Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":
I Don’t Think Taking & Throwing Out Students’ Lunches Because Their Parents Owe The School Money Is A Good Idea
By now, you may have already heard about what happened in Salt Lake City this week — the parents of a number of students owed money on their children’s lunch account and, because of that, after those students were served lunch it was taken away and thrown in the garbage. You can read about it in these articles: Utah School Draws Ire For Taking Kids’ Lunches; Debt Cited is from NPR. Utah school dis
JAN 30
Newark Parents Revolt
I’ve been posting about some wild stuff happening in Newark recently. It got even wilder last night when hundreds of parents and educators protested actions being taken by the state-appointed school superintendent. Read about what happened here and here. It sounds like the superintendent is being very successful in getting parents engaged….in organizing against her.
Suspended Principals & Banned Parent File Lawsuit In Newark
I’ve previously posted about the bizarre stuff happening in Newark (see I Don’t Think A Supt. Suspending A Principal Because She Supported PTO President Will Encourage Parent Engagement). Well, now the principals are no longer suspended, though not all are back at their schools, and the parent is still banned — and they’ve filed a lawsuit: Five Newark school principals suspended for speaking out a
JAN 28
“Parents Should Demand Partnerships With Schools to Boost Achievement”
Parents Should Demand Partnerships With Schools to Boost Achievement is a post over at Education Week reporting on a recent meeting of parent convened by the National Assessment Governing Board (they’re the ones who administer the NAEP tests, which I believe are being given this week). I’m not really sure how valuable or important the meeting was, but the Ed Week post reports on a talk given there
JAN 27
“Parents’ campaign leads to reforms at Cudahy elementary school”
Parents’ campaign leads to reforms at Cudahy elementary school is an article in the Los Angeles Time describing a successful effort by parents and teachers to replace an ineffective principal. Here’s an excerpt: United Teachers Los Angeles also worked with parents, organizing meetings to help plan strategies. Mario Andrade, the union’s representative at Teresa Hughes, said 25 of the school’s 40 te
Nice Wash. Post Article on Teachers Visiting Families, But Terrible Headline
Students won’t learn? Go visit their parents. is the terrible headline of a decent article in The Washington Post about teachers visiting families. As the article points out, the purpose of the visits is to build positive relationships with families, not to punish students. I’m still adding the article to The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits.
“The Defiant Parents: Testing’s Discontents”
The Defiant Parents: Testing’s Discontents is an excellent piece in The New Yorker. Here’s an excerpt: Parents who complain about testing—particularly affluent, educated ones—are easily derided, as they were by Arne Duncan, President Obama’s Education Secretary, a few months ago, when he described critics of the Common Core as “white suburban moms who—all of a sudden—[find] their child isn’t as br
JAN 26
PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships
The PTA has developed National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, which you can find here (along with additional resources). There was also a recent #ptChat on Twitter about the Standards, which I think is particularly useful. You can find the transcript to it here.
“Parent Partnerships”
Parent Partnerships is a blog post from Childhood and Education that shares a number of interesting links about parent involvement research. It’s worth a look…
JAN 25
“‘Fining parents of schoolchildren who are late for class is wrong’”
‘Fining parents of schoolchildren who are late for class is wrong’ is a commentary from the British newspaper “The Telegraph” about a new strategy some public schools are taking over there, and I tend to agree with the writer. You can read an article, and watch a video, on the same topic over at the BBC: School in Milton Keynes to fine parents for constant lateness.