Starting Points
- Establish a team for identifying strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that embrace effective family-school communication.
- Use the School Level Starting Points Family, School, and Community Partnerships Inventory to begin discussion related to how the school embraces healthy two-way communication between the school and all families, and plan for action steps.
- Use the Action Plan Template as part of your purposeful and informed planning for action steps that lead to a vision of family, school and community partnerships in your school community.
Speaking up for Every Child
Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.
School staff and parent groups can make a critical contribution to student success by ensuring all students have an advocate, whether it’s a family member, teacher, or community volunteer. They can also contribute to student achievement by offering opportunities for parents and community members to learn and practice the skills necessary to speak up for children.
Advocates often address issues affecting groups of children, but every child also needs someone who will step in and look out for him or her as an individual. To be a strong advocates for all children we can:
Help students set goals and plan for the future;
Ensure that students select courses that match his or her goals;
See that students get assistance, such as tutoring, medical attention, or counseling; and Make sure after-school time is spent in constructive, enriching activities
There are two main goals for Speaking Up for All Children
Share information about student progress.
Parents must know how the local school and district operate and how to raise questions or concerns about school and district programs, policies, and activities. They also must understand their rights and responsibilities under federal and state law and local ordinances and policies. Key questions include:
- Do parents know what school staffs do and who to contact for information?
- Do parents know the legal rights of students?
- Do parents know how to get a problem resolved?
Empower families to support their own and other children’s success in school:
Parents must be prepared to monitor students’ progress and guide them toward their goals so students graduate from high school ready for postsecondary education and a career. Key questions include:
- Are parents offered opportunities to learn how to make the best choices for their children’s education?
- How often do counselors and advisers meet with each student?
Action Steps
What Parents, Parent Leaders, and School Staff Can Do
GETTING STARTED
- Establish a team for identifying strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that support advocacy for all students.
- Use School Level Starting Points Family, School, and Community Partnerships Inventory to begin discussion related to characteristics of family-friendly schools, assess your school, and plan for action steps.
Get a copy of your school’s parent involvement policy and make sure it covers all state and federal requirements. Then find out what other parents think of the policy and whether it covers their concerns. Update the policy to meet the needs of your school community.
Include a mini-poll (one question) in each school newsletter and post it on the Web. Over the course of the year, cover a wide range of issues affecting students and the school. Use the parent feedback to make decisions relating to student programs or the school community in general.
WHAT PARENTS AND PARENT LEADERS CAN DO
- Reflect on the results of the Reflection/Assessment Rubric for Parent Leaders and School Staff: Speaking Up for Every Child with a team of stakeholders including parents, teachers, and administrators to identify strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that support advocacy for every child.
- Plan workshops on how to ask the right questions about children’s progress and placement.
- In collaboration with school staff, provide information sessions about programs for gifted and talent students. Reach out to under-represented populations to ensure access and equity for all students.
- Involve parents in ongoing training on topics such as being an effective advocate, identifying and supporting learning styles, resolving difficulties, and fostering student achievement.
- Match new families at the school with a buddy family to show them the ropes.
WHAT SCHOOL LEADERS AND STAFF CAN DO
- Reflect on the results of the Reflection/Assessment Rubric for Parent Leaders and School Staff: Speaking Up for Every Child with a team of stakeholders including parents, teachers, and administrators to identify strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that support advocacy for every child.
- Frequently share the school’s policy and procedures for resolving parent concerns. Cover how to define the problem, whom to approach first, how to develop solutions, and so forth. Encourage parents to address problems early.
- Develop a Parent Bill of Rights.
- Provide a school handbook, workshops, and/or Web-based materials to explain all school policies and procedures to families.
- Publicize any successful changes in the school that resulted from parent initiation and involvement.
- Facilitate parent participation in school committees and other community groups.
Resources and Tools
Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships,
by Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson, and Don Davies (New York: The New Press, 2007), includes a chapter on supporting advocacy (chapter 7), with a checklist to help evaluate how well your school supports parents as advocates.
Reflection/Assessment Rubric for Parent Leaders and School Staff: Speaking Up for Every Child
Use this rubric to help evaluate how well your school practices. Think about where you see yourself in the process and strategies you use to improve student ad family advocacy by marking the box that most clearly matches what you are doing now. Reflect on the results as you plan and focus efforts on advocacy and for all children.
How Parents Can Be Advocates for Their Children
Creating a Family Engagement Policy
Plan for Involving Families in Decision Making and Advocacy
Checklist: How Well Does Your School Support Parents as Advocates?
Quick Tips for Supporting Decision Making and Advocacy
(coming soon)
Explaining the School to Families, Supporting Advocacy, Transition Programs, & Planning for the Future
(coming soon)
Advocating for English Learners in New Mexico
(coming soon)
Advocating for Students in Special Education
(coming soon)
More Coming soon:
- All About Homework
- Top Websites to Include on School Websites on Student Success
- College and Career Readiness
- Grandparents raising Grandchildren
- Measuring the Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness of Your School and Classroom
- Professional development opportunities for building effective family-school partnerships programs for student success.
- Media awareness, Internet Safety
- NMPED FAQ