CHAPTER 5 WorKING wit PARENTS Research has shown that parents and family are criticat factors in children’ education, par ticularly for those who ave at risk of dropping out of school. Numerous Studies demonstrate that the influence and pubprtgiven by the family may divecly affect the behavior of children in school, then Brades, and the probability that they will finish high school ‘aul Haley and Karen Berry (1988) What are optimal conditions fora parent-teacher conference? A quiet cor ‘ner, protection fiom actquPtions and a teacher who listens, The words exchanged during the conference may he forgotten, but the mood of the meeting will tinger on. ie will decide the subsequent attitudes and actions of the parents —Haim Ginott (1972) The way schools care about children is reflected in the way schools care about the children’s families Joyce Epstein (1995) tues indicate parental involvement in thetr children’s educational experience plays a significant tole in these stucents' academic suecess (Cartanza, You, Chhuon, & Hudley, 2009; Christenson & Sheridan, 2001, Jeynes, 2007). Teachers’ understanding of and respect for the values and belie{s of their students’ families is an important factor in supporting student learning (Tiumbell, Rothstein- Fisch, & Hemandez, 2003). When teachers can asciet Parents in understanding the school culture and supporting school expectations, students leaming is enhanced (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). In a survey of students and teachers (Binns, Steinberg, & Amorosi, 1997), 87 percent of students who eamed primatily A and BS indicated theit Parents were available to assist them lower than C reported their parents encouraged them te pursue their dreams. Based on the National Longitudinal Study conducted by the National Ceneer for Education Statistics fitental involvement in school activities had a consistent effect om all three measures of school failure, even alter holding constant the students sox race-ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, alte frequency of discussions between the parent and the child aba school-related concerns alsa hadl a consistent impact on whether or not the student dropped out. Students were particularly at Hisk i their parents never talked to them about these matter (Kaufman, Bradby, & Owings, 1992, p. 22) One way teachers can encourage students’ parents/guardians to be involved in their childrens education is for teachers to find ways to communicate to Parents their sincere respect for the family their culture, and their role in their childs education te doing so, it is imperative that teachers make every effort to be sensitive to cultural factors Foe example, families may have differing beliefs regarding the roles of teacher and parents in supporting student achievement (Chrispeels & Rivero, 2001; Jackson & Remillard, 2005: Lawson, 2003), Caregivers may view Involvement as supporting their children by keeping thens safe, getting them to school, ot 127128 PART TWO Creating a Safe and Supportive Learning Community encouraging academic work while teachers view involvement as attending conferences and being, involved at school. Parents may also view as appropriate behavior that is different from what school personnel consider acceptable in a school setting, and caregivers may differ dramatically in the time and energy they have available to communicate with teachers and support schoo! functions or in the type of communication that works best for them, Teachers need to obtain information that assists them in understanding the cultural beliefs and values of their students’ parents and guardians and to incorporate this information into their methods for positively engaging these family ‘members in supporting responsible school behavior and learning, Its also important that teachers be aware of the myriad family structures that exist and support children by showing acceptance of these varied family structures. A wonderful example of this was recently presented to us when a colleague shared an experience she had when taking hher daughter to register for kindergarten: The teacher was aware that both of the girl parents were women, and she took the girl and her mother to the classroom to show them around. On the door of the classroom were silhouettes of a variety of family structures including two parents of the same gender, single parents, grandparents, and so on. Our friend reported the powerful, positive impact this had on both her and her daughter. ‘Anyone working in schools today realizes that, for many students, the primary support person outside of school may not be a biological parent. Therefore, in this chapter, we interchangeably use the terms parent, guardian, primary caregiver, and family to represent the adults in the community who provide this support LEARNING GOALS. After reading this chapter, you will know: 1. Methods for keeping parents and caregivers informed about their student’ work and behavior at school 2. How to structure a successfull parent/caregiver conference 3, How to deal effectively with criticism and confrontation from adults who are respon- sible for your students 4. Methods for working with parents of second language learners Why Are These Goals Important? The support family members or other caregivers provide to our students can have a significant impact on the motivation students bring to the learning environment and their willingness to behave responsibly in school. Therefore, while a teacher’ primary tole is to work with students, teachers find that, for several reasons, an important and rewarding aspect of their job includes their work with parents. Fitst, children’ attitudes about school are influenced by their parents (Epstein, Coates, Salinas, Sanders, & Simon, 1997). Parent involvement