Ryan Fedders

EDL 274 FBLA

Drake University

Mission: To engage each and every family in their child’s learning in order to create a greater
sense of connectedness and support within the overall school community.

Goals:
1. By the end of next school year, 100% of families will have the capacity to educationally
and emotionally support their child at home.
2. By the end of next school year, 100% of families will understand the key learning targets
required within their child’s grade level.

Plan:

Current Reality:
At this time, there is no data tracking method to gauge parent input and connection to
their child’s education that is available to school staff. Utilizing the “five whys” root cause
method, the reason for this is the simple fact that one has not been created and distributed to
parents.

These are the events that are currently held to engage parents:
a. Meet the teacher night (August)
b. Back to school night for parents (September)
c. Conferences (October and February)
d. PTO events and meetings (Monthly)

These events, along with parent communication via classroom newsletters, are the
major ways of parent and family communication involvement. In my opinion, this is a start at the
beginning of the year, but there is not enough sustained involvement throughout the year for a
strong, long-lasting partnership.

Why?
When digging into current research and class discussions, connections and partnerships
are absolutely vital to a child’s education. Research has shown that building these relationships
and connections has a positive effect on student learning. Parental involvement in a child’s
education (0.45) and positive family/home dynamics (0.52,) both have a large positive effect on
how a child does in school ("250+ Influences on Student Achievement", 2018). An effect size of
0.40 or greater is seen as an item that has the potential to positively impact a child’s learning
and achievement. Do to this research, and the fact that no systemic process is in place, are the
reasons that this project was chosen.
Chang and Lawyer state, “although teachers are aware that family engagement is critical
for improving student achievement, many report that effective family engagement is one of their
biggest challenges” (Chang & Lawyer, 2012). By intentionally designing and implementing a
monthly learning session for parents, they are brought through the doors, either in person or
virtually, of our school. The opportunity then exists for breakout sessions for individual grade
levels to present upcoming learning information to a smaller group of parents.

Monitoring:
A survey has been created that will be administered to student families three times a
year. The baseline data will be taken at the beginning of next school year, and then again twice
throughout the year (mid-year and end-year.) The mid-year assessment allows for changes in
the plan to be made, and the end-year survey will provide overall evidence of the plan’s
effectiveness.

Survey Link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1S7qIt5e6ZSSiVXapTvii_emGvNmGFNmBTwbnbvRMp84/edit

What:
To best fit family wants and needs, a topic histogram will be sent out for parents to vote
on topics (listed in the chart below) that they feel will have the biggest effect on their ability to
feel connected with their child and the school. Since I do not have the leverage to send this out
to begin next year, I will place them in an order that makes the most sense to me.

Each month, our school will invite parents in for an informational session on rotating
topics. This time will be an hour to an hour and a half of learning each month. For the first part
of the session (45 minutes to an hour,) district staff and/or community members will present a
whole-group session that engages families in a variety of topics throughout the year. For the
final 15-20 minutes, parents will break off into specified grade levels (K-5) and a grade level
teacher or two will present and define the upcoming learning targets that their grade level will
tentatively cover over the next month, along with suggestions for parent support of these at
home.

Since our school is very landlocked and no large community centers are nearby, these
events will be held at school. These sessions (whole group) will be recorded and made
available to those unable to attend.

**Survey at Meet the Teacher night or another time will also be given to gauge best night of the
week for parents to hold the monthly event.

Action Steps:

August
 Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Beginning of the Year 1. Principal 1. District Goals (Link to

Kick-Off: Introducing our 2. Instructional School Goals)
school goals and Coach 2. Discussion Points to Begin
communicating with your 3. ILT/Teacher the Conversation
child about their school Volunteer 3. Talking Strategies About
day 4. Possible School - PBS.Org
Parent 4. Communicating with your
Volunteer - Child's Teacher
How has this
been
effectively
done in your
home?

September
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Supporting Students with 1. Instructional 1. Breakdown of Iowa Core

Common Core Math
Standards - use of 2. Principal
manipulative, different
strategies, etc.
coach Standards (Iowa Core
Website)
2. Resources for Each Specific
Grade-Level Standard
3. Khan Academy - Helpful
Videos and Practice
Problems for Specific Skills
4. Model the use of
manipulatives and multiple,
flexible strategies

October
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible
Social Media and Your 1. Teacher Social Media:
Child (upper grades) Volunteers 1. Popular Apps - Pros and
(differentiated Cons
Educational Apps to Use session!) 2. Being Safe on Social Media -
at Home (lower grades) 2. Digital Literacy Tips for Parents
Teacher 3. Being Safe on Social Media -
3. District Tech For Kids
Representative 4. Discussion time - what are
(if applicable) you seeing at home, tips that
4. Principal may be working in your
house, etc.

