Best Questions: Parent and Family Engagement
Despite the rumors, school improvement is hard. It’s not about a single passionate leader. It’s not about “fixing” teachers and teaching or parents and parenting. It’s not about poverty. It’s not about money. And it’s not about standards. It’s about all of them. And more.
In this column, I’ll take on the real deal of school improvement—for all schools, not just certain kinds. And for all kids. Because it’s not about quick fixes or checking off the instant strategy of the moment. It’s about saying, “Yes, and…” not “Yes, but…” no matter what our circumstances are. It’s about asking ourselves the best questions.
Fellow educators, let’s set the record straight on a few things:
- Families are not keeping the “good” kids at home.
- No parent wakes up and thinks, “I am really going to mess up my kid today.”
- School staff work for families, not the other way around.
- Teachers parent and parents teach.
- Every bit of research ever done shows that collaborative home-school partnerships (not fund raising, not
