Running head: PARENT INVOLVEMENT 1

Parent Involvement Advocacy Plan

PARENT INVOLVEMENT 2

Icebreaker

The activity “Divide” allows for colleagues, parents, and the school administration to

better get to know those around them. Being socially aware of others’ personal preferences

allows for more comfortability in the school system and a more positive environment when

having to regroup for further engagements (Appendix A). This relates to parental involvement,

because it teaches parents how to be interactive and learn about others, while learning to be more

aware of the differences between them and other people. Parents can use this technique at home

and all school faculty can use this technique in the classroom or at the school. When you are

participating in the activity, you are listening for the two options. If you prefer one more than the

other, you will move to the instructed side for each option and from there, encounter others who

have the same preference as you.

Example Questions would be:

● “Are you an early bird or a night owl? If you are an early bird, move to the left; if you are

a night owl, move to the right.”

● “Do you prefer Netflix or YouTube? If you prefer Netflix, move to the left; if you prefer

YouTube, move to the right.”

● “Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you are an introvert, move to the left; if you are

an extrovert, move to the right.”

PARENT INVOLVEMENT 3

Introduction

Parental involvement can be referred to as the amount of participation a parent has when

it comes to schooling and their child's life. This is a solid combination of commitment and

steadfast participation to not only the school, but to the student as well. Schools may encourage

healthy parental involvement through school or class events and volunteer opportunities.

However, it is ultimately up to the parents to involve themselves with their children's education.

It can be difficult at times being an involved or engaged parent. Issues can include lack of

transportation to get to school, low income, or the fact that parents might have missed the chance

to establish a relationship with the teachers at the beginning of the year. Although there are so

many dilemmas that could be or might be present, the efforts and benefits of parental

involvement are well worth it. It can improve the student and the school, because it pushes them

to set and achieve higher standards. Every student should reap the benefits of their family’s

participation within the school as it can be essential to their success. As you continue to read the

advocacy plan for parent involvement, you will see how it helps extend teaching outside of the

classroom, creates are more positive experience for children, and helps children perform better

when they are in school.

Description of Counseling Advocacy Issue

Parental involvement may have different meanings for different people. One individual

may equate involvement with volunteering in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) or

chaperoning field trips. Another may define it as simply showing up to open house or signing

homework folders. There have been mandates put in place such as the No Child Left Behind Act

(2002), which is now the predecessor to the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). These acts have
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 4

provided many strategies to increase parental involvement and strived to involve parents in the

activities of the schools. Now more than ever, it is extremely important for students to make

progress. Schools should try to work collaboratively with parents to improve student

achievement. To do this, schools must understand the obstacles parents and teachers may face

when it comes to working together for the student’s benefit. Involving parents effectively means

that schools must acknowledge the diversity of the populations and be mindful of varying

perspectives relating to involvement associated with these diversities.

Parental involvement tends to be the highest for students in elementary school. In 2016,

73 percent of students in elementary school had a parent who attended a schedule parent-teacher

conference volunteered, or served on a committee, compared to 54 percent of middle school

students and 45 percent of high school students. There are several other barriers in parental

involvement (Megra & McQuiggan, 2017). Cultural, racial, and economic differences between

the school and parents can lead to inaccurate expectations and stereotyping. Schools may be

slightly dismissive of parents and see the lack of their presence as indifference or not caring

when a parent’s perception of their role in their children’s education is often shaped by their own

schooling experiences, their current context, and cultural beliefs.

During the 2015-2016 school year, 47 percent of students living at or above the federal

poverty level (FPL) had a parent who volunteered or served on a committee at school, compared

with 27 percent of students below the FPL (Megra & McQuiggan, 2017). Parents that do not

speak English have lower rates of attendance at parent-teacher conferences, class/school events,

or general school meetings; and lower rates of volunteering. This can be measured at 62 percent

of students that had two parents that do not speak English compared with 82 percent of students

with two parents that spoke English and participated more (Megra & McQuiggan, 2017). Parents
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 5

that do not speak English well may feel uncomfortable getting involved, or have trouble

communicating with the staff. If the parent has a higher level of education, the rates of

involvement also tend to be higher. Data from 2016 also states that in 2016, more than 76

percent of parents with a bachelor’s degree or higher attended a school/class event or

volunteered. This is a wide gap considering that only 40 percent of parents with less than a high

school education did the same (McManus & Vaden-Kiernan, 2005).

