How Teachers and Parents Work Together for Student Success
By Edward Graham
Susan TerLouw takes a proactive approach to fostering collaboration with her students’ parents.“I have found texting to be an amazing way to get connected with parents,” says the high school special education teacher. “After not having calls returned, I tried texting and got immediate responses.”
Texting parents allows TerLouw to update them on their child’s progress before waiting for an issue to arise. It’s quick and easy, and TerLouw says the constant flow of contact with parents has done wonders for her own parent-teacher relationships.
“I have been able to move past it to actual conversations, face-to-face meetings, and a trusting relationship.”
It’s that communication and trust that are key to fostering student success, yet connecting with parents still remains a challenge for many educators. Fortunately, savvy teachers are always discovering ways of creating meaningful parent-teacher relationships, from opening a clear channel of communication with their household to drawing parents into the school community through events and programs.
Focus on the Positive
Middle school teacher Maxine Taylor says that a great way to build a successful parent-teacher relationship
School districts that have been chafing under across-the-board federal cuts known as sequestration for nearly a year got a two-year reprieve under the agreement approved last month that scales back the sequestration cuts to education. But the deal, which sets discretionary spending levels at roughly $1.02 trillion for the overall budget this year and will keep them relatively flat for the next two