The school actively involves families in the education of their children

The school actively involves families in the education of their children

Explain:

The 15^th characteristic of successful middle schools is that “the school actively involves families in the education of their children” (This We Believe, pg 40). This characteristic is so essential because parents often pull back support from their children as they enter middle school in comparison to what they offered in elementary school however studies still show that parent involvement is a huge indicator of student achievement.  According to the 2007 annual survey of trends in education (http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/ASO01/ASO01part9.pdf) schools involved parents in elementary schools more than in middle schools in every category assessed, including having school newsletters, having an active PTA, involving parents in the classroom of having education opportunities for parents. . School and home communication ideally should be a two way street, with schools additionally offering parent education programs, parenting support, and communicating with parents about education content, student behavior and additional activities. In order to bridge the gap between home and school, schools need to be able to translate materials, and offer programs at times and in locations that are convenient for parents. Modern technology should work as a tool to help schools make parents feel integrated into the community and feel comfortable at school.

Describe:

Quest to Learn School, or otherwise known as the gaming school, or school for digital kids, is a very unique school, that through its interesting educational strategies well integrates parents into the learning environment. The school integrates all of their core subject materials into games so that students are motivated to learn. More about the school can be found at: q2l.org With game theory as a premise of the school, education and learning is easily transferable between school and home life, and between ‘work’ and play time. The school openly shares with parents so that they are aware of what their children are working on. For example, the schools website has a parent kit page (http://q2l.org/node/27) where parents have access to a great deal of school materials. Additionally, because learning is game play, parents can easily take over for teachers, in what is known as connected learning, and which provides cohesion and increased understanding for learners. For example in this video: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/10/the-school-where-learning-is-a-game/ a mother of a child at the school scribes how she plays games with her son to reinforce what he has learnt at school. They guess the total price of groceries. When parents understand school teaching strategies, learning can occupy many different spaces.

Analyze:

Parental involvement at Quest to Learn is a fantastic attribute of the school, however it is important to remember that it is not solely the school that influences parental involvement. Because Quest to Learn is such a specific and focused school with a unique methodology, students attending it, by their very nature have parents who are interested in their children education. This parental investment is how the kids end up at this specific school. That being said parental involvement is highly influenced by what schools do to actively involve families. Quest to Learn has unique methodologies, but they make sure that parents are aware of this, and aware of what their kids are learning at any specific moment so they can be partners with the school in educating their children. Some children are extremely open about school life, but others are not, so if I parent can know directly from school what is going on in the classroom they are likely to be able to offer much better support to the child.

Apply:

This past year I had some parents who were kind, concerned and wanted to be involved in their child’s learning as much as possible, while I had other parents who I simply could not reach and/or seemed fairly uninvest in their child’s education. I think it is important to make all parents feel welcome in the school community and to reach out to all parents to keep them in the loop. Reflecting on Quest to Learn though I realize that keeping parents in the loop involves more than calling when kids are sick or have misbehaved. Next year I plan at the beginning of each unit to send home a blurb (which I can hopefully get translated) about what we will be learning, key vocabulary, and ideas for activities or conversations for them to have with their kids. I believe this will be beneficial for increasing student learning, for my students relationships with their parents, and for their investment in school subject matter- if they see it as transferable between home and school.