In this section we will share ideas about different activities we can create or adapt to use in our classrooms and in school to foster an atmosphere of collaboration between the teachers, the school administration, and the parents that will support student's overall success. The National PTA Toolkit provided us with a good start.
National Parent Involvement Standard 3 states that: Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.
Parent involvement in children’s education has an impact on student success, not just in school but throughout life. When families are involved, students:
- Earn higher grades
- Attend school more regularly
- Enjoy school more and behave better; and
- Students are more likely to go on to post-secondary education
However, to become engaged in ways that boost student achievement, many families need information and encouragement from school staff and PTA/parent group leaders.
GOALS
- Share information about student progress. Families should be informed of how their children are doing in school, as well as how the entire school is progressing. Questions that this standard addresses include:
- Do parents and teachers communicate about student progress?
- Do parents learn what good work looks like for their child's age and grade?
- Does the school use test results to inform parents which students skills need strengthening?
- Support learning by engaging families. Families should be active participants in their children’s learning at home and at school.
- Are families invited to observe their children's classrooms?
- How do schools help families strengthen learning at home?
- What after school learning opportunities are there?
SOURCE: NATIONAL PTA
Additional suggestions
- Everyday Math letter to family
- Weekly behavior report
- Progress reports
- Visit or connect with parents from beginning
- Weekly newsletter, upcoming events
- Positive feedback phone calls on behavior and progress, even if this is normal student behavior
- Difficult students: make a phone call not only when the student misbehave but also when the student shows positive attitude
- When students do not complete the homework have them call home
- Ask parents for suggestions on how to help child at school
- Organize monthly family night:
- Math Bingo (prices from donations, and depending on the season)
- Literacy Night
- Blood Bank Drive
- Science Night
- Carving Night (seasonal event)
- Parent-Child check up:
- Help your child to _____
- We are working on _____ (concept)
- Have you child explain ____ (science, math, language, geography, social studies)
- Learning Log: Daily, Weekly
- Parent signature for the learning log and/or homework completion
- Have a classroom list for the students to sign in when they bring their homework
- Student gets pink slip when they do not bring their homework (must be returned with parent signature)
- Appreciation for families
- Open opportunities for volunteering
- Parent-Volunteer Survey posted outside the classroom, on the website or sent home.
- Invite parent to come and read with students (reading time)
- Have parents come in and do a read aloud
- Have parents come and share life occupation, or career with the class
- Share special hobbies (i.e. world currency collector, sports memorabilia, etc)
Note: Education World is a fantastic site to obtain templates for most of the suggestions listed above. Help your child become a better reader, this list can provide parents with guidance regarding literacy. This chart will provide parents with a rubric for reading comprehension.
Templates
Helping Kids Succeed - Alaskan Style Survey - from Asset Building, A Shared Responsibility in reference to the checklists on pages 24-27 on the book with the same title.
Standard 3 Assessment Guide - A Rubric that helps gauge the progress of this standard (Performance indicators).
Power of Partnerships Family Survey - questions 11-14 refer to this section
Articles
- Success Tips From a Middle-School Principal, this article addresses 14 points regarding parent involvement in the students welfare and progress at home and at school. Mr. Potter gives the parents casual advise and suggestions on how to carry out each of the 14 points. Mr. Potter stresses the importance of the parent's continued involvement on the student's school life after elementary school and into middle and high school.
- Association of American Colleges and Universities, Winter 2008, this article is about the relevance of how academic advising is an integral piece that increases the student's learning process. Although, it is meant for College level students the principles of academic advising as part of the learning process can be applied to middle and high school.
Multicultural Parent Involvement
ASD Resources:
Articles of interest:
- From Education.com: Family Involvement in Early Multicultural Learning
- Multicultural Parental Involvement: A Case Study of Korean Immigrant Parental Involvement in their Children's Schooling
- From the Cypress-Fairbank independent School District VIPS Executive Board Multicultural Committee Parental Involvement: Strategies to Reach & Involve Multicultural Families
Additional Resources
- Additional Resources (PTA), Word document downloaded from the National PTA.
- Parent Talk Schedule of upcoming seminars to support and guide parents and teachers in providing guidance for children's lifelong success.
- Tools for Student Success, this site has links to resources to help parents and teachers of elementary and middle school age children.
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