Students belonging to marginalized racial and ethnic groups experience similar levels of

parental involvement in learning at home. Parents of non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic

Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic students had lower rates of attendance at general meetings

or school events, or volunteering their time, relative to parents of non-Hispanic white students.

This may reflect an inability to attend school events as opposed to any desire (or lack thereof) to

participate in their children’s education. In 2016, 64 percent of non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific

Islander students and 64 percent of non-Hispanic black and Hispanic students had parents who

attended a general meeting, attended school or class events, or volunteered. This is less than 76

percent of non-Hispanic white students that had parent participation (Megra & McQuiggan,

2017).
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 6

Advocacy Plan

Preliminary Steps of Change

First, the problem must be identified, and the school counselor’s role/ responsibility

within that process must be determined and carried out. A professional school counselor

should always maintain a goal to increase parent involvement within the school. The ASCA

National Model contains standards that can relate to this goal. The model encourages school

counselors to have ready, personal connections with parents. Doing this can create opportunities

for connections and involvement on a wider scale.

School counselors must also collaborate and plan with parents, teachers, administration,

and the community on what is best for students’ success. School counselors needs to make sure

that these individuals are aware of the benefits of involvement. They should also assist parents in

supporting a student's academic, social/emotional, personal, and career development at home.

It is important to help parents understand more ways they can be involved with their

child’s education. This can be done through providing workshops for the parents to get more

ideas on how to enhance their child’s learning or other tasks such as creating an online calendar

or calendar handouts to keep parents in the loop.

The risks of taking action and not taking action must be assessed. A potential risk of

taking action could be a parent becoming overly involved. The presence of their parents can

sometimes distract students, which can cause a lack of focus or behavior problems. If no efforts

or actions are made to maintain a steady occurrence of parent involvement, this could inevitably

lead to a decline in the presence of parents, family, and the community within the school.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 7

Action Steps

The source and focus of the problem must be clarified, so that appropriate action

can be taken. Standards for students are increasing steadily. Parents and teachers play an

important role to help children succeed in school. Nonetheless, parental involvement in a child’s

education is on the decline (Coleman, 1991). Identifying the factors that may contribute to the

lack of parent involvement will help schools understand the issue of the decline and develop

ways to increase parent participation, overall. The following is an action plan to ensure schools,

parents, and communities are meaningfully and equally involved in the planning, distribution,

sharing, and receiving of information communicated about activities or about students at the

school. This plan is to be completed by school staff in conjunction with parents and community

members for a balanced representation of input and implementation.

An action plan with a timeline must be decided upon.

Action Steps Strategy(ies) Person(s) Responsible Timeline

2020-2021 School Year

PARENT INVOLVEMENT 8

Ensure that parent Provide interpreters or Family/School/Community 9/5 – 5/28

involvement includes translated materials. Involvement Teams

the tools, protocols, (school staff, parents,

Set convenient meeting
and sample materials to community members)
times.
implement the best

practices such as: Launch mechanisms

for parents to
• Systems to let
document concerns and
parents know about
for concerns to be
academic goals, class
addressed.
work, grades, and

homework. Establish processes to

enable families to share

• Interaction in a
information with
structure and language
schools about
parents understand.
backgrounds, culture,

• Clear two-way talents, and goals.

channels for
Maintain up-to-date
interactions from home
records of physical
to school and vice
addresses, phone
versa.
numbers, and email

• Enabling extensive addresses.

parent involvement
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 9

• Ample opportunities Survey to determine

for parents and their availability and

teachers to involvement

communicate and build preferences.

positive relationships.

