Teachers & Parents: Winning And Keeping Parent Support

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Course Description
Teachers & 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

Time Requirements
Teachers and Parents is a 13 week 3 credit graduate level or sixty hour professional development course taught online. Modules 1 through 8 will be completed one per week. Modules 9 and 10 will be completed over a five-week period so students will have time to revise and complete the final integration project.

Hardware & Computer Skills Requirements
Students may use either a Macintosh computer or a PC with Windows 95 or higher. Students should possess basic word processing skills and have internet access with an active e-mail account. Students also are expected to have a basic knowledge of how to use a Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer or America Online's (AOL) browser. To download a browser at no cost, visit one of the following Web sites – Netscape.com; Microsoft.com and AOL.com.

Course Materials
The required textbook for this course is Parents On Your Side 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
Module 1: Overview of Parent-Teacher Cooperation Issues
Contents:
  1. Parent-Teacher Conferences as a Major Challenge
  2. Frustrations of Both Sides About Conferences
  3. A Look at the Current Situation
  4. Avoidance is Not the Answer
  5. The Necessity for Cooperation
  6. If Not Us, Then Who?
  7. Advantages of Reforming the Relationship Between Schools and Parents

Module 2: Current Stressors Affecting Families and Schools
Contents:
  1. Changing Demographics in America
  2. The Changing American Family
  3. Stresses From Outside the Home
  4. Lack of Support for Parents and Children
  5. Lack of Support for Teachers and Discipline
  6. Bridging the Gaps Between Home and School

Module 3: Making the Most of Early Parent Contacts
Contents:
  1. Making First Impressions Count
  2. What do Parents Want From Teachers?
  3. Do's and Don'ts for "Back to School Nights"
  4. What do Parents Need to Know?
  5. What do We Need From Parents?
  6. The First Phone Call and How to Make the Most of It
  7. Planning for a Successful Start

Module 4: Importance of Parental Involvement
Contents:
  1. Parental Involvement and Student Achievement
  2. Parental Involvement and Behavior
  3. Cultural and Age Factors in Parental Involvement
  4. Importance of Involvement at All Grade Levels
  5. How Involvement Helps Students, Parents and Families
  6. How Involvement Helps Teachers, Schools and Communities
  7. How Involvement Improves School Quality

Module 5: Methods for Involving Parents
Contents:
  1. Communications That Reach and Support Parents
  2. Helping Parents be Successful in Their Difficulties
  3. Ways Parents can Support Student Learning
  4. Gaining Support Through Parent Volunteering
  5. Involving Parents in School Improvement and Decision Making
  6. Utilizing Community Resources

Module 6: Parent Conference Issues and Approaches
Contents:
  1. Issues and Needs of Parents and Teachers
  2. Setting the Stage for a Successful Conference
  3. Ways of Remaining Positive and Constructive
  4. Appreciating and Supporting Each Other
  5. Keeping the Focus on Helping the Student
  6. Setting Realistic Agendas and Goals
  7. Sharing Fair and Reasonable Responsibilities

Module 7: De-Escalating Conflict During Conferences
Contents:
  1. A Model for Understanding Emotional Reactions
  2. Predicting Escalation and De-Escalation
  3. You-Messages vs. I-Messages
  4. The Power of Really Listening to the Other Person
  5. The Necessity to be Proactively Professional
  6. The Practical Advantage of Communication Skills
  7. Achieving Your Goals in a Conference

Module 8: Strategies for Reaching Consensus
Contents:
  1. What the Parties Want/Don't Want in Negotiations
  2. The Importance of Fairness an Impartiality
  3. Resistance to Pressure or Imposed Solutions
  4. Resolution Methods and Cautions
  5. The Importance of Identifying Each Party's Needs
  6. The Power of Brainstorming
  7. Methods of Reaching Consensus
  8. Investing in a Long-Term Solution That Will "Stick"

Module 9: Methods and Use of Documentation
Contents:
  1. Do's and Don'ts in Record-Keeping
  2. What an Anecdotal Record Is and What It's Not
  3. Involving the Parent Early and Continuously
  4. Teacher Reticence and Parent Backlash
  5. Working to Build a Cooperative Team Approach
  6. Remaining Open to Input From all Sides
  7. Involving the Student and Parent in Improvement Plans

Module 10: A Parent-Teacher Friendly Referral Process
Contents:
  1. Advantages and Disadvantages of a Team
  2. Making the Team Approach Less Threatening
  3. Genuinely Involving all Parties
  4. Openness to Differing Input and Approaches
  5. Being Honest About Concerns
  6. Hearing and Supporting Feelings and Needs
  7. Avoiding Jargon and Using Clear Explanations

Grading

Assignment	Points	Grading Scale
Forum 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. Participate in all Forum activities.

2. Complete all reading assignments. Keep a word-processed 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 200 - 300 words 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. Based on these key research themes, design a comprehensive action plan for winning parent support. This action plan should consist of a set of goals and objectives, research-based strategies, a list of actions, and a timeline.

4. Pass a final exam.

Student Academic Integrity
Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary action.

Register
To register to take TEI's Teachers & Parents: Winning And Keeping Parent Support online graduate course, go to the Course Registration page.