Teachers & Parents: Winning & Keeping Parent Support
Course Outline
Course Description
Teachers and Parents: Winning and Keeping Parent Support presents proven and innovative methods to gain and keep parent support. This model emphasizes interventions through a cooperative team approach between teachers and parents. Based on research endorsed by the National PTA, the skills and procedures taught in this course and practiced in applied assignments will enable educators to maintain supportive involvement from parents of even the most challenging students.Objectives
- Identify the greatest roadblocks to parent-teacher cooperation
- Identify the most critical elements of contacts with parents early in the school year
- Examine successful and recommended practices for involving parents in their children's education
- Learn how to use "back to school nights" to build a foundation for future cooperation
- Learn how to utilize positive "first calls" to parents of targeted students
- Identify particular types of parental involvement and when to use them
- Explore methods of connecting with hard-to-reach parents
- Understand how culture and past experiences affect parents' reactions to teachers
- Examine reasons conflicts may escalate or de-escalate and learn to choose the most constructive approach
- Learn skills for building understanding, seeking common ground, and winning cooperation and support
- Learn ways to conduct even the most difficult parent and student conferences positively and successfully
- Examine the types of documentation which support teamwork between educators and parents
- Understand the intervention and referral process as a tool for clarifying communications and reassuring parents
Curriculum Design & Time Requirements
Teachers & Parents is a 3 credit graduate level or forty-five hour professional development course taught on weekends or over five full days. The following methodologies will be used during the course: lectures, readings, group and individual discussions, and applied practice assignments and papers.Course Materials
The required textbook for this course is Parents On Your Side, A Teacher's Guide To Creating Positive Relationships With Parents by Lee Canter and Marlene Canter. The textbook and course materials will be provided for all students. A variety of readings will be referenced throughout the course. Other supplemental readings will be provided.Session Outline
Session 1: Overview Of Parent-Teacher Cooperation IssuesContents:
- Parent-Teacher Conferences as a Major Challenge
- Frustrations of Both Sides About Conferences
- A Look at the Current Situation
- Avoidance is Not the Answer
- The Necessity for Cooperation
- If Not Us, Then Who?
- Advantages of Reforming the Relationship Between Schools and Parents
Session 2: Importance Of Parental Involvement
Contents:
- Parental Involvement and Student Achievement
- Parental Involvement and Behavior
- Cultural and Age Factors in Parental Involvement
- Importance of Involvement at All Grade Levels
- How Involvement Helps Students, Parents, and Families
- How Involvement Helps Teachers, Schools, and Communities
- How Involvement Improves School Quality
- Involvement in form of "Reading to Children"
Session 3: Current Stressors Affecting Families And Schools
Contents:
- Changing Demographics in America
- The Changing American Family
- Stresses From Outside the Home
- Lack of Support for Parents and Children
- Pressures facing today's schools
- Lack of Support for Teachers and Discipline
- Bridging the gaps between home and school
Session 4: Parent Conference Issues and Approaches
Contents:
- Issues and Needs of Parents and Teachers
- Setting the Stage for a Successful Conference
- Ways of Remaining Positive and Constructive
- Appreciating and Supporting Each Other
- Keeping the Focus on Helping the Student
- Setting Realistic Agendas and Goals
- Sharing Fair and Reasonable Responsibilities
Session 5: De-Escalating Conflict During Conferences
Contents:
- A Model for Understanding Emotional Reactions
- Predicting Escalation and De-Escalation
- You-Messages vs. I-Messages
- The Power of Really Listening to the Other Person
- The Necessity to be Proactively Professional
- The Practical Advantage of Communication Skills
- Achieving Your Goals in a Conference
Session 6: Making the Most of Early Parent Contacts
Contents:
- Making First Impressions Count
- What do Parents Want From Teachers?
- Do's and Don'ts for "Back to School Nights"
- What do Parents Need to Know?
- What do We Need From Parents?
- The First Phone Call and How to Make the Most of It
- Planning for a Successful Start
Session 7: Methods for Involving Parents
Contents:
- Communications That Reach and Support Parents
- Helping Parents be Successful in Their Difficulties
- Ways Parents can Support Student Learning
- Gaining Support Through Parent Volunteering
- Involving Parents in School Improvement and Decision Making
- Utilizing Community Resources
- How cultural differences effect teacher/parent relationships
Session 8: Strategies for Reaching Consensus
Contents:
- What the Parties Want/Don't Want in Negotiations
- The Importance of Fairness and Impartiality
- Resistance to Pressure or Imposed Solutions
- Resolution Methods and Cautions
- The Importance of Identifying Each Party's Needs
- The Power of Brainstorming
- Methods of Reaching Consensus
- Investing in a Long-Term Solution That Will "Stick"
Session 9: Documentation and Referral
Contents:
- Advantage of maintaining objective data
- How to set up routine record-keeping procedures
- What an anecdotal record is and what it is not
- Recognizing legal rights of parents under IDEA
- Procedures for maintaining confidentiality of records
- Working to build a cooperative teamapproach
- How to involve parents in team meetings
Session 10: Presentations, Final Exam and Closure:
Contents:
- Explore parent involvement research
- Present professional research article findings
- Combine knowledge of school district characteristics
with national research findings to
develop an action plan for improving parent involvement in an individual classroom or school - Present and discuss action plans presented by classmates
- Review course content and applications
Grading
| Assignment | Points | Grading Scale | |||||||
| Group & Classroom Participation | 30 | 100 – 93 | A | ||||||
| Reading Assignments | 20 | 92 – 85 | B | ||||||
| Final Integration Project | 30 | 84 – 77 | C | ||||||
| Final Exam | 20 | ||||||||
| Total Points | 100 |
Student Requirements
| 1. | Attend all class sessions for the requisite number of hours (45) and actively participate in all class activities. | |
| 2. | Complete all reading assignments. Keep a journal, reflecting upon the major ideas in the assigned readings and the application of those ideas in your school and classroom. This journal should have a minimum of five entries of one-half page in length. | |
| 3. | Complete the Final Integration Project. Review research and literature on parent involvement and student achievement, and identify several major findings or themes. Consider the concerns identified in the course on the part of both teachers and parents regarding teacher-parent communication. Based on these key themes and concerns, design a communications plan for winning and keeping parent support. This action plan should include a set of goals and objectives, outline of a back-to-school night presentation which deals positively with parent concerns and teacher needs, outline of a way of beginning parent conferences which connects with the parent and gets the teacher "hired" upfront, and strategies for keeping parents informed and involved throughout the year-both in general and in specific instances where parent and teacher interventions may be required to help a student succeed . | |
| 4. | Pass the final Exam. |