in the school experience—whether supporting their child’ efforts, holding high expectations, assisting theit child with homework, or simply showing interest in what and how their child is doing at school—can have a positive impact on students’ attitudes toward school, belief in the relationship between effort and school performance, and persistence at schoolwork, When parents feel good about their children’ teacher and school, the youngsters ate more likely to receive parentalCHAPTER 5 Working with Parents 129 encouragement and reinforcement for desitable school behavior. Sui-Chu and Willms (1996) reported that parents’ knowledge of and discussion with their children about school events was the factor most strongly related to adolescents’ school achievement. Second, parents and ‘guardians can be valuable resources for teachers, They can volunteer time to work with students, assist teachers by putting up bulletin boards, copying materials, or sharing their expertise on special topics with students. Finally, in an increasing number of instances, the rewards and. punishments available in school ate not powerful enough to elicit desirable behavior from youngsters, When this occurs, school personnel may need to involve parents in developing « behavior change program for the students. Even though teachers can derive numerous benefits from interacting with parents, many teachers indicate that patent contacts are a difficult and relatively undesirable aspect of teaching, Teachers’ discomfort in working with parents is based on several factors. First, parent contacts are often time-consuming and emotionally demanding, When teachers have worked with students for seven hours and usually face several hours of marking papers and planning itis understandably difficult to be enthusiastic about additional school-related interactions, Teachers also find parent contacts difficult because the teaching, profession has never been viewed with the awe or respect bestowed on such professions as medicine or law. Perhaps because all parents have been students, they believe themselves knowledgeable about what their youngsters need in order to function elflectively in school. These factors cause many teachers to be somewhat intimidated by parents and, therefore, to minimize their parent contacts. In a study of teachers’ interactions with families of their English language learner (ELL) students, 85 percent of the teachers indicated they made positive phone calls to less than 25 percent of their students’ families; less than 25 percent indicated they asked parents to share positive information about their child; and only 15 percent said they integrated information learned from students and their families into their curriculum (Chen, Kyle, & Mcintyre, 2008). Perhaps not surprising, for many years nearly 90 percent of teachers and administrators have reported teachers need inservice education on practices for effectively involving students’ caregivers (Chen et al. 2008). Research indicates teacher involvement with families decreases significantly as students become older: *. . elementary principals reported approximately 77% of their teachers frequently communicate with parents, compared to 59% in middle school and 36% in high school” (Flynn & Nolan, 2008, p. 179). ‘These same authors reported that More than 60% of all principals ranked teachers’ lack of confidence and skill as the primary reason for avoiding contact with parents, The second and third leading causes were teacher beliefs that parents are a threat and lack of understanding of the importance of patents’ roles. (p. 179) Finally, these authors report that the mnajor concern expressed by principals in their study was that teachers primarily contact students’ guardians to report problems. Teachers can, however, develop attitudes and skills that will make parent contacts much more enjoyable and productive, This chapter provides methods for making positive contacts with parents throughout the school year, implementing effective parent conferences, and handling parent confrontations. ‘As with most classroom management methods, each of us must decide how much time and effort we wish to invest in working with parents. However, this is an area where a reasonable investment can be associated with significant gains. Students’ achievement gains and positive behavior can be significantly increased whep students’ caregivers are actively involved with130 PART TWO Creating a Safe and Supportive Learning Community teachers in a positive manner. Elementary school teachers are SCHOOL DOESN'T HAVE expected to maintain frequent ENOUGH MONEY FOR CDS, contact with parents, and children at this age generally respond well to parents’ encouragement, At the middle and high school levels, most teachers work with between 150 and 250 students and thus «will choose to implement fewer of the ideas presented in this chapter. However, Walker ancl Hoover-Dempsey (2006) report it is worth the effort because teachers who invite parents’ volvement tend to report higher levels of support from parents and tend to be perceived by parents as betier teachers. In our interactions with parents and guardians, we must ensure that we listen carefully to concerns, requests, and criticisms. Caregivers may often be able to inform us of issnes at school that may need changing in order to assist their children. Regardless of social class, | parents and guardians of students of cotor are more likely to be seen by school personnel as less supportive andl to receive 4 less positive, less supportive response from school personnel (Larewu & Horvat, 1999). Ae educators committed to the success of every child, we must work to overcome our fears of receiving cttical feedback as well as our biases regarding individuals who are different [rom us For the sake of our students, we must maintain a supportive operiness to feedback and requests from all of our students’ caregivers. MRS, BLUE, BYRON I'M VERY SORRY. WE'LL BROKE AN OLD RECORD]|| | PAY FOR IT. | KNOW ThE AT SCHOOL TODAY, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, THANKS FOR WE BROKE A SCHOOL LETTING ME RECORD FOR GREATEST KNOW. FLEXIBILITY IN OUR a PE. PROGRAM, TLLUS TRA TONS KEVIN RUELLE 249-8707 wwe peytral.com C0, INC. 952: Tal PEYTRAL PUBLICATIONS, ‘1998 MICHAEL : 2 MRS, BLUE 1S WOEFULLY UNACCUSTOMED | TO GOOD NEWS. | © Michael Gangrece KEEPING CAREGIVERS INFORMED. Being Sensitive to Caregivers While teachers often express feeling somewhat intimidated by parents, itis important to realize that, compared to students’ caregivers, in many, if mot most cases, teachers have considerably snore social capital than patents, While our children were im K through twelve education, we shore ourselves involved in education as a college professor and consultant and elementary teacher. Despite our familiarity with schools, one of the few times in our daily Tives that weCHAPTER 5 Working with Parents 131 experienced anxiety going into a setting was when we attended our children’ school confer- ences. Despite our familiarity with this setting, we were meeting with someone who had exten- sive information regarding two extremely important aspects of our children’s lives—how effectively they related to others and how capable they were at processing new information, We correctly believed these two factors were critical in how effectively our children would grow to be happy, productive adults. Now consider someone who has limited understanding of schools, academic assessment, student learning styles, and so forth. In this case the teacher becomes even more of an expert whose statements about a student’ learning and behavior are, like those of a dentist, doctor, or lawyer, relatively unquestioned. Further, consider the situations of immigrant parents, who have very limited social capital in this country and limited understanding of the school system in the United States. While teachers understandably express concern about the impact parents may have through communicating with building and district administrators, the reality is that in most situations, when interacting with caregivers, teachers have substantial amounts of social capital. Instead of worrying about what parents might say or do, teachers will be more effective if they consider ways to build trusting relationships with their students’ car- egivers. Indeed, Adams and Forsyth (2009) suggest that the creation of trusting relationships between school personnel and patents, most specifically between teachers and patents, has a greater impact on student learning than the effects of poverty. The key question then becomes, how do we create trust between teachers and students’ fam- ily members? One answer is that when communicating with parents, as educators we focus more on listening than on telling, We can begin by asking them to provide information about how the behavioral expectations and approach to learning in our classroom relates to what the student o1 Parents value andl experience out of school. We can ask parents to share theit goals and hopes for their child and to tell us what factors help their child leam and any factors that may contribute to their chile’s becoming unengaged or alienated at school, We can ask parents how their child learns best, what their childs interests are, what topics their child most likes to study, the aca- demic content in which they believe their child is most skilled, and so on, We can ask caregivers when and how they prefer to receive information [rom school and the types of information they find most helpful. We can ask them if thete are cultural, religious, or family factors we should be aware of that will help us interact more respectfully and successfully with their child. Parents, especially those not born in the United States, often feel the relationship between the school and the family is one-way. In Dotson-Blake’s (2010) study of how family-school-community relationships differed in the United States and Mexico, several par- ents indicated that relationships in this country are almost entirely focused on the school. The statements of three mothers reflect this perspective “They call us when there isa problem with our kids.” “They send notes home if they need ws to send something for a party, like a drink or chips. “Parents are invited to conferences, but they do not get an opportunity to provicle much feedback to the teachers, only to get instructions about how to improve their efforts to help their children with schoolwork.” (p. 106) Just as with our students, we want parents to know about and understand the academic and behavioral goals and expectations that are the driving forces behind our instructional and beha ioral approaches, However, itis equally important that we understand these factors as they relate to the family and the culture in which students spend the majority of their existence. Failtire to begin early on with a focus on student, family, and community factors may severely limit our132 PART TWO Creating a Safe and Supportive Learning Community ability not only to obtain important information about the stent, but also to build the trusting relationship with the family that is a cornerstone to successful student achievement. Importance of Early Contact ‘As suggested earlier, and as in any good relationship, the first contact should provide an OPPO: tunity for all partes to get to know each other and should focus on the farily and the child. Parents who perceive themselves as being treated warmly and respectfully by us, who feel lis- _-ened-to and believe we understand and care