Utilize technology to Revise/edit the school Family/School/Community 9/5 - 5/28

alert/inform parents website to guarantee Involvement Teams

and the community of ease of use by (school staff, parents,

upcoming events or parents/the community. community members)

information.
Create webinars that Parent Involvement

address important Coordinator

parent/community
School Admin/Staff
needs.

** Continue to send

paper notices from

school to home to

ensure that families

without technology

access remain

informed.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 10

Service Needs of All Inform parents of the School Administration 9/5 – 5/28

Families various communication

School Staff
efforts available to

them within the school.

Perform home visits to

homes or “hard to

reach” families to

obtain information.

Sources of conflict and opposing opinion must be considered and identified. Some

parents may find that their beliefs about the teacher-parent relationship could have been naïve.

Christianakis (2011) argued, when teachers urge parents to be more involved, what they often

mean is that they want parents to help them, explicitly by getting children to obey school rules

and make their jobs easier. Parents could be concerned that the teacher may not care about who

they are, how they raise their children, and the struggles they face in their parenting. A study

from Harris and Robinson (2014) states that the idea that kids do better in school when their

parents are involved does not add up. The study compared the average achievement of children

whose parents are actively involved in their school to that of other students whose parents do not.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 11

In fact, they found that parental involvement in any form produced no benefit to children’s test

scores or grades, regardless of racial or ethnic background or socioeconomic standing (Harris &

Robinson, 2014)

Take Only Realistic Action

The school counselor should garner the support of influential people and policy

makers. Within the implementation of this action plan, the school counselor(s) should reach out

to influential people within school walls and outside of school walls. Within the school, the

support of administrators and teachers would be critical in ensuring that these techniques would

be successfully implemented throughout the school’s calendar of events. The support of the

administration would be particularly useful in executing additional communication channels and

ensuring that those channels are effective at disseminating information and reaching their target.

The school counselor(s) could also enlist the support of prominent organizations within the

school, such as the Parent Teacher Association, to sponsor or provide additional involvement or

educational opportunities.

Outside of school walls, family members and caretakers that are involved in various ways

within the school can serve as advocates for parental involvement. Those that are regularly

involved typically hold a high place of esteem within the school’s community, thereby assuming

some sort of influence over their community. They can share their history of involvement, the

processes associated with that history, and their personal experiences within their roles to others

within the community, which can serve as a form of outreach to other families and caregivers to

encourage them to also become more involved. In addition, family members and caretakers that

have influence in other ways, such as holding political office or being prominent business

owners, could bolster this campaign with their presence as an opinion that the larger community
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 12

already trusts and values. The school counselor(s) could also contact the school board member

that represents their school and/or their school’s superintendent to present at or attend an event,

which might draw in more people to attend, as well as potentially give more credibility to their

efforts.

The efforts within the action plan must be evaluated by the school counselor. In

terms of evaluating the effectiveness of the workshops offered to parents, a pre/post test survey

would be used (O’Brien & Boland) . For example, if the information session was related to

educating parents on how to get involved, the survey could ask questions such as “What resource

would one go to see the involvement opportunities available to parents and family members?” or

“What is one example of an involvement opportunity that interests you?” These questions would

be asked before the presentation and after, so the school counselor could accurately determine

the effectiveness of the presentation itself.

In terms of evaluating the effectiveness of communication between the school and family

members, a survey could be used (O’Brien & Boland). This survey could be sent out using the

technology-based communication platforms that had been used within the techniques listed to

accomplish the goal, such as the school counseling website or blog. It could ask parents and

family members to rate their experience and their level of knowledge in terms of events and

resources available to them through the school, as well as serve as a way to gauge the amount of

people able to access this resource due to the number of responses.

In terms of evaluating the meaningfulness of the involvement opportunities, a parent

focus group to be held (O’Brien & Boland). The school counselor could facilitate the group

discussion by asking questions, such as “Were you able to find a volunteer opportunity that

reflects your interests or skills?” and “Approximately how many volunteer opportunities were
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 13

you unable to participate in due to your schedule or other barriers?” This focus group would also

be an appropriate opportunity for parents and family members to suggest additional opportunity

ideas, so that the availabilities could even be further expanded to best suit the school community.

