Transcript Slide 1

Research on Parent Involvement
 Effects of Family and Parent Engagement
 School attendance increases
 Better attitudes about school
 Discipline problems decrease
 Children go on to higher education
 Good Types of Involvement Programs
 Emphasize academics
 Monitor involvement at home
 How to Involve Parents
 Relationships are important: Build trust and respect
Benefits of Involving Parents
Educating children is a tough job – no one entity
can do it alone!
 More can be accomplished as a team
 Both parents and teachers experience “burnout” when all
pressures are placed on them
 Establish an equal partnership so everyone participates to
help the child learn
Tension between Parents and Teachers
 Parents are required to leave their child with a stranger all
day
 Schools must work to overcome barriers
 Difference of cultural backgrounds
 Parents who do not speak English
 Schools can take the first step to link parents into
education
School Resistance to Parent Involvement
 Teachers are unsure of how to involve parents
 Few opportunities to learn how to communicate with
parents
 Isolationist view
 Classrooms are private - only the teacher and students
belong inside
 May need encouragement to invite parents in
 More training must be provided on parent/teacher
communication
Avoiding Adversarial Relationships
Book: Including Every Parent, Patrick O’Hearn Elementary School
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Set small goals
 Improvement takes time and effort
Leadership of principal is key
 ‘Walk the walk’ of collaboration, communication, welcoming
Show willingness to communicate
 Employ a welcoming philosophy
Examine school attitudes about parents
Offer training for parents showing them how to help their children
academically
Implications of Laws
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No Child Left Behind and Put Reading First Initiative
 Reading First was established as part of NCLB
Requires parent access to information
Only available in certain schools, but serves as model for all
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Effective administrators have always involved parents; now
schools are accountable for parent involvement
 Tied to funding
 Adds level of accountability
 Ensures that parents in failing schools have access to information
and services
 Encourages rich partnership between parents and schools
Impact of Parent Involvement on Reading
 Read Boston Initiative
 Parents sign reading contract and read to kids 3-4 times per
week
 Result: gains in reading scores
 Literacy can be the key to involvement
 Parents want to know how to help
Parent Involvement Under NCLB
 Title I Schools must:
 Inform parents of services, programs and progress
 Offer school choice program
 Policy emphasizes parental rights and responsibilities
 Allows parents to be better informed
 Encourages advocacy
Building Motivation for Partnerships
 As a teacher/administrator
 Share success stories with colleagues
Models, examples from other schools can prompt discussion
 Teachers and principals with vision can bring about change!
 As a parent
 Research your child’s problem
 Be informed
 Engage in positive dialogue with school faculty
Video
Thomas Johnson School, Baltimore, MD
Children’s Literacy Initiative
 Guidance and leadership from principal
 Expected parent involvement
 Early Literacy program requires involvement
 Evident when parents are/are not involved
 Parents of absentees are called/visited each morning
 Message to parents: School matters!
Overcoming Excuses
 Expect involvement both from parents and schools
 Reflect on practices at home and school
 Identify the factors that impact reading achievement
(positively and negatively)
 Shared mission: Make reading a priority in school and at
home
 Set clear goals, develop a plan
 Analyze data
 Create incentives for involvement
Partnership with public library – rewards kids for visiting
 Self knowledge and examination of current system is
crucial for success
Involving Parents and the Community
Children are a community’s greatest resource
 Call upon existing strengths within the community
 Use data to influence involvement
 Student surveys about reading habits at home
 Advice for principals:
 Examine school culture
 Identify areas of strength and weakness
 Capitalize on strengths and work to reduce barriers to
reading proficiency
Teachers
 Find what works through research and experience
 Examine practice within and across grade levels
 Standardize practices
 What works? What is based in research?
 Get the rest out of the way
 Encourage collaboration
 Create opportunities for discussion
 Set aside time during the work day to allow the staff to
discuss methods and coordinate vision
Encouraging Parent Involvement
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Involve community organizations
 Go where the parents are: church, grocery store, local businesses,
etc.
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Establish ‘family room’
 Supply books
 Talk to parents
 Offer workshops
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Allow classroom observation
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Share strategies both parents and teachers have found
 Encourage communication of ideas
 Makes parents feel involved and gives teachers valuable
information
Making it Work in Your School
 Importance of building relationships
 Hands-on approach effective in building trust
 Home visits, direct contact with families
 Reach out to parents
 Schools can be intimidating for parents
 Schools should take the first step in communication
 Welcome parent ideas
 Acknowledge parents’ unique knowledge about their child
 View as whole-school approach, not just an add-on
Parent Views
 Make sure parents are welcome in educational realm, not
just in school building
 Classroom observation
 True participation in learning
 Many parents want to do more than help at fundraisers
 Provide guidance for helping struggling readers
 Be a model for parents
 Show parents techniques to use at home
 Invite parents to be engaged in content
Video
Mira’s Family, San Jose, CA
Foundation for reading success begins early
 Everyday opportunities to learn concepts of print:
 Grocery Stores
 Shopping Lists
 Letter magnets at home
 Daily reading time
 Child learns how books are used, how reading works
 Message to child: Reading is a pleasure!
