Introduction
"When Schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school, and like school more."- Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (2002).
When teachers create workshops and opportunities for parents to be more involved with their child's education, it benefits the child just as much as the parent. Children are able to gain more interest in their schooling with their parents. Parent's are also kept up to date on what's going on with their Child's behavior.
Joyce Epstein, of John Hopkins University, came up with a parent involvement model for teachers and schools to go by when trying to partner with parents. She broke up parent involvement into six categories to guide teachers and parents connection with each other. These categories include: Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Learning at Home, Decision- Making, and Community Collaboration.
Parenting: Assisting families with parenting skills, family support, child development, and sending study skill documents for parents. These study skill documents will help parents learn how to properly assist their child in the grade level they are in. Schools are to reach out and better understand families, backgrounds, and goals for children.
Communicating: Communicating with parents about programs and progress with stuednt through conferences and reports. Creating a two-communication through email, phone calls, or regular conferences.
Volunteering: Provide training, activities, and updates schedules to involve parents and families as volunteers. Make sure to communicate with parents to get work schedules and accomodate flexible volunteer opportunities.
Learning at Home: Involve parents with their children at home by creating homeowrk that is goal setting and curriculum related. Teachers should design homework that enables students to discuss and share interesting tasks with their parents or family.
Decision- Making: This includes parents as participants in the school decisions and advocacy activities by councils, committees, and parent organizations created through the school. This allows parents to address thier concerns with curriculum, safety, and personnel.
Collaborating with the Community: Create resources and services for parents and children with community groups suhc as colleges, museums, and businesses in the community.
Task
Activities
Parenting Activity:
The Official Parent Blog:
There is a blog that will be a medium to discuss school related topics on child's success, events in the community, common questions, getting involved as a parent, and much more. Parents and express ideas and share experiences to empower their children and strengthen the community of their families. The PTA will be monitoring and regulating the blog to ensure it is working and a productive means of sharing appropriate information between parents, faculty, administration, and educators.
Communicating Activity:
Weekly Binder Function:
Every student will have a binder, at the end of the week each student will receive a teacher report based on weekly performance in classroom, assignments will be sent home, permission slips, newsletters and any concerns the teacher may have can be communicated and sent home in this binder. This function is to encourage parent- teacher communication and parent involvement in their child's educational experience. There will be a check in sheet that parents will sign noting that they have seen this information and all was received. The students bring their binders back on Monday to be used for the next week of class.
Volunteering Activity:
Volunteer 101:
This is an opportunity for the parents to communicate with the teachers when they are available to volunteer and what the wish to participate in. There are many ways to get involved within the daily school life and we will greatly encourage the participation of parents at least one time throughout the year.
Holiday Parade!
Every year our school hosts a Halloween parade and a Valentine’s Day parade. Parent involvement will be very important to the success of these events. Classrooms will host parties for children to celebrate that will consist of food, games and more. Parents are needed to help plan and create these events and finding the resources to see this through. The parade around the school will start an hour before school is released and then students will return to their classrooms for their personal parties.
Learning at Home:
All About Your Shining Star:
At the beginning of this year, this is an opportunity for parents to inform teachers about their children. Helping the teacher gain an understanding for who they are as people, what they need to succeed and how to embrace their child as an individual. This can also open a line of communication to help set goals and communicate aspirations for the parent in reference to their child. Most students are shy in the beginning so this is exactly what the teacher needs to help shine a bright light among all of their stars in the classroom.
Decision-Making:
PTA:
Parents will be encouraged to join the parent teacher groups. Parent teacher groups are an important element to our school to ensure parent and teacher communication and also to keep parents informed about volunteer opportunities. This organization is responsible for conducting and organizing fundraisers to raise money beyond the budget so we can give our students everything they need and more.
Principal Democracy:
This is a board of members that anyone can join and it will be the group of people who vote on the newest and upcoming principal. This allows for multiple perspective and discussions among anyone who wishes to be a member. Parents, teachers, administrators, members of the community, coaches, volunteers. This is a good way to ensure we have the most involvement when shaping the mold of our school and our district.
Collaboration with the Community:
Morning and Afternoon Patrol:
This is an opportunity for parents or members of the community to volunteer to be involved in the immediate school community. Cross-walk aids are needed for children walking to school, lunchroom assistants, hallway patrol, and after school patrol assistance are needed. As well as field trip assistance and special functions assistance. There can never be too much help and the more involvement we can have the safer and happier our community will be. This need for help will be advertised among the monthly newsletter, the school website, the parent online blog, and reminders sent home in the weekly binder check.
Process
Evaluation
Below is a link to a Self Assessment that teachers can take to make sure they
are following the Parent Involvement Model.
http://www.heartlandaea.org/media/documents/EpsteinsSelfAssessment_ParentInvolv_10B3354118A13.pdf
Conclusion
I believe that creating a parent involvement program will a be grreat way for student's achievement. Including activities for all the parent to be more involved with the children will increase student's interest in school as well.
Every month there is a new activity for parents and teachers to partner together and talk about updates with the child. Conferences, holidays events, and volunteer activities will not only mak things better for familes, but also for single parent households. Parent just got a whole lot easier with our Parent Involvement Program using Epstein's Model.