Moving Towards Parent Engagement

"When it comes to a breakfast of ham and eggs, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed."  This humorous quote captures the differences between parent involvement (the chicken) and parent engagement (the pig). (Anonymous) It can also serve to describe the struggles facing schools working to build strong family partnerships. Let's dig a little deeper into the specific school practices that differentiate parent involvement from parent engagement. 

      When you "involve" parents, ideas and suggestions come primarily from the school.  The school typically identifies priority areas and recruits parents to assist, based on these priority areas.  Parents who are involved serve the school's agenda by- volunteering, parenting in positive ways and supporting student learning at home.   

     When schools engage parents, ideas come primarily from the families and communities based on their needs and priorities.  The parent is considered a leader who is critical to identifying a shared vision and goal.  When we engage parents, we have the potential to create a shared community, where families and educators work alongside each other to support and enhance student learning. 

 

Here are some suggestions to move your school towards parent engagement: 

• Actively solicit parent participation on decision making committees.  Communicate specifics on where decision-making skills are needed (i.e. site council, PTO, or other committee). Promote opportunities in newsletters, meetings and events, on the website and marquee, and best of all by personal invitation.
• Conduct an annual survey or form focus groups for parent input on current or proposed school programs and policies. 
• Ensure parents on the school improvement team represents diversity of the school population
• Have a suggestion box in the front office or on the website, encouraging parents to share concerns and ideas
• Provide various opportunities and different levels of engagement for parents at different stages of involvement.  To ensure a variety of parents are involved in school decision-making committees, consider adopting a 1-2 year term limit on school committees/boards.  Invite parent representatives from each grade level to participate.
• Provide leadership development opportunities for families. 
• Publicize successful changes resulting from parent initiation and involvement.   

 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, copy, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.