Power Up Parent Alliances

How to grow your involvement in education with muscle

You probably know me by now. I am a retired teacher and school principal, Now I am a family engagement influencer, too. My mission is to

Ignite Family Engagement in Education.

Parent involvement and participation are very critical things that need to take place in education today. The reason is quite simple. Students are more successful in all areas of education when their parents partner with their educators.

I wrote an article about all of the benefits that are released when parents work with teachers and school leaders as a unified team. The link to that article is shown below.

What I just mentioned is what parent (or family) engagement includes. In order for parents and educators to be able to work to support student learning, they must have a positive working relationship. In an effort to help you understand the details of parent engagement, I have included one final link to another article that I published.

Reading both of these articles will expand your knowledge about this extremely important topic.

Embrace the Power

Federal, state, and local mandates have been in place for a long time to hold teachers, school leaders, and non-teaching professional educators accountable to increasing student achievement. Classrooms, schools, and school districts are responsible for making sure students grow academically. They must use the very best strategies that are research based. That means that all the professional techniques used for educating students in a challenging and supportive environment have been proven to work.

Did you know that educators are also required to engage with the parents and family members of their students?

Here is the truth of the matter. Educators cannot meet all of their individual student, classroom, school wide, and district wide performance goals nor can they make their schools the absolute best that it can be without parents. Since power and strength grow through unity,

educators need parents.

Therefore, two extremely powerful important things must happen.

1. Educators and parents must drink from the fountain of unity.

Educators must take the lead in building authentic relationships with parents. This will only happen when mutual respect and acceptance is established.

Acceptance involves a willful act of approval. Respect means to value and have a high opinion of something. When both of these interpersonal elements manifest in an unconditional manner between educators and parents, the door is open for teamwork to grow.

Ultimately, teachers and other school professionals are able to give parents ideas that include but are not limited to the many ways that they can support their child’s learning at home. Additionally, educators will be able to share information pertaining to instructional programming to enable parents to understand details related to the written, taught, and assessed curriculum.

All of these things reflect parent engagement.

2. Parents must exercise their right to use their voice.

Educational leaders must create and sustain a school culture that genuinely values the things that parents express.

This is evidenced when any concern that a parent shares with any educator are addressed with the highest level of integrity. Trust is established when this happens.

When educational entities have a high regard for what parents communicate to them, these key stakeholder are also given opportunities to give their input, offer recommendations as well as feedback, and provide their honest opinions. When parents have a chance to serve on committees, attend discussion based meetings, participate in various surveys, and so much more, their voice is truly honored.

All of these things lead to parental empowerment. Since empowerment is connected to democratic processes, this translates into parental rights. Parents have the right to contribute to and a right to be heard throughout their child’s educational process.

Parent Engagement…The Beginning

Strong parent and educator alliances are established when mutual partnerships are established. When they work together in unity and when parents are empowered to use their voice to contribute to their child’s education, student learning outcomes become more dynamic.

Children and young people embrace a future filled with promise when their parents are actively engaged in their learning throughout their educational experience.

Here’s my golden ticket that helps me accomplish my mission.

Dr. Deborah M. Vereen is a retired Teacher and School Administrator. Her website is www.Drdeborahmvereen.com and her YouTube Channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1DPhBeA29UlybU9jzDkdQ .