Educational Apps:
1. Database Link for
Kids/Parents (On School
Website)
2. Time for parents to
familiarize themselves with
these app.
3. Tips for Limiting Screen
Time

November
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Understanding Your 1. Director of 1. Link from the District

Child’s Report Card and Elementary Website - What is SRG?
Assessment Scores Education (if 2. Why Use SRG?
applicable) 3. Explain separation of
2. Principal behavior and academics
3. Instructional 4. Show what goes into an
Coach example summary statement
on the report card (multiple
standards!)
5. Differentiate between
Beginning, Progressing,
Meeting, and Exceeding
levels - how do PLCs
support this work?
6. Overview and discussion on
FAST screening
assessments and scores
 December
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Bullying: What is it and 1. Guidance 1. Rude vs. Mean vs. Bullying

How Can You Support Counselor 2. Minor vs. Major Matrix and
Your Child? 2. Principal Consequences
3. Teacher 3. Scenarios and discussion -
Volunteers which category would these
4. Student fall under?
Council 4. Explain the teacher, school,
Members and district’s role in
preventing/stopping bullying
5. Sharing from student council
members - what is the
culture/climate like for
students? How do they
“deal” with a bully?

January
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Communicating With 1. Teacher 1. Presubmit possible parent

Teachers: Panel Volunteers questions in advance
Discussion with Staff (ILT) 2. What is going well?
Volunteers 2. Principal 3. What could be improved
(moderator) upon/what is realistic given
teacher constraints?

February
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible
Resources Available in our
Community 2. Community
1. Principal 1. List of Parent Resources
(Local School District)
volunteers a. From our community
partnerships,
volunteers from
these sources would
be contacted - a
rotating mini-
workshop would be a
possible idea for this
month.

March
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Trauma Informed Care for 1. Iowa ACES or 1. Link to Iowa Aces Data -
Parents and Families possible AEA What is it?
volunteer 2. Resiliency Toolkit(for
families)
3. Social-Emotional Learning -
What is Being Done in our
School?

April
Topic: Group/Person Possible Resource Starting Points:
Responsible

Preventing the “Summer 1. Principal 1. Review resources from the

Slide” 2. Teacher beginning of the year
Volunteers (September) presentation
3. Instructional 2. Provide and review district
Coach tutor list
3. Tips to Avoid the Slide - Hint,
Read!!
4. Introduce summer library
hours
 Do
During the Do section, each of these monthly workshops will be completed and held at
our school. Teachers and other volunteer members will be notified a couple of weeks in
advance in order to be present in the preparation of the presentation. As stated earlier, the
whole-group sessions will be recorded and then sent out to parents that were unable to attend
via the Blackboard site through the school.
The same survey that was given at the beginning of the year will be given after the
December sessions. This will allow us to make any changes to our spring plan if the results are
not what we were anticipating; it also allows parents to make additional suggestions for future
sessions. Finally, the survey will be given at the end of the year to gauge the effectiveness our
implementation.

Study
After both survey periods, we will review the data as a leadership team. Our goal is for
100% of parents to feel more engaged with their child’s education; this will be evident through
an increase of responses in the 3 to 4 ranges on the given survey. It will also be helpful to
disaggregate this data into different grade levels in order to see if there is a grade that is feeling
more/less connected to their child’s education. Further action can be taken for a specific grade
level, if needed, based on these results.

Act
If the leadership teams determine this action was effective, it will be implemented again,
with differing topics, during the next school year. The sessions can be suggested and voted on
via parent input before the school year begins. The survey will continue to be given in order to
ensure effectiveness of the sessions.
If the leadership team determines that this action was ineffective, then a different
approach will be taken in order to engage parents in their child’s learning. This action will be
determined by the leadership team and parent input.
 References

250 Influences on Student Achievement. (2018, October 1). Retrieved from https://

us.corwin.com/sites/default/files/250_influences_10.1.2018.pdf

Chang, T., & Lawyer, C. (2012, January). Lightening the Load. Retrieved from https://

www.americanprogress.org/wp-

content/uploads/issues/2012/01/pdf/chang_wraparound.pdf