The school counselor is to engage in reflection. At the conclusion of this advocacy

plan, the school counselor would collect and analyze the data accrued from these evaluation

methods. For example, from the data drawn from the pre/post test evaluation, future topics for

these education opportunities can be explored, such as whether the topics addressed were

addressed in enough depth or whether an additional workshop should be organized within the

topic. This data evaluation should take place at the end of each semester, so that the school

counselors can apply the findings within a reasonable time frame to expect these adjustments to

improve parental involvement.

Intervention/Techniques

Parental and Caregiver Education

In order to equip parents and caregivers with the proper tools to support their student(s)

in both the school and home environment, workshops and information sessions can be offered by

school counselors and community services (Williams & Sanchez, 2013). For example, the school

counselor might host events that detail topics such as nutrition and healthy eating or how to

become involved in the school-setting (Ferguson, 2010). As access can be an issue in making

this information available to all, best practice would be for the school counselor to offer video or

written summaries of these sessions on one of the school’s established websites or blogs. School

counselors can also enlist the resources and expertise of community-based organizations in

supporting their students and their families, such as certain wrap-around resources (“Los Angeles

Unified School District”). Another way that these resources might assist parents is through
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 14

providing them with resources to further their own education, such as English as a second

language and GED courses (Ferguson, 2010). In addition to the efforts put forth by the school

counselor and the community organizations, other families in the school can serve as mentors

and information sources through outreach (Grovner, 2015). With the knowledge necessary to be

better parents, leaders, and influences, parents and caregivers can feel more comfortable being

involved in their students’ education.

Communication Methods

In order to increase parental involvement, increasing effective communication between

schools and families is critical (Ferguson, 2010). From the perspective of the school, there are

multiple strategies that can be adapted in order to ensure that communication both to and from

the families of students reaches its intended target, is understood, and fosters a positive

relationship between the school and the family.

Communication from schools to families solely via students is considered an unreliable

delivery method (Williams & Sanchez, 2013). Therefore, the information should be disseminated

via a variety of methods, including both technological and in print (Grovner, 2015). This allows

for families to consult in print information in the event of no internet access, as well as provides

for parents to access this information at any time in a place where it can be frequently updated to

reflect accuracy. This can be done through the school’s website or blog, emails, printed

newsletters, or physical flyers, among many other options (Grovner, 2015). This technique

should be used by teachers, school counselors, and administrators, as communication from all of

these parties is critical to parental involvement levels.

In order for these communication efforts to be effective, it is critical that the school

makes keeping accurate records of family’s phone numbers, home addresses, and emails a
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 15

priority (Williams & Sanchez, 2013). This is important in regards to ensuring that

communication reaches its target, as well as allowing for school staff to best accomplish home

visits. It is also critical for the school administration to employ a bilingual individual that is

present at the school daily, as that will ensure that non-English speaking family members are still

able to communicate with the school, as well as ensure that the communication that goes out

from the school can be translated for those non-English-speaking individuals (Grovner, 2015).

Finally, to ensure a positive relationship between the school and the family as a result of

communication, it is important that the school has a process in place that allows for families to

voice their concerns, as well as ensure that these concerns are addressed within a reasonable

window of time (“Los Angeles Unified School District”). This effort can be spearheaded by the

school counselor, and they may hold focus groups, implement comment boxes located

throughout the school, or hold regular and open office hours.

Involvement Opportunities

Providing meaningful, varied involvement opportunities for families to become invested

in is crucial to increasing parent involvement (Williams & Sanchez, 2013). One way that this can

be accomplished is by a survey being sent out to parents and families that allows them to write

down their skills and availability, so that the school counselor can refer to this data in terms of

cultivating appropriate volunteers for each event (Grovner, 2015). This could be particularly

useful in planning a career day event or other career-related activities within the counseling

curriculum. Teachers could also use this information and invite parents or family members to

come speak with their classes about their area of expertise (“Los Angeles Unified School District”).

