Arizona State PIRC

Moving Towards Parent Engagement

2010-03-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

"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.

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30 Simple Things To Engage Families

2009-11-13T10:51:00.001-08:00

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has signed a proclamation declaring November Parent Involvement Month. Below are 30 simple ideas to engage families this month.

To view a copy of the Governor's proclamation please visit: www.azpirc.com

Thirty Ideas to Build  Parent Involvement and Support

1. Hold your first parent meeting at a fast-food restaurant.

2. Hold a "Parent University" program right at your school.

3 Provide "Fact Cards" for parents with school name, address, phone number, name of principal, school secretary, school nurse, PTA president—perhaps a refrigerator magnet.

4. Establish "Take Home Tuesday" as day to send school papers home.

5. Send home tape-recorded messages in parents' own language.

6. Provide a short newsletter for parents—consider Parents Make the Difference!

7. Remember "30-3-30" in writing school newsletters. Eighty percent of people will spend just 30 seconds reading it. Nineteen percent will spend three minutes. One percent will spend 30 minutes (your mother).

8. Remember the dollar bill rule for school newsletters.

9. Write for parents at 4th to 6th grade level.

10. Try Brown Bag Seminars—parenting program at work site during lunch hour.

11. Use the key communicator system to control the rumor mill.

12. Know THE SECRET to getting parents to attend meetings at school.

13. Remember the 3 "F"s for success—Food, Families, Fun.

14. Understand and use the 80-20 rule for parent groups—20% of what you do produces 80% of the results.

15. Take heart from the one-third rule which research has revealed for achieving improved student achievement through parent involvement.

16. Use videotape to show busy parents their children in action.

17. Use refrigerator notes.

18. Encourage "Sunshine Calls," "Thinking of You" Calls.

19. Understand the fact that teachers are more reluctant to contact parents than parents are to contact teachers. Work to overcome the problem.

20. Put up parent-friendly signs at school-directing them to the office.

21. Greet visiting parents as quickly as possible-perhaps use volunteers.

22. Have children's work on display all over the school—every child's work, not just the future commercial artists' work.

23. Have some place in the building that parents can call their own.

24. Know why parents say they are not involved: don't have time, don't know what to do, don't know it is important, don't speak English.

25. Try "Project Newborn" to contact future parents when new child is born.

26. Push for written school district policies on parent involvement.

27. Push for funding for parent involvement—it pays off.

28. Stress training for staff-all staff-in parent involvement.

29. Stress two-way communication between schools and parents.

30. Work for links with other social service agencies that can help parents.

This information was prepared by Dr. John H. Wherry, President, The Parent Institute, "Education's #1 Source for Family Involvement Information," P.O. Box 7474, Fairfax Station, VA 22039-7474, 1-800-756-5525.

To view the complete list, please visit: http://www.parent-institute.com/educator/resources/75ideas/75-ideas.php

A Letter from Michelle Obama

2009-10-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

This is a busy time of year in the Obama household. Like so many parents all across this country, I watch with a mixture of pride and anxiety as my daughters stuff their backpacks, kiss me goodbye, and move ahead in another school year without so much as a backwards glance.

My girls are now making new friends, tackling challenging new subjects, and moving closer to becoming the strong, confident women I know they can be. But when I see them come home, bursting with excitement about something they have learned or someone they have met, I can't help but think that some of the most influential people in my daughters' lives won't be the ones they socialize with on the playground or read about in the pages of a book—they will be the people who stand up every day in front of their classrooms.

We all remember the impact a special teacher had on us—a teacher who refused to let us fall through the cracks; who pushed us and believed in us when we doubted ourselves; who sparked in us a lifelong curiosity and passion for learning. Decades later, we remember the way they made us feel and the things they inspired us to do—how they challenged us and changed our lives. So it's not surprising that studies show that the single most important factor affecting students' achievement is the caliber of their teachers. And when we think about the qualities that make an outstanding teacher—boundless energy and endless patience; vision and a sense of purpose; the creativity to help us see the world in a different way; commitment to helping us discover and fulfill our potential—we realize: These are also the qualities of a great leader.

Today, more than ever before, we need precisely this kind of leadership in our classrooms. As the president has frequently said, in a 21st-century global economy where jobs can be shipped to any place with an Internet connection and children here in America will be competing with children around the world for the same jobs, a good education is no longer just one road to opportunity—it is the only road. And good teachers aren't just critical for the success of our students. They are the key to the success of our economy.

But the reality is that with each passing year, we are losing more and more of our most experienced teachers. More than half of our nation's teachers and principals are baby boomers. And in the next four years, as many as one third of America's 3.2 million teachers could retire. The U.S. Department of Education projects that by 2014, just five short years from now, our nation's schools will hire as many as 1 million new teachers. And the challenge to our schools is not just an overall teacher shortage but a shortage of good teachers in the schools where they are most essential: high-need schools that face some of the most daunting obstacles but have students with so much potential. We also have a shortage of teachers in subjects like math and science that we know will be critical to our children's future.

Today, we need a new generation of leaders to take their place in our nation's schools. We need passionate, talented, committed men and women to step up and devote themselves to preparing our students to succeed in this new century.

We need universities to double down on their efforts to prepare teachers and to improve and expand effective alternative routes to certify teachers. We need to encourage more experienced professionals to consider teaching as the next chapter in their careers. And we need to treat teachers like the professionals they are by providing good salaries and high-quality professional development opportunities. We need parents to do their part as well to match that leadership in the classroom with leadership at home. We need to set limits and turn off the TV. We need to put away those video games and make sure that homework gets done. We need to reinforce the example that's being set and the lessons being taught at school and make sure that learning continues at home.

And we need government to support significant efforts to recruit and retain teachers and to reward high-performing teachers. Along those lines, President Obama is already investing more than $3 billion to turn around struggling schools. And he has proposed a nationwide Teacher Recruitment Program to attract more people to the profession, especially in high-need schools. I look forward to being involved with this program and encouraging people across America to put their leadership skills to work in our nation's schools.

Much work lies ahead, and it won't be easy. But I am confident that with a new generation of outstanding leaders in our classrooms, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of our young people and a lasting impact on the life of this nation.

This letter to the Editor was published in US News & World Report on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/10/15/michelle-obama-teachers-are-key-to-a-successful-economy.html

Welcome to the first AZ PIRC blog!

2008-02-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first AZ PIRC blog! We hope it will serve as a great resource to parents and educators alike. As PIRC representatives go out into our Arizona schools, we see many different approaches to getting families involved with education. We know that creating a family friendly school environment is a top-priority for educators wanting to develop a strong family involvement program. For this first blog, we’d like to get to know you and your school a little better. Let us know your ideas of what your school does to get parents active and involved. What are you doing to make your school family friendly?

For tips and suggestions, we highly recommend Beyond the Bake Sale:
The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships
by Anne Henderson and Karen L. Mapp. It provides some great resources on creating a family friendly school. If you want to know how your school’s doing, contact us to schedule a free Family Friendly Walk Through.