homework assignments assessed by multiple teachers over the course of a school year, GPA is a more valid indicator of academic achievement than a standardized test that samples a student’s knowledge and skills over a course of a few hours”

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Phi Delta Kappan: February 2006

Character and Academics: What Good Schools Do

Study by Jacques S. Benninga et al

“It is clear that well-conceived programs of character education can and should exist side by side with strong academic programs…At a time when resources are scarce, we see schools cutting programs and narrowing curricula to concentrate on skills measured by standardized tests. Our research suggests that school goals and activities that are associated with good character programs are also associated with academic achievement.”

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The MegaSkills Programs have been used with diverse populations in a variety of settings:

Groups served include African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific, newly arriving immigrant families and at-risk families. Materials are culturally sensitive and have been translated into Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Lao and Creole for non-English speaking families. The program has been adopted for all Title I Schools in Broward County, FL .

MegaSkills Program has been used successfully in special education centers

The MegaSkills Classroom program provides learning activities for different learning modalities including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic experiences and at a range of ability levels.

Lowndes County, MS. (2004)

“Over twelve years Lowndes County increased the school success of children and the participation of parents in the schools’ academic programs. The lowest academic achieving children whose parents participated in the program showed improvement in such school achievement indicators as grades, tests, and reduction of disciplinary incidents.

The program has strengthened communities and parent involvement. Due in large part to the MegaSkills parent workshop program, Lowndes County School District has reported increased parental involvement by more than 10% each year. Based on the 2002-2003 report card for Lowndes County Schools, fewer students are in the minimal proficient level of distribution and more students are in the proficient level of distribution. None of our schools are in school improvement. The graduation rate has increased to more than 75%.”

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MEGASKILLS MENTOR (TRAIN-THE-TRAINER) TRAINING

First piloted with the Broward County (FL) and San Diego (CA) schools in partnership with the Council of the Great City Schools, MegaSkills Mentor training, in which educators are trained in how to train others in the use of the MegaSkills Parent Workshop and Classroom Essentials Program, has been successfully provided in cooperation with other educational organizations: National Education Association (NEA) (2002-2003); Fairfax Education Association (FEA)/Virginia Education Association (VEA) (2003).

In 2003, MegaSkills Mentor training under a NEA grant was extended to representatives from organizations serving Hispanic families, including The National Council of La Raza, ASPIRA, and the National Association for Bilingual Education.

Documented MegaSkills Program Impact

Broward County, Fl (2002), The MegaSkills Parent Workshop Program has been designated as Broward County’s official parent training program and has been expanded using a train-the-trainers approach.

         Ratings on the State of Florida’s A Plus grading scale of many of

         the schools using the MegaSkills has increased, in cases from C or D to A.

         Title I staff report that “The MegaSkills Parenting Program positively

         impacts the achievement gap for many students as evidenced by the 2002

         FCAT Grades for Broward County Schools.”

National Education Association (NEA) 2002, HSI trained NEA staff as mentors to successfully provide the MegaSkills programs to affiliates in 28 states. Overall, 825 leaders for MegaSkills parent workshops and 761 teachers and staff to use the MegaSkills Classroom Essentials curriculum were reached using the train-the-trainers approach.

NEA mentors report that the program helped to build the capacity of high priority schools and provided parents with practical skills for helping their children develop the reading, language arts, and other skills needed for school success. The Mentors also report that the programs strengthened the commitment of families to their local schools.

Update an NEA MegaSkills Mentor Program (2005) A debriefing session was conducted with a group of NEA mentors (Feb. 2005) to share their experiences over

the past two years in providing training to NEA members in the MegaSkills Parent Workshop and Classroom Essentials Programs. They reported that: The NEA members found that the training provided both a valuable knowledge base and practical applications for working with students and families. The training had special value for new teacher members in providing them with the tools they needed for working with parents and for managing students and discipline in their classrooms.

Fairfax Education Association (FEA) 2002-2003. FEA mentors have provided MegaSkills Parent Workshop training to staff in all the schools in Fairfax County’s Cluster IV, where most of the County’s high priority needs schools are located. Parent Liaisons, guidance counselors, and parent volunteers were trained to promote continuity between the home and school. FEA mentors are currently training teachers and instructional assistants in these same schools in the MegaSkills Classroom Essentials Program. To date over 250 teaching staff have been trained.

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Edgewood, San Antonio, Texas – 2002:Adelante con MegaSkills®

Edgewood Independent School District a predominantly Hispanic, low income district, on the move to educational excellence. Selecting MegaSkills® was a conscious decision to find a tool that would acknowledge the strengths of their families and their students and give these families and students a framework for moving ahead.

Nancy Feyl Chavkin, Professor of Social Work & Co-Director

Center for Children and Families, Southwest Texas State University

Volunteer Hours Before and After MegaSkills® Was Initiated

                                                     1999 (before)                            2001 (after)

Elementary                                         89,867                                 145,643

High School                                       4,626                                    13,336

Winslow Township Elementary School # 1 – 2002

Blue Anchor, New Jersey. In comparing 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 ( to date) results

for Winslow Township School #1 School Suspension decreased by 75% office referrals decreased by 46% and Bus Suspensions and Bus Disciplinary Reports decreased by 93% and 91%.

In Lyford, TX (2000), a 96% Hispanic rural community with a sizable migrant, non-English speaking population, administrators, teachers, students and parents were in strong agreement that the program had a strong impact in helping students and families. One principal remarked, “MegaSkills has done wonders for us. We’ve had a huge drop in discipline referrals.”

In addition to positive outcomes in discipline and school climate, students in the Lyford, Texas schools showed strong gains on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test (TAAS 2000).

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In San Diego, CA (2000), teachers at elementary schools were surveyed about the changes they observed in the classroom behaviors of children whose parents participated in the program. Positive changes were reported for large majorities of the children, including: More organized and ready for learning 74%; More completion of homework 78%; More ability to work cooperatively 79%; Improved conduct and discipline 67%.

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The Austin, TX (1992), Independent School District tracked 1196 students in grades pre K-6 and found that students whose parents participated in the program showed: Higher scores on statewide achievement tests, higher attendance rates, fewer discipline problems, higher test scores than the national average.

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Memphis, TN (1990), Memphis State University researchers, evaluating the impact of the program on participating families, found: Increased time spent on homework, decreased time watching TV during the school week, and increased parent/child interaction time.

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Evidence from the field demonstrates the significance of this program for character education and education reform…. Many children today are not acquiring the understandings they need about what it takes to succeed and the hope they need for themselves. The MegaSkills program builds these understandings, the true basics that sustain us even as the world around us changes. Today, more than ever, these need to be taught.

©The Home and School Institute, 2008.
Based on the book - MegaSkills®: Building Children's Achievement for the

Information Age by Dorothy Rich, Ed.D.
MegaSkills Education Center, 1500 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Wash., DC 20005

(202) 466-3633 www.MegaSkills.org