Communicating Progress to Parents: Conferences and On-line Report Cards for Elementary Teachers

Alvena IvyDeKalb CUSD#428

with research and activities developed byHome-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

• http://reportcard.dist428.org

• 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

• http://www.colorincolorado.org

• http://www.pta.org

• http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents