Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, July 4, 2014

7-4-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":











“How to end homework for moms”
How to end homework for moms is a very helpful article that appeared recently in The Washington Post. In it, former National Principal of The Year Mel Riddile provides some good advice to teachers about the kind of homework to give that will be helpful to students and promote a positive feelings from parents.
“Family Writing Project: Sanctuary and Source of Support”
Family Writing Project: Sanctuary and Source of Support is a very interesting article about joint parent/student writing projects The National Writing Project is supporting in Phoenix. They’re doing it with English Language Learners and their families. Here’s a short excerpt: The initial idea for this program stemmed from Tracey’s belief that her second grade students, although placed in a shelter
“The Road Map Project” Looks Like An Intriguing Parent Engagement Effort In Seattle Area
The Road Map Project looks like an intriguing parent engagement effort in the Seattle area. You can read a guest opinion piece about it in the Seattle Times here and a short summary at Eureka Alert. I’d love to hear more about it from people working on it there….
Guest Post: Parent Engagement In Scotland
I recently wrote a post titled Proposal to Let Principals Levy Fines On “Bad Parents” In Britain – That Sure Will Help Develop Parent Engagement about a ridiculous idea by Ofsted (which I believe is roughly equivalent to the U.S. Department of Education). Eileen Prior, who is head of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, a small, parent-led charity dedicated to supporting positive parental involvem
Study: “School Access and Participation: Family Engagement Practices in the New Latino Diaspora”
‘School Access and Participation: Family Engagement Practices in the New Latino Diaspora’ is the title of a new research study by Rebecca Lowenhaupt. It seems to be behind a paywall, but you can read a quite extensive summary here. Here’s an excerpt: In recent years the ‘Latino Diaspora’ has spread to states in the Midwest and Northeast, which have relatively little tradition of serving the needs
Double Standard Alert For British Parents
I’ve written quite a bit lately about the ridiculous policy in England that fines parents when they take their kids out of school during class for a vacation or family event. Parents are now understandably upset that a headteacher (principal) was granted two weeks off during the school year…to go watch the World Cup.


7-4-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: “‘There Are So Many Inspirational Teachers Out There’: An Interview With Meenoo Rami”‘There Are So Many Inspirational Teachers Out There’: An Interview With Meenoo Rami is my latest post over at Education Week Teacher. This summer, I’ll be alternating between publishing thematic compilations of past posts and sharing interv