about their child, and who are familiar with our instructional goals and classroom management procedures are auch more likely to encourage student achievement and support us if problems arise. During interactions with parents and guardians, especially those of students new to this country, you may want to ask parents to help you understand important factors about their childs academic background. This conversation can be facilitated by requesting school person- hel who work with immigrant students to provide you with information prior to the meeting, Figure 5.1 shows a form that can provide you with hetpful information about a student’ aca- demic background, which can be supported by information from the parents regarding how much schooling they have had, the areas in which they excelled or struggled, and so on. You ay also request information on specific cultural factors that may influence the student’ inter actions in school. For example, what type of instructional practices has the student experi- enced, and what do adults in the stuclent’ culture expect regarding the students interactions with peers and teachers in the school? Though you may need the assistance of an interpreter dhuring some of these conversations, and in some cases you may have to request that the form be completed by another school professional who works with new students from different cul- tures, this information can prove invaluable in helping the student to feel accepted and com- fortable in your classroom and to reduce dissonance that may create low motivation and behavior problems. Research (Arunkumar, Midgley, & Urdan, 1999) suggests that when adolescents perceive the existence of major dissonance between their home and school values, student achievement is lower and students’ sense of hopelessness and anger is higher. Therefore, contacts with parents and guardians that help both parties understand each other and develop agreement on academic and behavioral expectations can have a positive impact on student achievement and behavior Contacts with parents are an excellent example of the idea that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Several suggestions are offered here for initiating such contacts Methods for Obtaining Parental Support There are many approaches to developing parental support for student achievement and positive classroom behaviors. The ideas presented here are among those we and teachers with whom we have worked have found particularly useful. We encourage you to modify these methods crea- tively in order to develop the approach best suited to yout situation An Introductory Letter Perhaps the easiest approach for making thé initial contact is to send a letter to each stucents parent(s) or guardians). Because the letter will include information that you will want to presentCHAPTER 5 Working with Parents Date To From. , anew student in your class, isa non-nalive speaker of English. Following is some information that we think will be helpful 1o you as you work with your new student: 1, The student will receive the following ESL services: 2, Pronunciation of name: First name : Family name Native language(s): 3 Ear eee 4, Age: Gender, Grades Date of arrival in U.S. (if applicable): 5. Educational background: ‘Years of Education Grade Location Prior to antival in US. (ifapplicable)— __ English instruction? wat eo In the U.S. ESL or other services? ‘Type of service TEAVULSERD 6, English language proficiency: Profile 1—No prior experience Profile 2—Single word/phrases Profile 3—Emerging language Profile 4—Intermediate proficiency (appears fluent but has big gaps) —__— Profile 5—Advanced proficiency, _— Profile 6—Proficient ELL studlent—no extra support needed 7. Reading and writing ability in first language: 8. Comments; 133 FIGURE 5.1 ANEW NON- NATIVE SPEAKER OF ENGLISH IN YOUR SECONDARY CLASSROOM Source: Adapted from a form developed by Carrie E. McPeak, ‘Madras (Jefferson County), OR. personally to students, it is best to send the letter so that it arrives one or two days after school begins. In the letter, you can introduce yourself, state your interest in developing positive teacher-parent contacts, and invite the parents 10 attend a ba }o-school night or a similar event in which you and they have an opportunity to meet and discuss the school year. Figure 5.2 is an example of an introductory letter. We strongly encourage you to provide any materials sent home in as many of the languages spoken by parents in your classroom as possible134 PART TWO Creating a Safe and Supportive Learning Community FIGURE 5.2 in INTRODUCTORY Cl LETTER TO Dear Parents, PARENTS: ‘With school under way, I'd like to take a moment of your time to welcome you and introduce myself. My name is Mrs, Louise Jones and I have taught in the Beaverton School District for thirty-two years. I completed my undergtaduate work at Oregon State University ‘and received! my master’ degtee from Lewis and Clark College. Lam very interested in making this a successful and happy school year for your child. To ensure this success, we must keep the lines of communication open. I respect the fact that you know your child very well, and so if your child says anything negative or expresses any Concerns about school, please contact me, Likewise, if there isan activity, project, ot - anything else at school they get very excited about and enjoy, please let me know. lam available at school until 4:00 p.m, each day and you can reach me by e-mail. | will be contacting you throughout the year about projects, upcoming events, ways you can volunteer at school, the nice things I see your child doing, and problems, ifany arise, Ina few weeks our school will have its annual back-to-school night. At that time T will discuss in detail what your child will be studying