Using the Journal tab, respond to the following prompt:
 

Reflect on the following ways you would like to encourage parent involvement: Positive news phone calls, post cards, emails, daily student notes, and parent-teacher conferences. See full work attached 

Week 4 Journal Encouraging Parent Involvement

Using the Journal tab, respond to the following prompt:
Reflect on the following ways you would like to encourage parent involvement: Positive news phone calls, post cards, emails, daily student notes, and parent-teacher conferences.

INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
WEEK FOUR

*Special thanks to Dr. Patrice Jones for sharing her original guidance in this document.
Did you know there is a National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) that takes place in schools across the country in the month of February?  Inspired by a speech during the Million Man March in 1995 that challenged all the men in the crowd to give back to their community, Michigan school Principal Joseph Dulin initiated this movement as a day of events encouraging parents to get more involved in their child’s school. “It comes during Black History Month,” explains Dulin, “and I thought it was a tremendous time to introduce it as a project for parents to get into our schools to exchange notes, phone numbers, emails, have conversations and get in touch with the teachers” (Cavanaugh, 2016, para. 6).

Although the day is geared toward African American parents, the schools encourage every parent to participate for a common goal of promoting parent involvement, eliminating the achievement gap, and creating partnerships among stakeholders. Hugh Price, retired CEO of the National Urban League and founder of Campaign for African-American Achievement, explains that “community norms have traditionally played a particularly central role in the lives of black Americans” (Price, 2008, p. 19).  A variety of students from different cultural backgrounds benefit from the help that school-family-community partnerships can provide.  When schools use the resources at hand, they have the capacity to improve students’ achievement and provide strategies that parents can use to develop skills needed in continuing to help their children. What are your thoughts on having a day specifically to get African American parents involved in school?  What types of resources are used to prepare for the day’s events?
Continuing along the same lines of meeting the needs of parents, educators who are culturally responsive will take it upon themselves to learn what is needed for students and parents from diverse backgrounds. It has already been established that when parents get involved in their child’s education by doing such things as attending school events, children thrive academically; however, the lack of financial resources experienced by some families causes a struggle in promoting parental involvement through the conventional ways.  Roberts (2011) notes that a large number of economically-disadvantaged students come from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, as educators, there are times when more prescriptive strategies for assisting parents to become involved are needed.  Hjalmarson (2011) discusses a variety of different strategies to help relieve some of the struggles that are experienced by more economically-disadvantaged parents. The overarching message is to develop a relationship with the parents based on trust. If the parents do not trust that the school has their family’s best interest at heart, this can have a negative impact on the child. Developing a relationship with the students as well as the parents is pivotal to getting the involvement needed for student success. While watching the five minute video,

Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher (Links to an external site.)

, think about some specific strategies that you can employ that will benefit parents who require prescriptive help?

Week 4 Discussion Guidance

For this first discussion post, Students of Diverse Backgrounds, read the article by Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines which discusses the historical and contemporary factors and barriers that affect African-American students and their families as they partner with schools and communities. The student’s background plays a large role in the interaction that parents have in their efforts to get involved in the educational process.  After reading the article, examine the variety of suggestions presented that would make a difference in working with students in school through collaboration, interactions, and understanding.  Describe specific models, strategies, and recommendations for educators to work effectively with students from diverse economic, ethnic, cultural, family, and geographic region backgrounds and experiences. What steps can you take to be a culturally competent educator as you plan on working with specific groups, school, family and community members?
In the previous week you read about The Ideal Parent and their connection and involvement with the school and community. To begin the second discussion post, Parent Support, read about Tier II & III, The Inconsistent Parent, and The Struggling Parent.  Understanding why these parents are less engaged in their child’s education (compared to Tier 1 parents) is the first step towards positive change.  At Hjalmarson’s (2011) school, different tiers were created to move parents to action; however, the principal and other staff members understood that it took more to get parents engaged who may not have had the necessary tools to begin. While reading chapters seven and eight in the text, think about the successes and challenges that the suggestions would bring.
Please review the discussion board rubric prior to your initial post to ensure you are fully meeting each of the set criteria to earn full credit. Your initial post should include relevant professional, personal, or other real-world experiences in a manner that is rich in thought and provides valuable insight into the topic. Additionally, all elements of the discussion board prompt should be thoroughly addressed with strong and precise connections to previous and/or current course content, or to real-life situations. When substantively replying to your peers’ post, be sure to provide a thorough and constructive analysis relating the response to relevant course concepts that incorporates pertinent follow-up thoughts or questions about the topic, and demonstrates respect for the diverse opinions of fellow learners.

