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Mary Urich, ACPE Director murich@mail1.ade.state.az.us  

In this issue we explore helpful strategies for promoting positive and effective communication with parents. Research has shown that many times the most stressful situation any educator faces is those involving interactions with parents. Brought to you by Temple University, this practical guide will assist teachers and schools with ways to improve relationships with parents on both a short and long term basis.

But first:

National Website of Importance - If you plan on searching for a job either in the near future or in the coming years, the Arizona Educational Employment Board should be your first stop. This free resource of the Arizona Department of Education/Arizona Center for Professions in Education, provides the most comprehensive list of available jobs in the Grand Canyon State, check it out at www.arizonaeducationjobs.com

Promising Practice Research and Teaching Tips

Five "P's" to Promote School-Family Partnership Efforts

by Evanthia N. Patrikakou, Roger P. Weissberg, and Michelle Rubenstein

THE FIVE “P’s”

Partnership as a Priority

Parents and teachers have multiple demands on their time, so each school needs to define for itself how important a partnership with parents is, consider the benefits, and prioritize interventions that target it. Showing an interest for what parents think and how they can be involved in the educational process conveys the important message that they are considered partners in a joint effort of better educating children. There are many ways that teachers can elicit parental response, such as encouraging parents to respond to notes by leaving space for comments or including a few questions. In this way, parents feel appreciated and express higher levels of satisfaction and involvement.

Proactive, Regular, and Persistent Communication

In order for parents to be involved in a meaningful way, they should be kept informed regularly about class rules, expectations, and current activities. Letting parents know about classroom routines, such as quizzes, involves parents in the educational process and provides them with a structured opportunity to be involved in their child’s education. Home-school communications can become even more effective if parents and teachers communicate with each other the best ways they can be reached (phone calls, notes, home-school journals, etc.). This minimizes the frustration of parents and teachers not being able to contact each other and, most importantly, allows messages to be communicated between home and school. Using follow-up communications maintains that flow of information; teachers who start sending home notes regularly notice that parents are more responsive to and appreciative of their efforts.

Positive

It is important to let parents know about the positive things their child is doing in the classroom so that communication from school is not labeled as “bad news.” This indicates to parents that the teacher sees the whole child, and does not merely focus on areas of weakness. Parents are usually thrilled to receive good news about their children, and are then more responsive and willing to listen to teacher comments and suggestions. The dissemination of positive news fosters constructive discussion not only between parents and teachers, but also between parents and children. It is important to note that positive communication is a two-way street; by offering positive comments to teachers, parents recognize and reinforce the teachers’ efforts.

Personalized

Providing school wide newsletters or notes serves the important function of keeping parents in touch with school activities and events, but what draws parents’ attention is specific information about their own child. By providing parents with concrete examples of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, teachers achieve higher levels of collaboration with parents, maximizing benefits for the child’s performance. Establishing and maintaining personalized communications may involve a variety of techniques, from keeping a home-school journal where parents and teachers inform each other about the child’s achievement and concerns, to jotting a quick personalized note. Parent-teacher conferences or “report-card pickup days” offer great opportunities for parents and teachers to share specific information about the child.

Practical, Specific Suggestions

A very important part of school-family partnerships is the extension of the learning environment from the classroom to the home and beyond. Teachers can facilitate this process by offering parents specific suggestions on how they can further assist their child’s education. This will show parents how to help their children in a structured way. Simple suggestions such as counting the plates, forks, etc. while setting the dinner table can help parents reinforce what their child learned at school. In this way, knowledge is generalized to various environments and, through its multiple use, children can be more confident about their schoolwork.

CONCLUSION

Parents and teachers have multiple responsibilities and pressing time demands, but we need to realize that school-family partnership activities are not removed from the educational process. Instead, they are an integral, highly beneficial part of schooling, with the teacher acting as the glue that holds the school-family partnership together. School-family partnership activities can make a significant difference in the educational process and maximize benefits for all children. One of our collaborating teachers cogently observed: “Sometimes the parents need a little push or motivation. If parents can’t come to the school to support their child, we must go to them.”

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The Partnerships publication series offers practical tips for fostering parent-teacher relationships. To order, contact the Laboratory for Student Success at 800-892-5550 or check the LSS website at http://www.temple.edu/LSS.