1. Between the Open House and Parent-Teacher Conferences
An overview of involving families to support student learning
Welcome
Honor
Connect
First in a series of professional learning opportunities about family and community involvement.

2. As a result of this presentation, you will:
Identify a parent/family engagement challenge that your school or district faces.
Gain an overview of The Joining Process as a framework to engage underrepresented parents and families.
Reflect on specific practices schools are using to increase family engagement, and choose at least one new practice to increase family engagement in your school or district.

3. Why Are Family-School Relationships Important?
“How well schools welcome and engage families in children’s learning will determine the success of school improvement efforts.”
Beyond Random Acts: Family, School and Community Engagement as an Integral Part of Education Reform. Harvard Family Research Project

4. What is your biggest family engagement challenge?
Take one minute on your own to jot down a family engagement challenge your school or district faces.
Turn to a partner at your table, and share the challenge you wrote down.
Discuss why you think this challenge exists for your school or district.

5. The Joining Process A Family-Centered Approach
Researcher Karen Mapp found that high-performing, low-income schools develop, deepen and sustain relationships with families in three ways:
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Welcome
Build trusting collaborative relationships among teachers, families, and community.
Honor
Recognize, respect, and address families’ needs, as well as class and cultural differences.
Connect
Embrace a philosophy of partnership where power and responsibility are shared.

6. Take two minutes on your own to jot down some ideas.
What would “ideal” family engagement look and feel like from your perspective?
Take two minutes on your own to jot down some ideas.
Starting with the person who traveled farthest to be here today, share out at your table.

7. Extend the welcome mat Enroll the whole family Ensure staff
Welcome families in ways that develop trusting, collaborative relationships:
Extend
the
welcome mat
Reserve parking
Offer clear signage and directions
Display student work
Enroll
the
whole family
Have school tours, parent/child activities and home visits
Ensure staff
are friendly
and accessible
Feature open office hours for the principal
Post teacher availability
Insist on gracious office protocol

8. What method of welcoming families particularly resonates with you?
Record an idea to use in a later activity.

9. Honor families in ways that deepen relationships by recognizing, respecting, and addressing families’ needs and cultures:
Recognize and thank families for contributions.
Give parents a voice in decisions.
Set ground rules together for classroom visits, volunteering, and other parent/school activities.
Accept families where they are. Offer rides, childcare, translators, and flexible hours to meet with school staff.

10. What method of honoring families particularly resonates with you?
Record an idea to use in a later activity.

11. Connect families in ways that sustain relationships by sharing power and responsibility:
Keep parents informed about what students are learning in class.
Link at-home activities to in-class activities.
Offer “how to help your child” instead of “parenting” workshops.
Supply computers for parents in school and in the community, and support their use.
Find out what families want to know about.

12. Record an idea to use in a later activity.
What method of connecting with families particularly resonates with you?
Record an idea to use in a later activity.

13. Joining Process Activity
Pretend that your family is new to both the United States and Wisconsin. You are coming in to your child’s school for the first time.
Use the ideas you recorded about welcoming, honoring and connecting with families to reflect upon the following questions. Then, as a table, choose one to discuss.
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How would you like to be welcomed?
What would help you feel comfortable at your child’s school?
How could the school honor your experiences?
What would make you feel your family and culture are recognized respected?
How could the school connect with you?
What information would you need to be a partner in your child’s learning?

14. What schools are doing to welcome, honor and connect with families at the Open House:
Must-Do Goal: Each family and each family member is personally greeted by a staff member. Host a staff-family basketball/volleyball game. Invite high school families to a “Day in the Life” of a student or to a pre-game parent gathering.
Invite the whole family to a school event. Take pictures of the family enjoying the event together and display the photos in the school. Decorate a “Tree of Learning” with leaves on which families describe how they help children learn. Have families complete an Interest Inventory.

15. What schools are doing to welcome, honor and connect with families after the Open House:
Post the results of parent surveys online. Respond to volunteer offers. Host parent coffees or classroom suppers by grade level.
Host a family learning night with stations focused on students and parents learning together. Give families weekly updates on what children are learning and how families can help.

16. What is one new practice your school can try this year to help all families be more engaged in their children’s learning?
Take two minutes on your own to reflect on the practices presented today and write down some ideas for your school or district.
Starting with the person whose birthday is closest to today’s date, share out at your table.

17. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said. I’ve learned that people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you make them feel. Maya Angelou

18. Questions? More Information?
If you have questions or would like to share a best practice used by your school, please contact:
Ruth Anne Landsverk Family-School-Community Partnerships Coordinator DPI Title I Team (608) Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction P.O. Box 7841 Madison, WI