Ideas for Parents of Struggling Readers
 Look to schools first
 Talk with classroom teachers
 Become informed on the reading process
 Understand your role
 Three aspects: coach, monitor, and advocate
Set TV limits at home
Provide good books
 Follow child’s interests
 Encourage reading throughout adolescence
Understanding the Parent Perspective
 Parents need encouragement to become partners
 Trained teachers and collaborative school community can
help bring parents in
 Parents feel up against a system
 May not understand it; feel that it doesn’t always work in
their child’s best interest
 Need to learn the system and understand how to make it
work for their child
 Engage parents in a dialogue
 Provide models for the home/school relationship
 Parents can serve as models for other parents
Tips for Parents
 Know about your child, how things are going at school
 Ask for specific information
 Reading level, progress, screening information
 Explanation of data
 Ways you can help
 Available services
Role of Parent in Early Intervention
 Contact the teacher right away to discuss problems
 Notice signs of struggles at home
 Child avoids reading aloud
 Child struggles to recognize common words
 Provide a reading environment at home
 Be a coach as the child learns how to read
 Model at school
Often, parents of struggling readers had problems in school
themselves
 Should be encouraged to take an active, positive role
Bringing Parents In
 Give parents power
 Involve them as a positive change agent
 Organizations for parents
 Parent Teacher Association
 Institute for Responsive Education
 Parents for Public Schools
 Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
 Parent liaison
 Contact point between families and school
 Set up workshops, create opportunities for parent
involvement
 Can be less intimidating for other parents
Getting Information to Parents
 Pass along information to parents from national
organizations
 Tools, tips, resources
 Find small instructional activities that kids can practice at
home
 Speeds progress in school
 Offers parents area of engagement that is purposeful and
that matters
 Share with parents:
 Child’s current reading level
 Child’s expected reading level
 Materials that parent can use at home to reinforce class
work
Video
Neile’s Family, Raleigh, NC
 Phonemic Awareness
 Knowledge that words are made of individual sounds
 Parent involvement
 Word games
 Rhyming games
 Reading with children
Helping Struggling Readers
 Research is providing more information on how to help
kids
 Communicate research-based methods to teachers
through professional development
 Shift from seeing parent involvement as an add-on to a
whole-school improvement strategy
 Make parents aware of their important role in literacy
development
Involving Experienced Teachers
Overcoming Resistance to Change
 Provide professional development
 Give everyone in the school responsibility to communicate
with parents
 Teachers, aides, counselors, administrators, nurses
 Administrator should set expectation, model strategies
 Ease tension, anxiety about parent relationships
 Provide information on how to conduct conferences
Teachers want a positive relationship with parents!
Talking to Teachers
Tips for Parents
 Use data to discuss academic progress
 Keeps focus on child improvement
 Reduces sense of personal attack, blame
 Use partnership language to build trust
 Express willingness to help
 Ask for strategies to use at home
Helping a Struggling Reader
without a formal reading program
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Advocate for use of a formal reading program
 Programs are research-based
 Help teachers address all areas of reading development
Advocate for early literacy screening
Meanwhile…
 Coach child at home, but advocate for change
 Parents should supplement, but not replace, school curriculum
 Become involved in the parent council at school
 Organize with other parents to address concerns
Benefits of Student-Led Conferences
 Portfolio works are selected by the student
 Student reflects and communicates ideas
 Parents and teachers join in discussion with student
 Leads to self- advocacy later in life for the child
 Articulation of goals
 Understanding of progress
Involving Busy Parents
 Information does not have to stay at school
 Hold events at community locations: grocery store, nail
shop
 Go where the parents are!
 Make it easy for parents to attend events
 Provide transportation, food
 Encourage parents to make school a priority
Difficulty Communicating with a Teacher
 Remain professional
 Your child is watching the interaction and could suffer if it
is conducted poorly
 Contact a school guidance counselor to mediate
 Improve relationship with the teacher
 Do not give up or go over the teacher’s head
 If necessary, involve principal
Working with Non-Reading/Non-English
Speaking Parents
 Have child read to parents for practice
 Involve extended family
 Grandparents, siblings
 Use whatever reading material is in the home
 Comic books, cookbooks
 Provide audio-taped stories for child
 Tell stories to children
 You do not have to be a reader to encourage literacy
 Encourage school to provide GED/ESL classes for
parents
Balancing Structured Curriculum and
Parent Concerns
 Be creative
 Find ways to integrate literature across content areas
 Encourage reading at home
 Use the school library for independent reading books
 Encourage parents to take their children to public libraries
for reading at home
Working with Demanding Parents
 Channel parent energy
 Use parents as a resource for the school
 Ask parents questions, make them partners
 Simply asking a parent questions about their child can make
them feel useful and involved
 Involve parents in a positive role in the school
 Encourage them to serve on the parent council
Turn demanding parents into advocates for the school!
Final Thoughts
 Parents are powerful
 Village concept – engage community and families
 Parent and schools working together can lighten the burden
and benefit students
 Parents can demonstrate the value of literacy without
being a reading teacher themselves
 Parents: Advocate for early literacy screening to avoid
reading problems later!
Thanks for watching!
For more information,
visit www.ReadingRockets.org!