Emilie Quast wrote: > OK: I would like to see how you are going to get parents involved in > sending their kids. Leave aside what the schools did NOT do. What WOULD > you do to get parents to understand their kids need this opportunity. > > > I think that the schools need to admit that their management > >policies are ineffective and work on developing new ones. > > Like what? Lead the way! > > I need to see a plan here. The goal is to get some parents more involved > with their kids'education, are we agreed? > > What steps would you take to achieve this goal > > 1.
Step 1: You do a literature search to find out what kind of programs have been successful elsewhere. At the same time you contact schools in other cities to find out if they have implemented successful parent involvement programs. > 2. Step 2: You review your findings and select, say, 3 programs to test at different grade levels and in different schools in Mpls. > 3. Step 3: Review programs after a year and see if any are working. If one turns out to have a significant impact on student achievement you try implementing it system wide, otherwise go on for another year, or start over at Step 1. This is the professional way to approach this problem. If you'd prefer a more concrete proposal, I'll give you one of my own (untested of course). > And what kind of a calendar would you put this on? Would that be starting > before preschool--at preschool--Kindergarten? when and how You could start at any time during the school year, but the beginning would be best. I would test several different grade levels at first, say preschool, second grade, one in middle and one in high school. > I'd love to see a real game plan for this goal. Ok. You recruit a small number of parents from people who attend parent-teacher meetings, PTA, and other school volunteer groups. You train these people and give them the names of other parents in the same class as their kids (and hopefully in the same neighborhood). You set some type of goals that you would like parents to meet: attendance, help with homework, etc. Your "outreach parents" go door knocking and make contact with uninvolved parents and have them sign pledges, and ask them to volunteer as well. You set up phone and computer support networks for parents to contact each other and to contact their children's teachers. Each teacher would be responsible for a set number of students and parents, and would hold regular meetings. If you could get a grant you might be able to pay some parents who are unemployed or needy. > But how do you get the parents to attend this? The key is to select personable outreach-parents. The kind of people that other people like to be with. Then there are a number of social influence techniques you can use. 1: Parents are unlikely to do anything as long as they are "anonymous." There was a school principle in Chicago who sent out parent report cards." I think that's one good way to make parents aware of their responsibility and make them less anonymous. 2: If you can get parents to make a small commitment, it increase the probability that they will make a larger one. 3: If you give them something for free many will feel obligated to give something in return. I can go on, but only if the schools really want to develop a program. Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