this year, the skills and knowledge you can expect them to develop, my grading methods, how I teach students to behave in school so they and other students can be successful, ancl my discipline procedures. There will also be a display of books and materials that your child will be using during the year: | encourage you to attend this special evening becauise it will give you an opportunity to understand the fourth-grade program, become better acquainted with the room and materials that your child will be using throughout the coming year, and ask me any questions you may have. | look forward to meeting you soon and am excited for a wonderful year working together to help. your child have a successful school year Sincerely, Mrs, Louise Jones e-mail address School phone number with voicemail code Introductory Phone Calls While introductory contacts with parents may involve a letter or a short conversation during a school-related activity, a phone call provides an opportunity for a very positive, personalized early contact. As with most parent contacts, itis best to briefly introduce yourself, express your interest in ensuring their child has a positive experience in your classroom, and ask if they have any questions or requests, The fact that you call and express your interest in their child may have surprisingly positive results. Our daughter, who has taught fourth, fifth, and first grades in a school with over thirty-five languages, makes her introductory phone calls the weekend alter the first week of school. She introduces herself, asks if parents have received the communications she has sent home with their children that week, makes several positive statements about their child, andl asks how their child is feeling about school this year. During the first week of school, she asks students to tell her whether their parents speak English and, if not, in which language(s) they are fluent and most comfortable. If no one at home speaks a language she speaks, she will ask dlistrict transla- tors to assist her in writing a note she will send or e-mail home, She will acknowledge that asCHAPTER 5 Working with Parents 135 Tesources are cut and she works with students whose parents speak incteasingly varied lan. Buages, this form of initial communication becomes more challenging, Several years ago, one of our students, who was an intern in a secondary social studies class in an inner-city school, expressed concern to his mentor that student behavior was disrespectful to himself and other students, This contrasted with the generally polite behavior students displayed when the mentor was teaching. Despite discussions with the class and several individual students, a number of students continued to act in ways that created a rather unproductive learning environment, Because the intern had taken over complete teaching responsibility for this class only about a week earlier, the mentor suggested the intern call every parent or guardian over the weekend and introduce himself, The mentor also suggested the intern make some positive comment about each student and indicate to the parents or guardians that-he would-be -keeping, them apprised of theit student’ progress. The intern acknowledged being somewhat anxious about completing this task but spent several hours during the weekend contacting each family. He indicated he spoke with members ftom 60 percent of the families, left messages for another 25 percent, and was unsuccessful at contacting 15 percent of the families. Despite speaking a second language common in the school where he was working, the intern noted that several of his conversations were with individuals who appeared not to speak English or Spanish. Following these calls home, the intern reported his amazement at the change he experienced in his students’ behavior. First, he noted that nearly a quarter of his students greeted him at the door and made a positive comment regarding the fact that he had spoken with their parent or guardian over the weekend. Second, he noticed a dramatic increase in students’ respectlul responses to his requests and instructional direction. When the intern’ mentor, a twenty-year veteran teacher, shared this series of events with a group of twenty other veteran mentors, it was impressive how many of them reported having had a similar experience. Home Visits While home visits can be time-consuming and require caution regarding personal safety and liability and sensitivity to the values and beliefs of those in the home, they can be a wonderful statement of caring and support as well as provide helpful information about the student and the familys culture. Many school districts recommend or require that during home visits, another educator such as a counselor, ELL teacher, or translator accompany the teacher. Excellent resources on home visits are available from the Center for Home Visiting at www pthvp.org, wwwaune edw-uncchy/, and numerous other Web sites One long-standing and valuable concept associated with home visits is “Funds of Knowledge” (Ginsberg, 2007; Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992). This concept is based on the idea that when we know more about our students, their homes, and their communities, we can integrate this knowledge into the manner in which we communicate with our students and can incarpo- rate their stories into our curriculum, The two references in this paragraph provide excellent resources for considering both the theory and practice of incorporating home visits and the associated “Funds of Knowledge.” An Initial Event at School or in the Classroom {tis desirable to have an opportunity for parents and other caregivers to meet informally with school staff and specifically with their child or adolescent's teacher(s), We have been involved in