1. Parent-Teacher Partnerships
Staff Development
Have this slide up as teachers/paras are coming in.
Prior to the meeting:
Download the PPT to the laptop you will be using. This can be found on the Title I webpage → Technical Assistance → Family Engagement folder.
Print the notes pages of the presentation.
Do a practice run prior to the meeting to ensure that all equipment is working smoothly.
Prepare your sign-in sheet and agenda for the meeting.
Call the Title I Office if you have any questions.
Allen Parish Title I

2. Parent-Teacher Partnerships
Goal: To provide a broad overview of a process for creating intentional parent-teacher partnerships.
Family Engagement isn’t an Option It’s a Necessity!
Read Goal.
After reading goal, click once for: Family Engagement Isn't an Option- It's a Necessity!
Read notes below:
It's a fact--school programs that engage families outperform identical programs without family involvement. Don't let lackluster family support limit student achievement and affect your school's ranking! Studies show that parents and families will become effective classroom allies when they are treated as partners and regularly given evidence-based strategies and tips they can implement at home with their children. Establish and maintain the critical school/home partnership that improves your students' academic outcomes.

3. It’s All About Building Relationships
If you’d like your students to be successful, you will need to rearrange the letters in PARENT, add an R from Relationship, and turn a parent into a PARTNER!
Katy Ridnouer, author, Managing Your Classroom With Heart
PAR E N T R
Read Title. Then begin reading text below. Animations are automatic. You do not need to click to get animations to work.

4. Parents and Teachers as “Partners”
A Student-focused Philosophy
A Belief in Shared Responsibility
Quality of the Relationship
A Preventive, Solution-oriented Focus
When parents and teachers partner together, we have: (Click through each bullet and read notes below.)
A student-focused philosophy – where we collaborate for the benefit of the student
A belief in shared responsibility – both in-and out-of-school; both impacts achievement
Quality of relationship – how the parent and teacher work together in meaningful ways
A preventive, solution-oriented focus – where we create conditions that encourage and support student success and engagement

5. Four As A Guide to Develop Parent-Teacher Partnerships
Approach: The framework for interaction with parents
Attitudes: The values and perceptions held about parent-teacher relationships
Atmosphere: The climate for parent-teacher interactions
Actions: Strategies for building shared responsibility for student progress and success
Today we’re going to talk about the Four As to developing good Parent-Teacher partnerships.
(Click through each bullet and read slide.)

6. Approach - Framework Research found:
Children in professional families heard 2,150 words per hour
Children in working class heard 1,250 words per hour
Children of low-income families heard 620 words per hour
The cumulative language experience for children by age 3 was highly correlated with children’s reading/language performance at ages 9-10.
The 1st A is “Approach”. This is the framework for how we interact with families.
As teachers, we know that the students we have in our classes come from lots of different backgrounds (i.e., ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc.) and we have to handle those differences very carefully. Let’s take a look at one research study that observed parent-child interaction in 42 families who differed in terms of income. (Read slide as you click through bullets.)

7. Ask yourself: How do families help you do your job better?
How do families help you to be more successful in reaching your goals?
How do you think the roles parents and teachers play relate to student success?
Read slide as you click through bullets.

8. A Host of Research Findings. . .
Student benefits:
Better Grades
Higher Test scores
Better Attitudes toward Schoolwork
Improved Behavior
Academic Perseverance
Homework Completion
Better Attendance
Creating consistent messages about learning across home and school helps increase the probability students will perform their best.
There is a host of research findings that indicate how family engagement benefits students. (Click and you read through bullets.)
Grades
Test scores
Attitudes toward Schoolwork
Behavior
Academic Perseverance
Homework Completion
Attendance
(Click for next bullet.) Creating consistent messages about learning across home and school helps increase the probability students will perform their best.
Emphasize the text in red on the slide.

9. Attitudes – Values & Perceptions
What attitudes help foster relationships?
All families have strengths.
Parents can learn ways to help their children with support.
Parents have information and perspectives about their children.
Schools and families influence each other.
A no-fault, problem solving model is necessary.
The 2nd “A” is “Attitude” – the values and perceptions held about parent-teacher relationships.
(Click) What attitudes help to foster those relationships?
We have to realize that: (Click through and read each bullet.)

10. Collaboration is evident when parents and teachers:
Listen to one another’s perspective.
View differences as strengths.
Share information to co-construct understandings.
Respect the skills and knowledge of each other.
Plan together and make decisions.
Refrain from finding fault.
Celebrate successes.
Collaboration is evident when parents and teachers:
Listen to one another’s perspective.
View differences as strengths.
Share information to co-construct understandings.
Respect the skills and knowledge of each other by asking for opinions and ideas.
Plan together and make decisions that address the needs of parents, teachers, and students.
Refrain from finding fault – no problematic individuals; rather a problematic situation that requires our attention.
Celebrate successes.

11. The challenge facing teachers. . .
“It is the school’s job. I don’t have time.”
Strategies for helping parents make education a priority:
Delivering a persistent message about the importance of in and out-of-school time
Finding a feasible way for all families to be engaged in supporting their children
Emphasizing both academic and motivational home support for learning.
As teachers, we know that the attitude of some of our parents is (Click and read): “It’s the school’s job to teach my child. I don’t have time.”
Knowing this, we must (Click) develop strategies for helping parents make education a priority in the home.
We do this by (Click through bullets):
Delivering a persistent message about the importance of in and out-of-school time
Finding a feasible way for all families to be engaged in supporting their children
Emphasizing both academic and motivational home support for learning.
We need to realize that (click and read): Families do not need to be fixed; they need to be supported.
Families do not need to be fixed.
They need to be supported.

