Bridging the Gap Deonna Washington Amanda Bauer

Beliefs "In this complex world, it takes more than a good school to educate children. And it takes more than a good home. It takes these two major educational institutions working together." - Dorothy Rich, Author of Megaskills. In order to close the achievement gap at Detroit Enterprise Academy we believe that both parents and teachers must be stakeholders in the success or opportunities of the child through strong partnerships and communication. The first step in this endeavor is to establish an environment where the lines of communication are conducive to parents, students, and teachers.

What Research Shows According to Family Matters Parenting Magazine, “Recent studies indicate that the more actively involved a parent is in her child's school life, the more the child excels. When parents and teachers work together, a child has a team of adults who are committed to bringing out his best.” Laura Ramirez 2006

Goals Effective communication between parents and teachers. One specific means of communication for the entire school. Create a means of communication that satisfies both parents and teachers.

Budget There is no cost for the goals that we set, as Facebook is a free online social networking website. The only budget issues that may arise are the costs of internet service or cell phone bills for the families.

Internal/External Strategies Internal Strategies Teachers – Create class page – Link to School’s Facebook Page External Strategies Parents – Like and use the class page Resources – Internet providers – Cell phone providers

Why these Goals? According to Parent Communication Survey: – Parents prefer being contacted via phone (cellular, home). – Newsletters According to the Teacher Communication Survey: – Teachers prefer over any other form of communication.

Tactics Step 1- Address the communication issues with principal regarding one specific avenue of communication between parents and teachers (adopted school wide). Step 2- Present classroom Facebook communication portals to staff at the staff meeting (Buy-in). Step 3- PTO meeting presentation to the parents communicating that the lines of communication will extend past school hours (Buy-in). Step 4- Hold a “Facebook Presents: Parent Teachers Communication” meeting.

Mission To “Bridge the Gap” between preferred parent and teacher means of communication: – Provide information for “Internet Essential” by Comcast. (Affordable internet for low income families) – Provide information for “Assurance Wireless” program available to qualifying consumers. (Free phone service for low income famlies)

Objective #1 Objective 50% of parents utilize staff Facebook pages by liking a post, commenting, or posting a question. The evidence of this objective will be collected within 2 weeks of the initial launch. Task Data Committee will be responsible for compiling each grade levels parent response logs. This data is monitored and discussed monthly.

Objective #2 Objective 100% of teachers create and monitor classroom Facebook pages by posting daily reminders: – Homework – Tests/Quizzes – Good News – Classroom Events – Classroom Volunteer Opportunities Tasks Within Professional Learning Communities teachers will discuss and plan pertinent information for the Facebook page. Deans will ensure that all staff members are active creators and participants within O3’s.

Objective #3 Objective 75% of participating teachers and parents are highly satisfied with the new communication efforts. Task Data Committee will create, send, and compile data from satisfaction surveys. Create a survey using Survey Monkey in which parents can access through the Facebook page.

Timeline- % of Users % within 2 weeks of launch 75% by June, end of pilot school year 100% by December of the following school year

And the Survey Says…

Evidence 6 th Grade Proficient pages/Mrs-Bauer-6th- Grade/ pages/Mrs-Bauer-6th- Grade/

Reflections Amanda I am really looking forward to making this classroom Facebook page a strong line of communication for both my students and parents. The reaction that I have gotten in past two weeks has been positive and is a good sign for the future of the page. Deonna After surveying 30 of my students I had 100% interested in participating with the classroom Facebook page. I also had 4 our of 5 parents interested.