Hot-button Issue: Integrating training needs

Using both paid providers and volunteers in school settings

By Kathryn Furano and Corina Chavez
Corporation for National and Community Service Effective Practices

Programs often have a mix of paid members and non-paid volunteers working together on projects. While there are benefits to this arrangement, there are management challenges as well. No matter how well-intentioned volunteers are, without an infrastructure to support and direct their efforts, they are less likely to be effective and, worse yet, may withdraw from the program.
Action

Working effectively as an outsider in school settings, regardless of program curriculum, requires a solid plan and the ability to communicate it to administrators, teachers and other school personnel.

During the first year of the Public/Private Ventures study, the seven participating sites shared effective practices:

Strategies to initiate effective partnerships:

Show how your program will help achieve existing educational objectives — considering both administrative and operational levels, from state departments of education to individual school buildings.

Articulate what your program will provide and accomplish. Who will benefit and what will the outcomes be?

Engage school personnel prior to program start-up. A high level of engagement up front will result in ongoing support and “investment” in the results.

Be clear up front about programmatic processes, objectives, and expectations. This candidness can alleviate apprehension and delineate areas of responsibility.

Strategies for training paid providers:

Build on the experience of outgoing paid providers and volunteers. Gather input from paid and non-paid providers who are transitioning out of service. Build a notebook of activities, fliers, newsletters and notes that can help providers operate effectively and consistently.

Tap into the expertise of specialists to train tutors or encourage students enrolled in reading instruction courses to become volunteer tutors.

Strategies for fitting in the school community:

Take the initiative. Be visible, but pro-active. Be careful not to overwhelm school staff. Attending various school activities, such as assemblies and staff meetings, contributes to increased acceptance.

Incorporate programming into the existing school structure. School structure influences fit in several ways, such as school openness and accountability to local residents; existence of other outside programs; previous experience of staff and administrators with other outside programs; and the willingness on the school’s part to facilitate a “fit” through policy and development opportunities.

Use school resources strategically and diplomatically. Certain resources will be required, such as space, access to fax machines, and copy machines. Be aware of and responsive to the dynamics that surround the ownership and use of these resources. Offer to use the equipment after school hours or at less busy times of day. Become resourceful at using scarce resources.

Recognize and respond to barriers. These may be structural, transitional, or timing-related.

Become a value-added resource.

Have a paid provider who can manage the volunteers, as well as fill-in for volunteers who are late or sick.

Identify only one person (the paid service provider) that the teacher needs to contact when there is a classroom scheduling change.

Originally published in Combining Paid Service and Volunteerism: Strategies for Effective Practice in School Settings. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures, August 1999.