Communicating Progress to Parents: Conferences and On-line Report Cards for Elementary Teachers Alvena Ivy DeKalb CUSD#428 with research and activities developed by Home-School Communication Workshop Created by the Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE) at the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)

Objectives To be aware of different communication approaches To recognize how different communication approaches can strengthen or weaken teacher- family relations To gain practice in employing different communication approaches in different circumstances

Communication is a message sent and a message received.

Communication matters Parents seek good communication skills in their children’s teachers, citing it as one of the most desirable characteristics a new teacher could have.

Top 5 reasons why home-school communication is beneficial: Increases trust between schools and families Encourages higher and realistic parental expectations Serves as the first step to other types of parent involvement to follow Leads to a higher degree of parents’ commitment to helping their students improve Puts everyone on the “same page”

Communication is a process Identifying the goal and reason for the communication. Considering one’s audience. Choosing a communication approach that opens rather than blocks a two-way conversation

Goal: Consider the content of your message Ask yourself: What message do I want to convey? What do I want to have happen as a result of this communication?

Audience Good communication requires knowing not only what words to use and what messages to send, but also how to communicate in ways that open communication, help the people involved explore the situation, and generate options for change.

Audience Ask yourself: Who am I talking with? What is our degree of familiarity? What style of communication am I comfortable with? How might it be different—or the same—than the family I am communicating with?

Diversity Single-parent Two-parent Adoptive parent(s) Same-sex parents Grandparents as parents Blended families There is diversity in as well as among our buildings

12 Languages 460 students Ewe Mandarin Chinese Spanish Arabic Malay Russian Turkish Mina Chinese Tagalog Kurdish Urdu

Approach Instructing Following-up Asking for help Revealing Informally exchanging Active Listening

Activities Activity 2: Learning from stories-share with your partner when you experienced positive communication with a parent or family member. What was the goal? Who was the audience? What approach did you use?

Activities Activity 1:Role Play- with a partner, select one of the role-playing situations. Discuss the teacher’s next step, the goal of that next step, how the parents feel, and what approach should the teacher use to accomplish the goal.

How do I deliver the message? Newsletter Home Visit Phone Call Curriculum Guides Rubrics Checklists SharePoint Video Conference

Before Parent-Teacher Conferences Do we need a translator? Articulate the purpose of the conference. Schedule carefully. Organize data and documents. Check names.

During Conference Greet parents. Eliminate physical barriers. Active listening. Pause, Probe, Paraphrase Positive Tone Ask for opinions, reactions, concerns. Be careful with jargon. Summarize.

Conference Data ISAT scores CBM data Reading Benchmark Assessment Everyday Math Assessments Writing samples Spelling Science Social Studies Music P.E Report Card

Elementary Report Card Handbook is uploaded to workshop registration under course materials “acknowledgments”

After Conference Write a brief summary Did you accomplish your goal? Was your message received? Write a brief thank-you note

Resources for Parents