Hillside Elementary School Building Staff Capacity for Parental Engagement Professional Development Hillside Elementary School November 14, 2017

Higher Student Achievement The National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, National PTA, focused on the following five areas in researching the benefits of parental involvement: Higher Student Achievement Student Behavior Student Culture Student Age School Quality  Students achieve more regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents’ education level.  Higher test scores better attendance  Homework consistency  Higher graduation rates  Greater enrollment rates in postsecondary education  Students exhibit more positive attitude and behavior  Students have more self-confidence and feel school is more important  Student behaviors such as alcohol use, violence and other antisocial behaviors decrease Successful schools engage families from diverse backgrounds, build trust and collaboration, recognize and respect and address family needs, and develop a partnership where power and responsibility is shared.  Clear benefit in early years  Continued parental involvement show significant gains at all ages and all grade levels  Middle school and high school students make better transitions, maintain the quality of their work, and develop realistic plans for the future.  Higher student achievement  Improved teacher morale Higher ratings of teachers by parents  School districts make positive changes in policy and practice, improve school leadership and staffing improved curriculum after-school and family support programs. Improved community respect  Improved testing results

Levels of Parental Involvement Part I: Value and Utility of Parent Contributions Levels of Parental Involvement Level I – Parent Helping Children at Home School provides strategies, activities, materials and resources for parents to work with child at home. School provides training to assist parents’ ability to help child. Level II – Encouraging Parents to Be Involved in School Opportunities for Parent to Help or Observe in the Classroom Tutors, Teacher Assistants, Aides, etc. Level III – Parents as Active Partners in Developing Policy School Improvement Teams School-wide Teams Parent Involvement Policies, Compacts Annual Review of Title I Program

Part II: How to reach out to, communicate, and work with parents as equal partners Countless selfless, devoted, creative and gifted teachers invest limitless time and energy in designing and implementing programs to meet the unique learning needs of kids. Sometimes all this work is lost to parents and all the potential for collaborative relationships is lost if things are not well-presented. Build “bridges not walls” between parents and educators ----- (Source: Jan Heppner “Collaborative Relationships with Parents) Source: boldomatic.com

Part II: (continued) How to reach out to, communicate, and work with parents as equal partners

What would you add to a Hillside list? Part II: (continued) How to reach out to, communicate, and work with parents as equal partners What would you add to a Hillside list? Source: PTA.org Email your ideas to our Parent liaison using this email address…. Lemcoe@fultonschools.org

Implement and Coordinate Parent Programs Part III: Implement and Coordinate Parent Programs What else can we do to continue building ties between parents and our school? Workshops/Meetings: Can we make improvements on the type/time/content/frequency of meetings and workshops that we offer? (E.g. Regular parent input meetings. Quarterly content area evenings/breakfasts to review upcoming standards…) Do you have an effective parent involvement practice that could be shared? (Send to parent liaison to share with staff as part of ongoing commitment to building staff capacity!) Lemcoe@fultonschools.org Please remember to “advertise” our Parent Resource Center at Parent Teacher Conferences, RTI Meetings, School Tours.

1) Engage together in meaningful dialogue 2) Show mutual respect Part IV: Seven Ways Parents & Teachers Build Partnerships Research shows that parents and teachers build partnerships that help children succeed when they: 1)  Engage together in meaningful dialogue 2)  Show mutual respect 3)  Actively listen to one another 4)  Collaborate on issues that affect student learning 5)  Empathize with one another 6)  Open themselves to learning from each other 7)  Involve students as responsible collaborators in their own learning

Specific feedback from Hillside parents Parent Assistance was solicited prior to this training via newsletter and web page. “Parents want opportunities to be involved in their child’s education – make them feel valued and appreciated as it goes both ways.”

When completed turn your logs in to the parent liaison for credit. EOS - Assignment YOU PICK…. Using the log provided, document 3 or more parental engagements before the end of the 1st semester. 1.) Writing a letter/email to a student’s family who just mastered a targeted skill to compliment the hard work. 2.) Contact the last parent you called with a discipline concern and let them know something positive about their student. When completed turn your logs in to the parent liaison for credit.

Thank you teachers and staff for making Hillside an amazing school! Parent Liaison Comment: “The teachers at Hillside are amazing. Thank you for loving the kids and doing such a great job!”