Another way to provide involvement opportunities is through lesson plans within the

classroom. Parents and caretakers may give support in executing these lesson plans, as well as
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 16

the lesson plans themselves can address the topics of parental involvement and include

information on involvement opportunities. An example of this would be to have students write

thank you notes to their parents and caretakers for their parental involvement (“150 Days of

Family Engagement”) (Appendix B). The school counselor could then accompany that thank you

note with an additional letter from the school counseling department stating future involvement

opportunities and additional resources (“150 Days of Family Engagement”) (Appendix C).

Having a thank you note as a vehicle for increasing parental involvement might allow for that

involvement to become more meaningful, as the parents and caretakers are then better able to

understand the impact that their involvement has on their students.

Involvement opportunities must be diverse in order to reflect the diverse skill sets present

within the community of the school. Examples of these could be serving on various parent

committees, such as one that serves new students and their families, helping create and execute

the bulletin boards for the school counseling team, and chaperoning field trips (Grovner, 2015).

In consideration of these volunteering opportunities, it is also crucial for school counselors,

teachers, and other school representatives consider barriers to participation for parents and

family members. These can be combated through techniques such as offering opportunities

before, during, and after the typical school day, as well as providing childcare whenever possible

(Williams & Sanchez, 2013).

Conclusion

Parents who are in tune with what is happening in their child’s classroom are better able

to establish a connection between what is learned at school and what takes place in the home.

One pivotal way to achieve success in education is through parental support. According to the

National Education Association, it has been shown that with parental support, children can
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 17

maximize their potential in their academics, behavior, attendance, constructs perceived

competence, enhances self-control, and encourages their motivation to read and comprehend.

Regardless of a student’s family income or background, any parent that stays involved in their

student’s education helps them to obtain higher grades and test scores, they attend school

regularly, have better social skills, and adapt well to school. Connections made between families

and schools to promote that academic success has a lasting effect in the students education.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 18

References

150 Days of Family Engagement. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.projectappleseed.org/activities.

American School Counselor Association (2014). Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success:

K-12 College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Every Student. Alexandria, VA:

Author.Career Clusters/Pathways. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum -Instruction-

and-Assessment/CTAE/Pages/CTAE-Georgia-Career-Clusters.aspx.

Christianakis, M. (2011). Parents as “help labor’: Inner-city teachers’ narratives of parent

involvement. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38 (4), 157-178.

Coleman, J. S. (1991, June). Parental involvement in education. Policy Perspectives Series.

Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from

ERIC database (ED334028).

Ferguson, C. (2010). A Toolkit for Title I Parental Involvement. National Center for Family and

Community Connections with Schools.

Grovner, Maria (2015). Getting Parents Involved in Your School Counseling Program

[Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from:https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-

Assessment/CTAE/Documents/Getting-Parents-Involved-in-Your-School-Counseling-

Program.pdf

Henderson, A.T., and K.L. Mapp. 2002. A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School,

Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. National Center for

PARENT INVOLVEMENT 19

Family and Community Connections with Schools, Southwest Educational Development

Laboratory.

Los Angeles Unified School District Parent Community Services Branch. (n.d.) School Goals

for Parent Engagement. Retrieved from

http://home.lausd.net/ourpages/pcsb/pubs/school_goals_engl.pdf

McQuiggan, M. & Megra, M. (2017). Parent and family involvement in education: Results from

the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016 (NCES 2017-102) [Table

2], Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics. Retrieved November 16, 2019 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017102.pdf

O’Brien, T., & Boland, T. (n.d.). Section 1118: Parental Involvement Policy Compliance &

Evaluation. Retrieved from

https://www.cde.state.co.us/sites/default/files/documents/fedprograms/dl/

ti_parents_pipolicycomp.pdf

Robinson, K., & Harris, A. L. (2014, April 12). Parental Involvement Is Overrated. Retrieved

November 17, 2019, from https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/parental-

involvement-is-overrated/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&

Three Domains of Learning - Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://thesecondprinciple.com/instructional-design/threedomainsoflearning/.