Week 4 Assignment Guidance

You have probably heard of the adage, “it takes a village to raise a child.”  Schools are often at the center of community activity and can be a significant source of pride to a community; therefore, creating and sustaining this positive relationship is part of every educator’s work.  Part of establishing positive community relationships is “getting the message out” about the good things the school is doing in/for the community.  To begin this assignment, think about Joseph Dulin.  How did he spread the idea of National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) that is still going strong after 18 years?
For the Week 4 assignment, Developing Relationships, you will assume the role of a teacher who has been invited to speak for 10-15 minutes to a community group of your choice to discuss the school, what students are doing in/for the community, and how the community can best support the school and its students.  Make sure to use the grading rubric as a self-checklist before submitting the final copy of your assignment to confirm you have met or exceeded each required expectation. The highest level of achievement on the rubric is “distinguished,” which is only earned through exceeding posted expectations at the proficiency level. Please remember you are in a masters-level program. Therefore, your writing, research, and content are held to graduate-level expectations.

References and Resources

African-American Registry. (2010, February 10).

NAAPID: A day for family bonding (Links to an external site.)

. Retrieved from http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/naapid-day-family-bonding

Cavanaugh, T. (2016).

NAAPID founder, retired AAPS educator Joe Dulin: ‘It starts with you’. (Links to an external site.)

Retrieved from http://news.a2schools.org/naapid-founder-retired-aaps-educator-joe-dulin-it-starts-with-you/

Diannehope. (2016).

IMG_9379 (Links to an external site.)

[photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/996837 

Knowledge Delivery Systems. (2012, December 6).

Becoming a culturally responsive teacher. (Links to an external site.)

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uV36efjBKRU

Hjalmarson, F. (2011). Differentiated parent support: Engaging parents in unique ways to increase their involvement in school. San Diego, CA: TurnAround Schools Publishing.

Price, H. B. (2008). Mobilizing the community to help students succeed. Alexandra, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Roberts, S. O. (2011).

Reconsidering parent involvement: Implications for black parents (Links to an external site.)

. Online Publication of Undergraduate Studies. NYU Steinhardt. Retrieved from: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/appsych/opus/issues/2011/fall/reconsidering.

Required Resources

1. Read from your text,
Differentiated Parent Support: Engaging Parents in Unique Ways to Increase Their Involvement in School:

· Chapter Seven – Tier Two: The Inconsistent Parent

· Chapter Eight – Tier Three: The Struggling Parent

2. Moore-Thomas, C., & Day-Vines, N. L. (2010). Culturally Competent Collaboration: School Counselor Collaboration with African American Families and Communities.
Professional School Counseling, 14(1), 53-63. Retrieved from EBSCO
host.

· Research indicates positive educational and social outcomes for students (Koonce & Harper, 2005; Mitchell & Bryan, 2007). This article discusses the historical and contemporary factors and barriers that affect African American students and their families as they partner with schools and communities.

Recommended Resources

1. Adichie, Chimamanda. (2009).

The Danger of a Single Story (Links to an external site.)

. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

1. Chimamanda Adichie talks about the danger of only knowing or having one story and how stereotypes often form because of this single-story mindset.
 

· Davis, C. & Yang, A. (2009). Keeping in Touch with Families All Year Long.
Education Digest, 75(1), 61-64. Retrieved from EBSCO
host.

1. The article discusses the practice of teachers keeping in regular touch with students’ parents rather than limiting contact to occasions when problems arise. Reasons for initiating regular contact include giving families information so they can be partners in their child’s education and forming the trust required for collaborative problem-solving when needed.