Monthly Archives: September 2012

“Striking Chicago teachers get support from parents”

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Striking Chicago teachers get support from parents is an article from The Detroit Free Press. Here’s an excerpt:

As Chicago teachers walked the picket lines for a second day, they were joined by many of the very people who are most inconvenienced by their walkout: the parents who must now scramble to find a place for children to pass the time or for babysitters.

“I Know What They Think of Me”

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I Know What They Think of Me is the title of a guest post by school Superintendent Steven Constantino. Here’s an excerpt:

No matter to what lengths we try and go to garner engagement, without a real relationship built on trust and honesty, the efforts will probably fall short. If you do not honor all families and convey true appreciation for what they can bring to the partnership, regardless of their station in life, then the efforts to engage them will always be seen through a lens of skepticism. Actions, attitudes, assumptions, beliefs and values must all work together in order to build engagement with every family. And most importantly, when working with the disengaged, it is almost working with one family at a time. Daunting? Yes. Impossible? No.

We cannot fix socio-economic disparities, but we can convince those families that they have value and are truly needed to complete the circle of people that will successfully educate their children.

“Parent engagement = Child success”

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My View: Parent engagement = Child success is a CNN blog post by the Florida PTA Vice-President. Here’s an excerpt:

We parents are not the subject matter experts when it comes to curriculum or knowing specifically what our children need to learn in school at a particular grade level, but we are certainly critical stakeholders and no one knows our children better than we do. We need to position ourselves as partners with teachers and schools to make sure our children and all children are able to maximize their learning. It starts with becoming aware, but it must include the willingness to take action.

This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter

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Image credit: mozardien.com

 

Guest post by #PTchat moderator and New Jersey teacher Dana Sirotiak (@sirotiak02)


As we prepare our students and children for the 21st Century, there is a certain responsibility required when educating students on how to practice safe and responsible usage of online information.


Join us this Wednesday, September 12th at 9pm EDT/6pm PST as we discuss what it means to be a digital citizen and how teachers and parents can develop a partnership to facilitate Internet safety both in school and in the home.  All #PTchat archives/resource gDOCs can be found here. 

“Parents Agree: Funding Shortfalls Shortchange Students, Families, and Communities”

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Betsy Landers, president of the National PTA, has a nice piece in Education Week titled Parents Agree: Funding Shortfalls Shortchange Students, Families, and Communities.

Here’s an excerpt:

The bottom line is that parents must be engaged in the process. Education reform, on any scale, will prove unsustainable without the support of parents. Period. In fact, few factors can influence student achievement more than parental engagement. This fact, coupled with their collective voice, empowers parents to be the real agents of change.

As parents, we strive to protect our children from harm and to ensure quality educational opportunities. Change begins in the community, but the nation benefits from change occurring on broader levels. Too many parents believe they don’t have the voice or authority to bring about the changes necessary to ensure the success of their children. However, speaking together as one voice — millions of parents nationwide can and will force our elected officials at the local, state and national levels to take notice and prioritize children. Together, we can demand better education that is both equitably financed and reflective of our nation’s shared interest.

“PTA Opens Magazine to Public with Online Edition”

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PTA Opens Magazine to Public with Online Edition is a post from Education Week’s K-12 Parents and The Public blog.

Here’s how Michele Molnar begins her post:

Our Children magazine, the National PTA’s publication, is now available online.

For more than 100 years, the magazine has been provided exclusively to PTA leaders, according to a release from the organization.

Beginning with the first issue of Our Children for the 2012-13 school year, any interested parent, teacher, or member of the community can access a digital version of the publication.

“Researchers Weigh In on the Parent Trigger”

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National Education Policy Center has published an important report on the parent trigger. Here’s an excerpt from their announcement:

the National Education Policy Center asked a group of researchers to describe what we currently know about the parent trigger. The result is a policy memo titled, Missing the Target? The Parent Trigger as a Strategy for Parental Engagement and School Reform, authored by professors from the University of Illinois, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and CU Boulder.