Vaden-Kiernan, N. & McManus, J. (2005). Parent and family involvement in education: 2002–

03 (NCES 2005–043) [Table 3]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,

National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 16, 2019 from

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005043
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 20

Williams, T. T., & Sánchez, B. (2013). Identifying and decreasing barriers to parent involvement

for inner-city parents. Youth & Society, 45(1), 54-74.

Appendix A

Ice Breaker Activity

Title: Divide

Objective: “I can learn more about others around me.”

Materials: List of this or that questions

Game Procedure: When you are participating in the activity, you are listening for the two options. If you

prefer one more than the other, you will move to the instructed side for each option and from there,

encounter others who have the same preference as you.

Questions:

1. English or Math?
2. Right-handed or left-handed?
3. Introvert or extrovert?
4. Early bird or Night Owl?
5. Cats or dogs?
6. Moe’s or Chipotle?
7. Netflix or YouTube?
8. Rich friend or loyal friend?
9. Coffee or tea?
10. Apple or Android?
11. Phone call or text?
12. Chicken sandwich or cheeseburgers?
13. Pen or pencil?
14. Toilet paper: over or under?
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 21

Appendix B

Classroom Activity Lesson Plan - Thank You for Supporting Me!

Type of counseling activity: Classroom guidance activity that increases awareness of appropriate

social skills by appreciating family members’ or caregivers’ support of students’ education

experience through reflective, creative writing.

Participants: A classroom of third grade students at an elementary school.

Include goals and objectives for the activities: To provide a memento of thanks for family and

caregiver involvement from the perspective of the student; To practice using written

communication skills and self-reflection, as per ASCA behaviors; To provide a method for

students to use to strengthen their relationships with their family members and caregivers,

thereby allowing students to model effective behaviors within adult relationships, as per ASCA

behaviors

Georgia’s career cluster pathway for school guidance core curriculum: As this activity uses

writing and communication skills and the concepts of volunteering and familial support, it would

best suit the career clusters of arts/communication and human services.

Evaluation methods you will use to determine your activity’s outcome:

● Cognitive domain: As one of the goals of this activity is to enhance the use of the

thank you note as a method of showing gratitude to others and strengthening relationships

through this practice, the school counselor could ask a question at the conclusion of the

activity that would require students to respond with components and uses of the thank
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 22

you note. This would serve as an evaluation method of the cognitive domain, as it would

show that students had processed and applied the information shared with them

throughout the lesson.

`● Affective domain: As this activity allows for students to express and explore their

emotions in relation to gratitude and their relationships with their family members and

caregivers, the students’ completion of the notes would represent an evaluation method

within this domain. This process allows for the practice of self-reflection and the process

of providing a memento of thanks, which are both in line with the goals of this activity.

● Psychomotor-behavioral domain: As this activity addresses a goal of practicing

behavior that is appropriate within relationships with adults, the psychomotor-behavioral

domain can be evaluated through the behavior of creating the thank you note. This form

of evaluation could be extended to include the behavior of the student giving the thank

you note to the family member or caretaker that it is addressed to.

Description of the instructions for the lesson facilitator:

1. Hold a classroom discussion led by the school counselor. The questions that the school

counselor should ask as the leader of this discussion would address the concepts of

gratitude, thank you notes, and parental involvement. Examples of these are:

a. What does the word gratitude mean to you and how have you showed gratitude to

others?

b. Have you ever received a thank you note? Have you ever written a thank you

note? What are some words that you would use to describe how that made you

feel?
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 23

c. When and how have you seen family members and caregivers being involved at

school? Have your family members or caregivers come to volunteer or support

you at school? How did that make you feel?

These questions should assist students in being able to define specific examples of

parental involvement that they have experienced first-hand, as well as explore the

vocabulary and the processes surrounding thanking family members and caregivers for

their involvement.

