10. Successful parent involvement nurtures relationships and partnerships. It strengthens bonds between home and school, parent and educator, parent and school and parent and community.
- What steps has your school community taken to gauge the success of your bonds with the parent/care-giver community?
9. Any parent can be "hard to reach". Parents must be identified and approached individually; they are not defined by gender, ethnicity, family situation, education or income.
- Do you differentiate your approach to parent outreach or utilize a "one-size-fits-all" strategy?
8. Most barriers to parent involvement are found within school practices. They are not found within parents?
- Is your current approach working? When was the last time you surveyed parents to find out how they want you to include them? What about their schedule?
- Have you made accommodations to have workshops for parents at non-traditional times? (during the school day, after school, during the summer break, early mornings, or evenings after 5pm?)
- How does your school track parent-to-child involvement? Are there family literacy nights? Homework sheets and book logs that require parent signatures?
- Have you celebrated moments of small success?
- Has your school memorialized what parent involvement looks like, sounds like, and feels like in your community? Has this message been drafted with the support of parents?
- Has this message been communicated to parents at PTA meetings, schools newsletters, teacher conferences, etc?
- Does your school have a Parent Coordinator or someone else in an official capacity dedicated to coordinating and serving the needs of your families?
- Have you created a rubric of what successful parent involvement looks like at your school?
- What are your next steps?
- Have you posted your parent involvement goals publicly? Are small milestones celebrated and communicated on a regular basis?
3. The parent is the central contributor to a child's education. Schools can either co-op that role or recognize the potential of the parent.
- How will you help parents learn meaningful ways to connect with their child's school outside of Parent-Teacher conference night, back to school night, and graduation?
2. The home is one of the several spheres that simultaneously influence a child. The school must work with other spheres for the child's benefit, not push them apart.
- As educators, we often encounter behaviors from our students that are less than acceptable. How can you reinforce positive behavior without putting down a particular parents style of parenting. Everyone has the right to raise their child in the way they see fit so long as the methods are legal. When you encounter a child who says "my mom lets me do it" - exercise sensitivity with your response. Be firm and let students know the code of conduct, without putting down the parent. This may also be an indication that parents need training or awareness about the school's code of conduct.
- Have you provided parents with an opportunity to respond or influence the school's code of conduct or do you simply send home a note and ask parent's to "sign and return" ?
1. ALL PARENTS have hopes and dreams for their children. They differ in how they support their children's effort to achieve these goals.
- Do you believe that all parents have dreams for the children, regardless of their situation, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or socioeconomic status?
- Have you asked parents about their hopes and dreams for their children? Why or why not?
The same way it's important for teachers to BELIEVE that ALL CHILDREN can learn, we must also believe that ALL parents want a better life for their children.
When we operate from that framework, we are open to the infinite possibilities of utilizing parent involvement as a tool for increasing student achievement.
What do you believe?
No comments:
Post a Comment