12. Atmosphere - Climate
Experience when talking with their child’s teacher
The relationship between their child and his/her teacher
Meetings with school personnel to address concerns
Overall “feeling” in their child’s school
Overall “feeling” in their child’s class
Relationship between families and teachers at the school
Parent-teacher conferences
Cleanliness of the school
Initial contact when families first enter the school
How differences of opinion or conflict are handled
The 3rd “A” is “Atmosphere” – the climate for parent-teacher interactions, which we all know starts when they enter your building. What feeling do they get when they enter your building for the first time or any time?
In a research study parents were asked, ”What is the one thing that helps you feel welcomed at school?”
The top 10 responses were: (Read each bullet on slide.)

13. Power of Solution-oriented Language
Expressing concerns must invite parental input
“I am concerned about how little work Tess is doing.”
vs.
“I’m not at all pleased with Tess’s progress.”
Communication must:
Help parents view their children as learners.
Enhance parental beliefs that they can be helpful and make a difference.
Enhance parents’ comfort level at schools and with educational issues.
How we communicate with parents is important. When we approach parents with a concern, we must invite parental input and use Solution-oriented language as we see in the example here: (Click)
“I am concerned about how little work Tess is doing.”
vs.
“I’m not at all pleased with Tess’s progress.”
The first statement is non-confrontational, while the second one immediately puts a parent on the defensive.
(Click) Read bullets under “Communication must:”

14. Initial Phone Call about a Concern
Begin with a statement of concern.
Describe the specific behavior that necessitated the call.
Describe the steps you have taken to solve the concern.
Get parental input.
Discuss a possible solution with the parent.
What will you do as the teacher?
How will the parent support you at home?
Establish a timeline for follow-up Canter & Canter, 1991
Hopefully, your first conversation with a parent, whether face-to-face in the grocery store or on the phone at the beginning of school is one that is upbeat and positive.
Example of a phone call message: “Hi, Mrs. Smith, this is Susie’s teacher, Mr. Johnson. I just wanted to tell you how well Susie did on her Math test yesterday. I can see her doing great things in the future. She might even be an engineer when she gets older. Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions or concerns. My number is or you can me at .”
You want your first few phone calls or conversations to be positive - ones that build a relationship with that parent and lets them know that you are both working in the best interest of the child, so that when you do have a concern, that relationship has already been established.
(Click through bullets as you read them.)

15. Actions - Strategies
Approach, attitudes, and atmosphere are the “backdrop” for the actions to be taken to develop shared responsibility for children’s education.
Approach – Parents are essential.
Attitudes – Equality and perspective (Golden rule counts!)
Atmosphere – How can we work together to address a concern or shared goal?
Actions are different than activities.
This leads us to the 4th “A” – Actions.
So we’ve talked about “Approach”, “Attitudes”, and “Atmosphere”. (Click to read first bullet and sub-bullets.)
(Click) What we must remember is: Actions are different than activities.
But first, you have to understand the difference between activity and action …They may sound alike, but they’re distinctly different.
An activity is when you’re busy doing something, but that task will never produce an outcome by itself.
Action, on the other hand, is an act that will get you a result.
We would like to propose just 3 actions that will help us to build partnerships with parents.

16. Actions to Enhance Home Support for Learning
Action 1: Be Proactive!
Reach out and make a friendly, positive introductory contact before any specific concern arises.
Before School Starts (Note or phone call)
Open House Meetings
Parent Orientation Night
(Click) The first Action is one that we’ve already alluded to: Be Proactive!
(Click and read next statement.)
(Click) This can be done before the first day of school with either a note or a phone call.
(Click) It can be done at our Open House Meetings or at the annual Parent Orientation Night

17. Action 1: Be Proactive!
Convey a Positive School Message by asking parents to provide their children with this message:
“Your teacher cares about you and believes I am important for helping you to learn. We have agreed to work together to make this a great school year.”
Establish a way to contact each other
(Click) At these meetings, we need to convey a positive school message by asking parents to provide their children with an important message:
(Click) “Your teacher cares about you and believes I am important for helping you to learn. We have agreed to work together to make this a great school year.”
(Click) We can also be proactive by establishing a way to contact each other.

18. Action 2: Be Informative!
Invite parents to partner with you and explain how they can put their kids on track to be successful students by:
Visiting the School and Its Website.
Attending Back-to-School Night and Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Supporting Homework Expectations.
Keeping Track of Grades on Student Progress Center.
Visiting the Family Resource Center.
Utilizing Home Access to Moby Max.
Support from parents is key to helping kids do well academically. Read slide with bullets.

19. Action 3: Be Realistic!
Quandary: Some families believe they have very little to contribute to their children’s learning.
Key: Control what we as educators can.
Convey a persistent message.
Keep interaction focused on a genuine interest in improving the child’s education.
Link parents’ efforts to their goals for their child.
Make regular, ongoing contact with parents, providing friendly reminders.
Action 3 says we have to be realistic – to realize that some families believe they have very little to contribute to their child’s learning.
(Read slide as you bullet through.)

20. As Teachers and School Leaders, we have a responsibility
to shake out the notion of what
traditional family engagement looks like.
We need to be creative and persistent.
Read slide.
Read Slide

21. For More Information & Support
Jennifer Manuel, Title I Director
Media Center - Oberlin
Phone:
Kelly Marcantel, APSB Parent Liaison
Family Resource Center - Oberlin
Phone:
Read slide.