No Child Left Behind: Parental Involvement Dr. Davenport-Gray Ms. Cooper Mrs. Wilson November 4-6, 2010

2010 NCLB Parental Involvement Conference Parental Involvement: Lighting the Way  Several day conference with multiple sessions to attend.  Inspirational speaker  Guided by successful Texas programs

Ron “Gus” Gustafson  Told his life story to emphasize parental support and encouragement  2 rules in life: Never give up Courage to face another challenge  Role modeling key (dating daughter)

Gus Continued…  The importance is not how many times you get put down...it is what decision you make after you are down.  The garbage dump

Parent Involvement to meet the needs of your community  Focus on areas for the future (science/technology)  Increase counselor interaction with parents  Ask your parents WHY they don’t attend  Parent newspaper  Parent to Parent trainings

Parent Involvement Continued….  Parents have to feel welcome in the first engagement in order to return.  Parents have to feel valued—make time for them.  We need to keep up with kids—instead of kids trying to keep up with us!

Pitfalls of Parenting  Communication  Attitudes  Success breeds success  Knowledge of results  Interest  Level of Concern  Feeling tone  Abilities/attributes  Rewards  Equity and Excellence

Seven Keys to Successful Parenting  Love, love, love and emotional connections  Listening, listening, and listening  Likability, believability, trustability, credibility  Commitabilty  Consistency and consistent messages  Feedback/ knowledge of results

Identify your mission  What is the goal?  How will you know when you are successful?  Set SMART goals and revisit often  Clearly identify your mission  Design a plan to accomplish your mission.

Know your Audience  Adults learn when relevant to life  Adults have many preoccupations  Self conscious about learning, may not expose themselves  Many responsibilities

Our Action Items:  We want to create a check list of questions for parents to use when talking with teachers.  Increase the welcoming feeling in our schools so that parents will return time and time again.  Remember the positives—reach out to parents on more positive notes than negative.  Communicate the resources available to teachers and families.

Thank you  For more information please contact Amber Cooper: Taconi Rebecca Wilson: Central Office Dr. S Davenport-Gray: Central Office