This school year has begun a little different than past years. I am beginning this school year with getting to know the families of my students. I have spent years researching the impact of increased parent involvement in Middle Level Education, while completing my dissertation, and now I have finally found a school that is dedicated to building relationships with families. I have visited about ten homes since school started August 20, 2018; even though these visits were after school, and some were late in the evening, I have enjoyed each visit. Families were extremely thrilled to see us and my students were overly excited to have their teachers come visit them at home. Building partnerships with families helps improve behaviors in classroom, provides additional resources, and increases student achievement; students win in the long run.
Building partnerships with families helps to decrease in the number of classroom disruptions because when students know you have immediate access to their parent/families, they are less likely to misbehave or refuse to complete assignments. Just last week, a student was acting somewhat resistant to completing an assignment and when I mentioned it to her mother at Back-to-School Night, the student turned in the assignment the next day. Parents and families have know their scholar longer than the teacher and they know how to motivate their scholar. Teachers need to build partnerships with families because it will make them more effective in the classroom.
As a result of knowing their scholars longer than teachers, parents and families can provide teachers with information that can help young people be more successful in the classroom; families are a great resource to teachers. For example, I learned that one of my scholars recently lost a close relative over the summer, which is the reason for her melancholy behavior the first couple of weeks; she does not have anger issues, she is just hurting and mourning the loss of a loved one. Knowing this type of information can help me when I have conversations with the scholar and I keep a watchful eye on the scholar, looking for signs of sadness or even anger; provide extra encouragement.
Increased student achievement is a direct result of increased parent/family involvement. Research shows that parents play an important role in ensuring that children enter the classroom ready to learn; parents are a child’s first teacher (Farrell & Collier, 2010). Parents’ involvement in their children’s education directly impacts student success (Cripps & Zyromski, 2009). Parents want to be kept informed about their children’s progress, and teachers should keep parents/families informed to ensure that scholars are successful in school. When students know teachers are communicating to their parents or families, they are less likely to disrupt class and not put forth their best efforts; scholars want to please their parents/families, so they will put forth their best efforts which produces successful outcomes.
So educators, this year be sure to welcome parents/families back to a new school year, and be sure to engage all of your scholars’ parents/families to ensure a successful school year. Also, be sure to maintain communication throughout the year; keep parents informed all year long. Consistent home and school communication produces successful student outcomes; aren’t our scholars worth it? Get to know your scholars and their families.