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Choice Three: Parent Involvement in the Schools

Kaitlin St. Peter
University of New England
EDU 600: Teachers as Leader
June 19, 2015

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When all things are said and done, parent involvement and support
truly makes a difference in how well communication can be fed between the
school and their homes. For years, our school has struggled with clear
communication with parents, especially parents of students that come from
broken homes. Our school has about 600 students in which all of them vary in
diverse cultures, languages and socioeconomic classes. Because each and
every student has a different story, support system outside of the classroom,
and personal barriers (ESL, disabilities, lack of funding for technology and
other things to improve schooling), it is important for the school and our
communication to be as accessible and clear as possible.
At Biddeford Primary, the role that parents play in our school has been
increasing over the years. In my classroom specifically, we send home
packets on a weekly basis including updates, progress on lessons, optional
discussion questions for table talk, practice readings, assignments and
feedback. Parents are to sign and send in any questions or concerns by the
end of the week. Most of this material along with a classroom and school
calendar is also available on our class website, that is hosted by Google Sites.
With parent permission and following FERPA, we also post class pictures,
projects, and artwork for the class and families to see. These two tools also
play an important role informing them about class concerts, parent/teacher
meetings, student art galleries, open houses, volunteer opportunities, field
trips, and whatever else parents should know about it. With these packets,
parents have opportunities to respond, set up volunteering hours, visit the
classroom, meet with the teachers and express their questions or concerns.

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This past year, our school has moved toward standards based learning
styles. We ask the necessary questions that include: "Is the student meeting
the standard?" "What can we do as a team to help the students that are not
meeting the standard?" And "what can we do to support the students
meeting the standard and sustain them for future success?" Our program falls
in line with DuFour et al. 2008 where they suggest sending home standards
based report cards to fuse the bond between school and family partnerships.
"Standards based report cards that attempt to clarify the specific standards
students are expected to achieve and the degree to which an individual
student is proficient are much better suited to meaningful communication
than report cards that provide a single letter or score to depict student
achievement" (DuFour et al. 2008). Although we send home standards based
progress reports, I feel that we can improve as a group to improve the
communication and become more inviting as a whole to take our student
progress and parent partnerships to the next level.
Becoming more open and inviting could really change the face of our
school. I feel that we give plenty of opportunities for parents to become
involved in our programs and events, but welcoming parents into the
teaching and learning process, communicating the importance of parent roles
in students success, and providing strategies for parents to become more
involved in their child's learning as suggested by DuFour et al. (2008) can
truly help make progress in our schools.
Finally, I would suggest a proper training to be held for parent
volunteers or to general public volunteers, to address concerns about
confidentiality, discipline, assignments, legalities, and more. The program

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outlined by the National PTA is a great start. Currently, we have a 1-hour
orientation and background check process before parents can come in to
volunteer or observe classrooms. Then it is up to the teacher to really make
the parent feel welcomed and involved. Many teachers are hesitant to this
opportunity because they already have a lot on their plates. Some see the
benefit of parents coming into schools, so I feel a formal training or
orientation such as the one from the National PTA would help relieve the
stress on teachers and improve the experience for parents.

References:Dufour, R. [Richard], Dufour R.[ Rebecca], and Eaker, R. (2008).

Revisiting professional learning communities at work. New insights for
improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.