Essential Tips for Effective Parent and Family Engagement in Schools
Join Sara Shriver from School Advance for a comprehensive presentation on improving parent and family engagement. Learn about legislative requirements and innovative strategies for staff professional development. Discover effective methods to engage parents, assess your current engagement levels, and implement practical tips to ensure meaningful involvement. From understanding legal expectations to gathering perception data and aligning activities with school events, this workshop offers actionable insights tailored to foster successful school-family partnerships.
Essential Tips for Effective Parent and Family Engagement in Schools
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Presentation Transcript
Tired of Trying and Getting Nowhere? Parent and Family Engagement Tips Presented By: Sara Shriver, School ADvance, MASA sshriver@gomasa.org ~ 989-620-5899
Outcomes of Presentation • Learn the legislative requirements • Learn relevant ideas for staff professional development for parent engagement • Learn effective ways to engage parents • Assess your team’s parent engagement level of success
Parent and Family EngagementTip #1 Know the law Know the expectations Know how you meet the guidance • Easy Parent Involvement Plan to use all rolled into one • Engage parents in the development or review of the Parent Involvement Plans
Parent and Family EngagementTip #2 Know the Research Apply the Research with Professional Development • Book by Joyce Epstein’s: School, Family, and Community Partnerships • Review the Six Types of Engagement with Staff • National Standards for School-Family Partnerships Implementation Guide
Parent and Family EngagementTip #3 Gather, share, and reflect on perception data to connect with parents Survey Data and/or Focus Groups • Band Boosters • Sports Boosters • PTO/PTA Groups • School Events • Door Greeting Before and After School
Parent and Family EngagementTip #4 Frontload School Improvement Agendas • Put parents on the agenda first • Have a purpose for parents to be there • Excuse parents after their agenda items, but invite to stay as long as they want • Ask each parent rep to bring along another parent rep
Parent and Family EngagementTip #5 Align parent engagement activities with other school activities • Literacy Workshop – Breakfast and Books during Book Fair • FASFA Support – Athletic Events, School Events, Local Businesses/Shops • Parent Portal Training – Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent and Family EngagementTip #6 Disguise your parent engagement activities • Literacy and Math Events – Game Night or Day with Office Central • http://www.officecentral.net/west-branch-mi-educational-games • West Branch, MI - 989-345-4120 • Annual Title I Meeting – Literacy and Math Celebrations
Parent and Family EngagementTip #7 Tips from the parents point of view • National Standards for Family-School Partnerships (National PTA) • https://www.pta.org/home/run-your-pta/National-Standards-for-Family-School-Partnerships?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2o_fBRC8ARIsAIOyQ-nCBdFXzRVR68JWOvzzdUENSIBpzFUdKA3ouRVDRN0qzjeIoMtLH7MaAg3uEALw_wcB • Use this rubric to rate your team’s level of parent and family engagement status
Parent and Family EngagementTip #8 Offer parent feedback opportunities at random events • Feedback boxes around the buildings, at events, at local businesses/shops • Discuss feedback at District/Building meetings • Make an Action Plan to address feedback • Publish Action Plan on website, in newsletters, at parent events
Parent and Family EngagementTip #9 Have announcers at sporting events or school activities highlight upcoming parent and family engagement events • Have registration tables set up • Link incentives to registrations/attendance
Parent and Family EngagementTip #10 Start with relationship building • Invite every parent into the building, out to breakfast, lunch, etc… for a meet and greet, no school related reasons • Call every parent and share good news about their child at least once a year • Try to learn parent names and call them by name every chance you see them; greet at the door, in the hallways, in the classrooms, in the grocery store, at church,