I intend to look at the parental involvement for the high-school level where it most often tends to wane. I feel parent involvement is still crucial for schools and for students at this stage of their learning - especially since this is when they form so many life-directing decisions. I know there are also a lot of parents who feel their kids are doing just fine but their concern and participation can motivate and push their children to greater heights. These parents have a lot to offer to our campus, and any other campus, that will benefit other students as well. This is where I feel leadership classes can help - maybe as much as ESL classes can help other families.
While for the most part, their TAKS scores are on par with students of other demographics, parental involvement from the Hispanic community is far less experienced - almost non-existent. Maybe it is a perception that includes intimidation or maybe it is just simply a language barrier? Although a lot of headway has been accomplished through after-school soccer programs and many multi-cultural events, there is still plenty of ground to cover. This is why I believe a natural progression would be to offer language courses to build better relationships with all parents. But, feasibility and effectiveness of my current campus offering these classes to students’ families is not so easily achieved at the moment. Furthermore, it seems like other initial steps need to be experienced by our students’ parents first, before I can guarantee expenditures of time, money and other resources will be well received. Therefore, I am led to creating the foundation required to obtain the active parent involvement our school needs. The inquiry involving class offerings to parents will simply be temporarily shelved and revisited once the objective of amassing parent engagement and participation in our campus has been accomplished. This avenue will be great to explore in an effort to not only sustain parent involvement but increase it as well.
Nevertheless, in my quest of exploring what relevant parental involvement is, I still intended to explore the student perspective. To move beyond just adding insight and broadening this definition, I am also seeking activities that will initially engage parents and forge a more cooperative school culture. The inquiry process is effective and often leads to many other questions to be investigated. I believe this first step is warranted before proceeding to the second step. Both will be many steps taken on the road to improving our school’s and students’ performance. As I continue, I welcome any and all input you may have in increasing parent involvement for our schools.
No comments:
Post a Comment