The authors raise several concerns about the parent trigger. They warn that the trigger focuses on changing school governance rather than improving students’ opportunities to learn. The evidence to date suggests that turning public schools over to charter operators or replacing school staff is not likely to lead to better student outcomes. But research has clearly established that students learn more when they have access to quality instructional materials and well-prepared teachers. The authors also caution that while the parent trigger offers a superficial appeal to democratic processes by “letting parents decide,” it ultimately thwarts continued, sustained community and parental involvement.

I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools.

This Week’s #PTChat On Twitter

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Guest post by Joe Mazza

She’s back! Dr. Michele Borba returns to #ptchat this Wednesday night at 9pm EDT/6PST to give advice on how parents can help kids get off to a great start this school year!  Here’s the link to last year’s #ptchat conversation on what parents & teachers can do to put an end to bullying.

Dr. Borba (@micheleborba) is an internationally recognized author, speaker and educator on parenting, character education and bullying prevention. Her work aims to help strengthen children’s character and resilience, reduce peer cruelty and create compassionate, just learning cultures.  Her website is a valuable resource for parents and teachers alike.

For one hour on Wednesday night, we will be discussing everything parents can do to support students and teachers early and often this school year.  Join us and provide your best ideas and strategies as well as learn from fellow educators, parents and of course Dr. Borba.

If you have specific questions for Dr. Borba, please send an email ahead of time and we will try to get as many in as possible during the chat. During the chat, we’ll develop a collaborative Google Doc designed to include in September parent newsletters to share out learning. Please invite your school parents & colleagues to this conversation.
Proposed Questions for Dr. Borba:

 

  • What are some things that families can do at home (& teachers at school) to ease the new school year transition?
  • What are some of the most common fears that kids have at this time of year?
  • How do parents deal with children’s fear of not having friends in their new class/school?
  • How do parents put themselves at ease from worrying about everything from releasing some control over the older (HS & college) kids to trusting the bus driver with our kindergartner?   
  • How to know where the balance is for structure/scheduled activities and free time?
  • What are some good resources for help – people/places, books, websites families can turn to for advice throughout the year?
  • How to handle kids fear of needing material items to fit in at school (from clothing to technology)? Is there a best way?

 

Nice NY Times Article On Parent Involvement — On Their Fashion Page!

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It’s O.K. to Skip That Bake Sale is good article on parent involvement that strangely appears in the Fashion and Style section of The New York Times.

It provides recommendations from two key parent involvement researchers — Anne Henderson and Joyce Epstein — and the founder of KIPP charter schools. The tone of the article is good — it basically recognizes that not all parents can be expected to volunteer at school because of their other commitments. I was surprised to hear that from the KIPP founder, though. I know many charters require parent volunteer hours. Good for KIPP if they do not. Can anyone confirm that?

Here are the three recommendations the writer shares:

1. Meet the Teacher. “The most important thing a parent should do is establish a relationship with their children’s teacher,” Ms. Henderson said. “That means getting in there, making sure the teacher knows who you are, and basically saying: ‘I’m here for you. I want to work with you over the course of the year to make sure my child does well.’ ” Teachers have higher expectations of students when they know their parents are involved, she added.

2. Ask good questions. While there’s no evidence parental involvement in schools increases a child’s performance, there’s abundant evidence that parental involvement at home does. That includes letting your children know you have high expectations, then following up with specific questions about what they’re studying in class. “Change the conversation from the ineffective ‘How was school today?’ which usually elicits a grunt and a half,” said Ms. Epstein, “to the more interesting ‘Tell me something interesting you learned in math today’ or ‘What are you doing in science?’ ” She recommended questions where the students are saying, showing or sharing what they’re learning.

3. Put your children to bed. Mr. Levin said the bigger problem plaguing schools these days is not lack of parental involvement, it’s the lack of student sleep. “Sleep is so critical,” he said. “Making sure kids go to bed on time, come to school on time, with their homework complete. If that’s something all parents committed to, I think schools would be very happy.”

I’m also not convinced the writer is correctly interpreting the research. Instead of saying that “there’s no evidence parental involvement in schools increases a child’s performance,” I believe the research finds that there is indeed evidence that provides this evidence, but that parent work with the child at home can have a greater impact.