2. Introduce the writing activity to students, by telling them that they have the opportunity

to show gratitude to their family members and caregivers by writing them a thank you

note. Provide examples of ideas that they may include or prompts that could be used to

help them write their notes. Have these displayed on the board.

3. Distribute writing utensils and pieces of paper for the creation of these thank you notes.

Attach an additional thank you letter from the counseling department thanking family

members and caregivers for their involvement to the provided paper that students will use

to write their note. Within this note from the counseling department, include involvement

opportunities in the near future and resources that parents can consult for more

information. A sample note can be found in appendix C.

4. Once students have completed their thank you notes, the school counselor should ask

them questions about this process, such as:

a. What are other times that you could write a thank you note to your family

members or caregivers?

b. What were some of the specific things that you mentioned in your note that you

were thankful for?

PARENT INVOLVEMENT 24

c. How do you think that your family members or caregivers will respond to this

thank-you note?

Format and time frame: The school counselor should lead this activity, and it should take

approximately forty-five minutes to an hour.

Integration suggestion: As this lesson incorporates creative writing and vocabulary, it would be

most appropriate to incorporate into the English language classroom.

150 Days of Family Engagement. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.projectappleseed.org/activities.

Career Clusters/Pathways. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum

-Instruction-and-Assessment/CTAE/Pages/CTAE-Georgia-Career-Clusters.aspx.

Three Domains of Learning - Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://thesecondprinciple.com/instructional-design/threedomainsoflearning/.

American School Counselor Association (2014). Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success:

K-12 College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Every Student. Alexandria, VA: Author.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 25

Appendix C

A Letter from the School Counseling Department

Dear parents, family members, and caregivers,

On behalf of the school counseling department, I want to convey a sincere thank you for your
continued support for and involvement in our school. The impact that you have made through
your time and effort is greatly appreciated and does not go unnoticed. The counseling department
is looking forward to working more with you in the future, as we seek to provide the most
beneficial, holistic educational experience for all of our students, yours included.

In the near future, we have some exciting involvement opportunities that we would love for you
to consider volunteering at or attending. These include:

1. Career Fair on December 2nd

2. Family Member Focus Groups on December 10th
3. Family Nutrition Workshop (includes free food and recipes!) on January 15th at 6pm

Always stay in the know about future educational and volunteer opportunities by consulting the
following resources:

1. The school website-- www.baileycove.com

2. The counseling department’s blog-- www.baileycovecounseling.blogspot.com
3. The bulletin board in the main office

Again, thank you for all you do,

Cecilia Long
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 26

School Counselor
Bailey Cove Elementary School

Estimados padres, familiares y cuidadores,

En nombre del departamento de asesoramiento escolar, quiero transmitir un sincero

agradecimiento por su continuo apoyo y participación en nuestra escuela. El impacto que ha
tenido a través de su tiempo y esfuerzo es muy apreciado y no pasa desapercibido. El
departamento de asesoramiento espera trabajar más con usted en el futuro, ya que buscamos
proporcionar la experiencia educativa más beneficiosa y holística para todos nuestros
estudiantes, incluido el suyo.

En un futuro cercano, tenemos algunas oportunidades interesantes de participación que nos

encantaría que consideraras ofrecerte como voluntario o asistir. Éstos incluyen:

1. Feria de carreras el 2 de diciembre

2. Grupos focales de miembros de la familia el 10 de diciembre
3. Taller de nutrición familiar (¡incluye comida y recetas gratis!) El 15 de enero a las 6 p.m.

Siempre manténgase informado sobre futuras oportunidades educativas y de voluntariado

consultando los siguientes recursos:

1. El sitio web de la escuela: www.baileycove.com

2. El blog del departamento de asesoramiento: www.baileycovecounseling.blogspot.com
3. El tablón de anuncios en la oficina principal

De nuevo, gracias por todo lo que haces,

Cecilia Long
Consejero de la escuela
PARENT INVOLVEMENT 27

Escuela primaria Bailey Cove