Karen Lewis Talks Protests, Politics & Getting Back in the Mix is a great interview over at EdShyster’s blog. Here’s an excerpt of Karen Lewis, from the Chicago Teachers Union, talking parents: What I kept saying was that *we need to build alliances with our natural allies, who are the parents.* Once we start building […]
Family Night for English Language Learners is the headline of a nice article in the Chicago Tribune. Nothing earthshaking — just a good example of teachers and a school making an extra effort to connect to parents….
I’ve published a number of posts about the tone-deaf approach to parent engagement by the Chicago Public Schools. Here’s another example from The Chicago Sun-Times: Parent sit-in ends at Gresham Elementary School
I’ve previously posted about the Kellogg Foundation’s initiative to fund parent involvement/engagement programs targeting families with children age eight and below. They just announced a new set of grants and I thought it would be useful just to reprint their press release since it listed all the grantees. Unfortunately, they didn’t send out anything indicating […]
Yesterday, I posted about the unwise response by administrators in Chicago and Colorado to parents who want to opt-out their children from standardized testing. Today, Esther Cepeda, with whom I usually disagree, came out with a column condemning that administrative response. Here are a couple of excerpts: But though I believe standardized testing is essential, […]
Parents Should Opt Out – And Teachers Should Help is a post by Dr. John Thompson. Here’s an excerpt: I plead guilty to not being militant enough in resisting NCLB-type testing. Had teachers put up a real fight, including “sick-outs” on testing day, they could not have fired us all, and our students would not […]
Parents Should Demand Partnerships With Schools to Boost Achievement is a post over at Education Week reporting on a recent meeting of parent convened by the National Assessment Governing Board (they’re the ones who administer the NAEP tests, which I believe are being given this week). I’m not really sure how valuable or important the […]
I’ve written several posts about the Parent Mentor Program of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago. Today, The Seattle Times published a special feature on the same program: Lessons for locals on power of parents in schools is the headline of their article. Here’s the video they included in the article: And here’s a […]
Here are my choices for the best posts I’ve written on parent engagement in 2013 — well, at least since April when I published My Best Posts On Parent Engagement In 2013 — So Far (by the way, you can find all my “The Best…” lists related to parent engagement here): Come On, Now – Schools […]
There has recently been a flurry of media attention to what is called the so-called “word gap.” It’s the term used to describe the difference in vocabulary development of low-income children and middle-and-high-income children during their pre-school years. In addition to the media attention, there have been some high-profile efforts at trying to respond to […]
Language-Gap Study Bolsters a Push for Pre-K is an article in The New York Times that covers a topic that is attracting increasing public attention — a “word-gap” among low-income pre-school children and ideas for parents and others to address it. I’ve written a number of posts on this same topic, including concerns I have […]
Here’s a short and sweet list on topic, and I hope others will suggest additional links. I’ll be adding list to A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement. Parent Jiggernaut Follow-Up: Opting out vs. Opting In is a thoughtful post by Rachel Levy. Wary of standardized testing, parents are increasingly opting their kids out […]
It looks like officials in Philadelphia are not learning any lessons from what happened in Chicago last year (see Former Chicago Superintendent Realizes He’s “Former” Because He Didn’t Engage Parents). It’s a big mess in Philly, and its parents and teachers on one side, and school and city officials on the other. Read all about […]
Readers might remember the posts I wrote a couple of years ago about the campaign by Chicago parents to turn a building on their local school site’s property so that their kids could have access to a library. Well, in Mayor Emanual’s latest in a long line of tone-deaf parent engagement moves, the building was […]
I have many “Best” lists on multiple aspects of parent engagement, but thought with all the recent talk about expanding early education, a list on pre-school parent engagement would be useful. You can see all my parent engagement “Best” lists here. Here are my choices for The Best Resources On Pre-School Parent Engagement: Preschools Aim […]
Parents need help, not shame, in school involvement is the headline over a letter to the editor at The Chicago Tribune. It’s written by the authors of an important study on parent involvement that I’ve previously posted about. More important than their letter, though, is a link within it to a very readable summary of […]
I’ve published several posts about the parent mentor in Chicago sponsored by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. Here’s another article, along with a video, on it. It’s titled Parent-mentor program helps with education involvement.
Here are my choices for the best posts I’ve written on parent engagement so far in 2013 (by the way, you can find all my “The Best…” lists related to parent engagement here): “Embracing & Celebrating Diverse Families” Interesting New Research On Parent Involvement Daily Show Does Great Piece On Crazy Tennessee Idea Hmmmmmm…..After 4 […]
I’ve written several posts about the Parent Mentor Program of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago. An article titled Parent mentor program at risk of losing funds now describes some challenges they’re facing. Here’s an excerpt: A year after winning state funding to expand a program aimed at getting parents actively involved in their […]
I’ve previously posted about the Noble Charter School network’s strategy of fining parents for student misbehavior. They are apparently escalating this practice. Read Marsha Godard, Chicago Mother, Fined Over $3,000 For Son’s Behavior At Noble Network Charter School over at The Huffington Post.