“Specifically, parent involvement has improved literacy of K–12 students (Egbert & Salsbury, 2009) and elementary school students coming from ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds (Dearing et al., 2006); academic success of middle school students (Hawes & Plourde, 2005); homework completion of elementary and high school students (Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008); and classroom behavior and emotional well being of elementary school students (Nokali, Bachman, & Votruba-Drzal, 2010).”

It is incumbent upon the teachers to initiate and maintain this connection between school and parents; that is because the nature of our job is to help students reach academic excellence, help them become contributing members of our society which is very easy to say, but difficult to achieve. Teachers must have a plan on how to cultivate a relationship between themselves and the families of their students. 

                The first thing a teacher should do, is to start calling the families of the students; the teacher should find out first if the parents speak English, if not he should make arrangements for the school translator to be there and help relay the message. “Making regular, positive phone calls is an extremely effective strategy to facilitate dialogue with parents” (Sawyer, 174). Another effective way to initiate contact is drafting a contract of behavioral and academic expectations, and have the students deliver it to the parents. I did that and it was successful, but next time I will have a copy in Spanish as well. Most of the parents at my school are ELLs, it is something I did not consider and it made things a little difficult for the parents. In the contract I included a section with information about me, and preferred ways of communication. Finally, something that I am looking forward on doing to establish that connection with the parents, is a monthly newsletter of the classroom. This time, and based on my contract experience, I will make sure to use the PROSE checklist by Sarah A. Nagro to ensure successful communication.

A collaborative partnership between Parent and Teacher can lead to “Shared Problem Solving” [...] (Bryant - page 178) where problems can be identified and addressed and a plan can be developed. “”Shared Responsibility” [...] (Bryant - page 178) where the Parent and Teacher collaboration leads to accountability to see that plan through. 

Through an open, positive relationship, a trust can be developed.  Parents need to know that the Teacher has the student's best interest in mind.  “Meaningful relationships begin with a foundation of trust and understanding.” (Sawyer - page 173).  Teachers and Parents as well as Students, all need to be on the same page. The best way to ensure that is to have open pathways for communication.  

1. Build parent rapport (Staples & Diliberto, p. 60) Mention having an open-door policy for communication. Call parents with good news and bad news, not just bad news. You don’t want to call parents with only bad news, it will then become a thing where they see your call and they know their child did something wrong.

2. “It is particularly important that parents of students with disabilities are involved in their children’s education.” (Sawyer, p. 172) Involving a parent in their child’s academics will improve academic achievement for the child. An IEP has more impact when a parent is included; the parent has information that us teacher do not readily see at times. Once the parent feels like an integral part of their child’s education they will act as a home-based enforcement for the educational values we try to teach at school. Plan for unique families, all homes are different and each parent will be involved at different levels, some not even at all. The point is to make an effort to involve the child’s family in their education.

3. Encourage parents to help their child with the homework. This is from my personal experience, my self-contained students are at a very low level in math, oftentimes my homework is meant to build basic math skills such as multiplication and division. I want students to be able to practice at home and with some of the parents I have spoken with I have asked them to help their child with the homework. It serves as bonding time with their kid as well as a reinforcement of their education. Education should not just start and stop at school, it should consistently be happening throughout a child’s day. 

 

The parent-teacher connection is very important because a teacher and a parent are the two adults who see a child the most in a day. If they build a relationship that’s meant to further a child’s education, the child will flourish. Having an absentee parent makes it hard for a teacher to connect with a student who is doing poorly in class or having behavioral issues. I had a student tell me, “Mr. Batista, my mom really liked you” and that told me that’s a parent I know I can rely on to make sure their child will respect me and do well with their classwork. I need to build a rapport with my students’ parents because I am a special education teacher. The bulk of my students have an IEP and those parents need to be made aware of their child’s progress. All parents want their child to succeed and parent-teacher communications is one way that can be ensured. 

 

Although, some of the suggestions seemed better suited for the younger set, I teach high school, I found some really great tips that I can try. The first suggestion related to communicating with parents that I liked was using an app to call a parent, so that they won’t have your personal number. I started doing this just recently, and so far it’s going well. It’s like now I don’t have to stress about a parent calling me at all hours of the night. 

 

Another tip I liked a lot was to call parents with positive news about their child. I think this is a great idea to help the child feel proud of their behavioral or academic efforts when they see their teacher take the time to personally call and inform their parents. For parents, I think it must feel good to know your child is improving instead of getting worse behaviorally or academically. It must be really hard to answer calls from multiple teachers telling you your child is not doing well or is being disrespectful in class. I’m sure this is why some parents eventually stop answering the calls from teachers, as they feel that they have already heard the bad news you are about to share with them.  I will definitely start making happy calls to my parents. 

 

The other suggestion that I liked from the article was, keep a communication log for calls to parents. This can help for future reference and to help with monitoring suggestions and their efficacy. I will absolutely start doing this as well. I didn’t think about it before, but it makes so much sense and it will help me to be able to quickly recall conversations with parents and make note on when I have to follow-up with conversations to parents. 

 

Something else that I liked that was in Guidelines for Successful Parent Involvement by Staples, was calling a student’s parents when they are not in class. (p.4) I think it’s a great idea and I would like to start doing this as well, because I have a lot of students that barely come twice a week to class. Like the article mentions, it shows that the teacher cares for the student’s wellbeing and it will foster parent-teacher collaborative relationship—something I desperately want. 

Parent teacher relationships are extremely important in a special education and general education students lives. Staying connected and having constant communication with parents can really have a positive impact on a student’s educational career. One thing I can do as a teacher to connect with parents is use apps for anonymous texting as Sawyer says on page 174 “use cell phone numbers, there are apps available for anonymous texting via smartphones and personal computers”. For the most part everyone uses a cell phone and not many people talk on the phone as much as they used too. Texting is quick and easy and it allows keeping in constant contact with the parents. On page 60 from the article by Staples he states, “The week before open house, teachers should contact the parents via telephone or personal contact and invite them to attend the open house activities”. My second step in becoming more connected with parents is to encourage parents to come meet with me on parental outreach days. In doing so I believe this will build a better relationship with parents and make them feel the importance of being involved in their child’s education.  My third way I can connect with parents is through BRIDGES. Sawyer says on page 173, “The purpose of this article is to outline

the BRIDGES framework, a model through which teachers can develop and implement strategies to facilitate various types and levels of parent involvement. BRIDGES stands for Build, Recruit, Individualize, Dialogue, Generate, Empower, and Strengthen.” I feel that BRIDGES can be extremely beneficial for the student, the parent and myself. BRIDGES will combine all the important strategies and aspects of the child’s learning and allow me to build a strong communicative relationship.