Ways to familiarize families with the school system

Identify and address gaps in teacher-family understandings of the school

Consider ways in which you can accommodate your instruction and your family engagement model to the real needs of the students and families you work with, and think about ways in which you can help those students and families better understand the expectations and functioning of the school system and the particularities of your school and classroom.

1. To become more familiar with gaps in family understandings of school, read the article “The importance of presence: Immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences” (Carreón, Drake, & Barton, 2005). After reading, ask yourself:

• What is the tension that exists between a better understanding of the teacher-family relationship in schooling? How do the authors in this study position their research to address this issue? (see pages 466-469)
• What are some obstacles that immigrants face in their adjustment to American schools? (see pages 469-471)
• How is the engagement of the following parents characterized? What are their “stories”? What were their barriers and successes?

– Celia (see pages 473-480)
– Pablo (see pages 480-487)
– Isabel (see pages 487-492)

2. Identify and summarize similarities among the three stories. What are some of the common gaps in the school and family relationship with these three particular immigrant families’ stories? How might these gaps be remedied?

3. Apply your new awareness of these issues to your own teaching situation. Talk to families and find out about their views of schools. List strategies you can use to help the families better understand the characteristics, expectations, and functioning of your school system.

 

 

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Invite families to school and share views about the role and goals of the school system

Work with students and families to help them better understand the procedures, goals, perspectives, and mandates of the school.

This activity can be done during the first weeks of the academic year to help parents and students become familiar with the school and classroom. Through classroom discussions, the teacher can help students get used to the new school (year) faster, and then use the outcome of this activity to communicate these ideas to parents. This will in turn strengthen the communication between school and families.

1. Explain today’s activity to the students and divide students into smaller groups. You may want to use visuals to explain the goal and steps of the activity.

2. Have students discuss what they would like to include in the school and classroom fact cards. Use a template if possible.

3. Have students work independently on making their own school and classroom fact cards. Students should then engage in peer reviews, and you should check the final content to make sure its accurate.

4. Ask students to bring the cards home to get feedback from their families. Students should ask their parents various questions, such as:

a. How would they summarize the info contained in the fact cards?

b. Do they find the information useful?

c. What else would they like to have information about?

d. Do they need any translation or further clarification of any items on the cards?

5. Using the families’ feedback, students finalize the cards, and check their work with peers and the teacher.

6. Students duplicate the cards and decorate them.

7. Once students have completed their work, laminate the cards. The student can use one set of cards, and the second set should be sent home for the family. (Please go to the resource section for samples of classroom and school cards.)

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Learn about other strategies to help families gain a better understanding of the school system

Expand your knowledge of strategies you can use to help families understand the workings of your school.

1. Consider providing a few family-teacher workshops throughout the academic year. Meet with teachers, school staff, and parent representatives and decide upon:

– Topics to be covered at the workshops. Here is a list of possible topics (some of them can be combined into one workshop):

• The process of school review
• School accountability and school report cards
• State’s academic content standards (i.e., Common Core Standards)
• State’s student academic achievement standards
• State and local academic assessments including alternative assessments
• How to monitor their child’s progress
• Assisting with homework, reading and math instruction
• How to work with educators
• How to increase parent participation on various school bodies (PTSA, School-community council, etc.)
• Special Education terms and issues such as alternative assessment, related services, services for students with disabilities and articulation policies
• The IEP including parent participation on the team, parent involvement in the development of their child’s IEP goals and objectives, program recommendations, and recommendations from related services

– Desirable Frequency (e.g., once per quarter) and dates for the workshops
– Venue
– Presenter(s)

2. Implement the workshops, gather feedback from attendants, and consider what changes need to be made for next academic year.

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3. Some more examples:

Potluck Gathering

1. Use a potluck dinner as a tool to get the school community (e.g., teachers, administrators, staff, students, and families) together in an informal setting.

2. Decide upon a date, time, and venue with representatives of all groups.

3. Have students design invitation cards to send home to their families and event announcement posters to display at school (remember to link these activities to the academic standards!). Invitation cards should include a section asking participants about what they will bring.

4. Send invitation cards home. Once feedback has been received on the number of families attending and what they will be bringing to the potluck, have students organize refreshments, food, deserts, and eating utensils.

5. Prepare some activities or games so participants can mingle and learn from each other.

6. After the event, ask participants for their feedback on the event.

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Open House

Dedicating part of your Open House to help families gain a better understanding of the school system is an effective way to inform families about school issues and allow them an opportunity to ask questions face to face. Here are some steps to follow:

1. Have students write the invitations as part of your authentic writing instruction program. Model an example invitation letter. Have students work in groups to use the letter as a template to plug in their own content. Afterward, share as a whole class. Decide on one agreed upon letter or several different versions. Publish and send to parents.

2. You may consider making Open House “goodie bags.” Engage with students to decide which information to include, if there should be any work of art, and which student work samples would best represent what is done in class.

3. Before the Open House meeting, have students prepare the room, materials, and resources. Make sure the focus on sharing information about the school system and the classroom is clear to all.

4. As much as their age allows it, try to have the Open House be student led. For example, students can accompany their parents at the designated times, give their parents a tour of the classroom (using their native language if they prefer to do so), and bring them to various pre-established centers in the classroom. The centers could be pre-existing centers that help family members learn about what their child does in a typical day at school, informs families about school policies, and gives them insight about the classroom rules, norms, and routines.

5. Consider setting aside some time for parents to write about their child to share with the teacher, questions they might have about the classroom or the school, and information about whether they can volunteer for different tasks depending on their availability and preferences.

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Educate families about the prevalent views of education in your classroom, school, and social context

Empower the families of your students by sharing with them the prevalent views of education in your school community and American society in general.

1. How can you inform your students’ families, especially those who come from diverse cultural, linguistic, social, and educational backgrounds, about the prevalent views of education in your classroom, the school, and in American society in general? Create a list of ideas and share it with your peers.

2. Differences in views of education due to a family’s home culture can create visible and invisible barriers, which isolate and disempower families who don’t share teachersʻ educational values. How can you be a proactive educator and disseminate information, promoting awareness to your school community? Talk to your colleagues, the administrators at your school, and parents/family members about this issue. Write down anecdotes they might have that exemplify this somewhat abstract notion. Select two approaches that you think could work, implement them, and reflect on their outcomes.

3. After getting the necessary permissions, make more explicit the views, values, and expectations of education at your school and possibly American society as a whole by developing and administering anonymous surveys to all educators at your school who are willing to participate. See the survey on the next page for some examples of questions you might ask. After you compile the data, share it with colleagues and administrators in the most impactful, respectful, and comprehensible way. Have a discussion with your colleagues and administrators about what this means for your school and whether any actions should be taken to further examine the views, values, and expectations of the individuals at the school. Consider also how this information should be used to help families better understand the workings of the school.