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SALT
Survey findings
about parent contact |
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What you are looking at:
You are looking at teacher reports of relatively low
levels of parent contact across the state. Note the
consistent pattern of stair-stepping down from
elementary to the high schools. While research shows
that children achieve at higher levels when the parents
are engaged and involved with the school, evidence shows
that this research has not been taken to heart in most
RI schools.
What you are looking for:
You are looking for high levels of parent contact.
Parents as school
improvement partners
In general, RI’s parents
are largely untapped as a resource to aid student
performance. In the 2000 SALT survey, just under 90% of
the parents who responded, reported that they could
spend more than 15 minutes a night helping their child
with homework, if they knew what to do.
Parents often express feeling unwelcome at schools, and
schools often express tensions with the parents. It is
in the school’s best interest to improve relations with
the parents. Parents need clear guidance as to what the
school needs from them – reasonable bedtime, a place to
study, support with monitoring that homework is
accomplished – and schools need to be clear with parents
about what can and can not be expected of them.
Clear, regular communication – not merely report cards
and complaints when the child is a problem – harness
both the child and the family’s motivation to succeed
academically.
Computer-assisted home/school contact
Especially with the aid of computer technology, parent
contact can and should be enhanced for most schools.
Some schools have collected their parents’ e-mail
addresses to put out announcements that do not get lost
in the bottom of backpacks. Especially as children move
to secondary school and are not faithful about handing
their parents notices and communications from the
teacher, parents lose touch with both the activities of
the school and their child’s progress. Increasingly,
schools and teachers are using e-mail and public web
sites to communicate with parents about student issues,
but even more should. Low-income parents whose schools
are using e-mail or web-based homework postings are more
inclined to sign up for one of the many free e-mail
services and use the public library computers, if
necessary.
But nothing will replace face-to-face contact with
parents, and schools need to strategize how best to use
the parents’ skills as volunteers in the building, as
community spokespersons and most important, as partners
in a team approach to both the child’s learning and the
overall improvement of the school.
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