Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":
The Best Commentaries On The “Broken Compass” Parent Involvement Book
Don’t Help Your Kids With Their Homework is the title of an article that appeared a few weeks ago in The Atlantic. It was written by Dana Goldstein. It describes research shared in a new book, The Broken Compass:Parental Involvement With Children’s Education by two professors which, at least according to Dana Goldstein, questions most the effectiveness of what most of us would typically consider
“The relationship between single mothers and poverty is not as simple as it seems”
As most people know, there is a common narrative suggesting that single-parent households can be a cause of many problems affecting children — in and out of school. I’ve previously posted some articles questioning that view (see The Best Articles Questioning The View That Single Parents Are A Problem), and a new article has just been published raising more questions. Check out The relationship bet
“Ombudsman” Hired In D.C. To Work With Families
D.C. Board of Education names ombudsman as liaison between families, schools is the headline of a recent article in The Washington Post. Here’s an excerpt: D.C. parents have a new place to take their questions and complaints about city education: Joyanna Smith, the independent ombudsman charged with helping families navigate the District’s traditional and charter schools. Smith is a lawyer and for
Kellogg Foundation Announces Nearly $4 Million In Grants For Parent Involvement Programs
I’ve previously posted about the Kellogg Foundation’s initiative to fund parent involvement/engagement programs targeting families with children age eight and below. They just announced a new set of grants and I thought it would be useful just to reprint their press release since it listed all the grantees. Unfortunately, they didn’t send out anything indicating what specific efforts they were fun
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Useful New “Family Engagement Brief”
The National Center For Families Learning has just published a useful “Family Engagement Brief.” I don’t think people familiar with parent engagement research will find anything new in it, but it provides a well-written and concise review of research on the topic, along with providing some case studies. I’m adding it to “The Best Research Available On Parent Engagement.”
Interesting Discussion: “Should parents have a say in curriculum?”
Chalkbeat, an education new site, has published Chalkbeat Roundtable: Should parents have a say in curriculum? Interesting question, and good guests there respond to it.
“Why ‘parental involvement’ is not a ‘broken compass.’”
I’ve written a couple of posts skeptical of claims made by authors of a new book on parent involvement called The Broken Compass, with the most recent one about their op-ed piece in The New York Times on Sunday. Inflated Research Claims Can Harm Children: Why “parental involvement” is not a “broken compass.” is a post by Marilyn Price-Mitchell that is similarly skeptical. And respected parent eng
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“More than 20% of [British] parents say they have been fined for unauthorised holidays”
More than 20% of parents say they have been fined for unauthorised holidays is the headline of an article in the British newspaper The Guardian. Here’s how it starts: More than 20% of parents say they have been fined for taking their children on unauthorised holidays during the school term, while a majority of parents have lied to avoid getting into trouble, a national survey has found. Wow. I’m n
Parent Coordinators and Parent Engagement
I’ve written a lot about Elisa Gonzalez, our school’s extraordinary parent coordinator. Her work is invaluable to our school’s overall success. As part of New York City Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s often-stated goal to increase parent engagement there, a New York City parent coordinator has some suggestions for her: As part of her pledge to boost parent involvement, I hope Fariña considers reinforci
“Parental Involvement Is Overrated” — Um, No It Isn’t
I’ve previously posted about a new book on parent involvement research that pretty much suggests most previous research on the topic is wrong (see New Book & Research On Parent Involvement, & It’s Potentially Very Unhelpful). The authors have a guest column in The New York Times with the decidedly unhelpful headline, Parental Involvement Is Overrated. I have obtained the book, and it’s on
Not Very Useful Report On Community Schools Released
Education Week reports on a paper just released from UCLA’s UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools that’s fairly critical of how many community schools operate. I’ve got to say that I was less-than-impressed by the report. I certainly have been critical (see The Best Resources For Learning About Community Schools) of a number of community schools’ efforts, particularly what is often a lack of pa
I Think This School Needs To Rethink How They Relate To Parents: “Parents reprimanded for taking children out of school for family funeral”
Parents reprimanded for taking children out of school for family funeral is the headline of an article in the British newspaper, The Telegraph. Here’s how it begins: Two parents have received a written warning after their children missed school to attend their grandfather’s funeral. Andrew and Danielle Overend-Hogg were told that their children, aged nine, five and three, had taken an unauthorised