Parental engagement: Successful strategies require follow through
In researching ways to get more parents involved with their children's education, which is a primary goal for ourGap project, I've had two informative conversations this month with Heather Weiss of Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. During one talk yesterday, we started discussing New York City's efforts to engage more families. Weiss, who started and directs the school's Family Research Project, reported that one strategy involves giving parents plenty of access to data about their children's school work in hopes of getting them ready for college.
I stopped her at that point and said we are trying something similar in Dallas with a pilot program in three schools, two of which are south of the Trinity. I told her that eyebrows have been raised about whether parents from predominantly disadvantaged neighborhoods would have enough access to computers to make the program worthwhile.
She acknowledged that the effort in New York has been slow-going, but she cited several common-sense steps that school leaders have taken to make the data-emphasis work. (You can read a report about the New Visions project here.)
For example, one Lower Manhattan school had opened its library early in the morning so parents could use the computers there. Also, in some parts of the city, parents work with other parents who may be more intimidated by the technologies. And students are even working with their parents to teach them how to access the data.
What particularly struck me was that New York City administrators go school to school to see how many parents actually log on. This isn't just some program they have punted out to the schools and gone on to the
I stopped her at that point and said we are trying something similar in Dallas with a pilot program in three schools, two of which are south of the Trinity. I told her that eyebrows have been raised about whether parents from predominantly disadvantaged neighborhoods would have enough access to computers to make the program worthwhile.
She acknowledged that the effort in New York has been slow-going, but she cited several common-sense steps that school leaders have taken to make the data-emphasis work. (You can read a report about the New Visions project here.)
For example, one Lower Manhattan school had opened its library early in the morning so parents could use the computers there. Also, in some parts of the city, parents work with other parents who may be more intimidated by the technologies. And students are even working with their parents to teach them how to access the data.
What particularly struck me was that New York City administrators go school to school to see how many parents actually log on. This isn't just some program they have punted out to the schools and gone on to the