Beyond the LoginLogging In is not enough—What

parents need to know

Jenni Brasington, ScholasticSherri Wilson, Scholastic

Jenni Brasington

• Former PIRC Director• BFF of Sherri Wilson• Collects keys• Operates on own time • Loves decorating and

redecorating

Sherri Wilson

• Former PIRC Director• BFF of Jenni Brasington• Collects crowns • Hates being late• Loves MINI Coopers and

passport stamps

What kinds of conversations should families be having with their children?

As an educator, what do you want families to do

and what do they need to know to do it?

Time to LIVE IT!

1.2 million students between the ages of 15 and 24 dropped

out of high school in 1 year alone (US DOE)

Why Worry?

Why Worry?75% of students dropped out of high school because they lacked sufficient parental support and educational encouragement (US DOE study conducted on 5,000 high school dropouts).

What’s happening?• Dallas Morning News (12-2012) article:

– 158,000 students in the Dallas school district– Only 13% of parents have signed up for the parent

portal– Few of the 223 schools have more than half of their

parents enrolled– No schools track how often or how well parents

utilize the data• Why is a tool with so much potential to engage parents in

their child’s learning so underused by both schools and parents?

What ShouldParents Check?

What parents should know…

1. How often they should login2. What to focus on after they login3. How to know if there is a problem4. Why the student is having a problem5. How to talk with their child about the problem6. How to help their child take responsibility for resolving the

problem7. What to do if their child is not successful in resolving the problem

How many times do students need to hear something before they change their

behavior? So what does this mean for how you

train parents?

Log In Page

• Can they log in?• How often

should they log in?

• What should parents look at…– Daily? – Weekly? – Monthly?

Homepage

• What should parents look at first? – Attendance? Notice? Inbox? Grades?

Week in Review

• How can this page help parents?• What should they look for?

Language Arts

What information this page can help parents?

If a score is low, what should parents do?

Science

What information on this page can help parents?

If a score is low, what should parents do?

Social Studies

What information on this page can help parents?

If a score is low, what should parents do?

AttendanceWhat should parents look for related to attendance?

– How many absences are acceptable?

– How many tardies are acceptable?

What should the parent do when they see too many absences or tardies?

Student Work• Should parents check for missing homework?

Low-scoring homework? Quiz and test grades?• What do they do if homework is low or

missing? • Who should contact the teacher (parent,

student)? What should they say?• What is desired for quizzes and tests?• What do they do if quizzes and tests are low

grades?• Who should contact the teacher (parent,

student)? What should they say ?• Are there inconsistencies in the data? (For

example…Good homework and class grades and poor test grades? )

Attendance Tracking Tool

Attendance Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5Total Absences

Unexcused AbsencesTotal Tardies

Unexcused Tardies

↗ Parents could sit down with their child each week and record the following information. If they find a problem they could make a plan to address tardies or absences.

Grades Tracking Tool

Grades Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5Missing Homework

Late Homework

Class work <C

Quizzes <C

Tests <C

↗ Parents could sit down with their child each week and record the following information. If they find a problem they could make a plan to address missing or late homework or low performance on test and quizzes.

What we need to know from staff

• How many absences/tardies are acceptable?• If homework is missing or incomplete, what

do they want parents to do? Can students make this up for credit?

• If quiz or test grades are low, what do teachers want parents to do?

Implementation Plan

• What is your take-away from today’s training?• How will you utilize the information from

today’s training in your current practice• What are you immediate next steps? Future

Steps?• Who do you need assistance from to

implement?• Timeframe?

?

Jenni Brasington, Scholasticjennibrasington@gmail.com

Sherri Wilson, Scholasticisherriwilson@gmail.com