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Todays Topic

• Communicating assessment results and
  collaborating with families

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Quick questions or quandaries?
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Announcements

• Final assignments are due in class next week.
  Last assignments will only be accepted under
  EXTRAORDINARY circumstances and with prior
  permission.
• No regularly scheduled office hours during finals
  week for Julia. Please schedule an appointment
  with me if you want to meet.

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A note on respect. . . .

• As I get older, I've learned to listen to people
  rather than accuse them of things.
• Po Bronson, quoted in Publishers Weekly
• "A good listener tries to understand thoroughly
  what the other person is saying. In the end he
  may disagree sharply, but before he disagrees, he
  wants to know exactly what it is he is
  disagreeing with."
• Kenneth A. Wells, Guide to Good Leadership

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Family Participation
families as equal members in, working in
partnership with staff in all aspects of the
early intervention system, including all aspects
of their childs care and all levels of decision
making.
(DEC, as cited in Beverly Thomas, p. 180)
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Barriers to parent participation

• Parental alienation and isolation
• Cultural and linguistic differences
• Poverty
• Parent burnout

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More Barriers

• Lack of parent knowledge about special education
• Inadequate information provided to parents to
  assist them in their educational decision making
• Negative professional attitudes towards parents

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negative professional attitudes towards parents
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So what can you do?

• Think about what you are currently doing and the
  messages you are sending to parents. . .

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What roles are we really comfortable with parents
taking?
Is our open door really open?
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Equal members in all aspects of their childs
care and all levels of decision making
or
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How do you organize meetings)?

• Do you come with goals/agenda pre-written?
• If so, what strategies do you use to ensure that
  the parents students are included in the
  process?
• How much time do you allow for the meeting?
• Where and what time of day are the meetings held?
• Are there any changes you can make to how you are
  currently doing things?

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How do you share information with parents?

• Verbal
• Written
• Graphic

• During the meeting
• Before the meeting
• Report sent after the meeting

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At the heart of parent-professional
relationships lie considerations of power and
authority.
(Harry, 1992, p. 95)
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Individual Activity

• On the provided pieces of paper, list ONE PER
  PIECE OF PAPER some of the complaints about
  what parents do or dont do that you have heard
  (e.g. in the teachers lounge, in the popular
  media). Be as specific as possible.
• For example
• Parents dont show up for meetings.
• Parents dont make sure their kids do their
  homework.

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10 minute break!
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Activity

• Everyone will get a big and small piece of paper.
  Follow the directions to complete each step of
  the activity, waiting to pass your papers to the
  next person until I call time.
• After the first 4 parts of the activity has been
  completed, get with 2 other people you have never
  worked with before and answer this question (to
  be discussed in whole group)
• What did you learn from this activity?
• How do you think you can help parents feel more
  comfortable participating effectively in their
  childrens schooling?

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Looking ahead

• Last week of class!

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Please take a minute for the minute paper