strategies for increasing involvement of parents from diverse cultures

8/6/2019 Strategies for Increasing Involvement of Parents From Diverse Cultures

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INCREASING INVOLVEMENT OF PARENTS FROM DIVERSE CULTURES

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PLYMOUTH-CANTON CITIZENS FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

EDUCATION SUBGROUP

The Plymouth-Canton Community School Districts Diversity Plan currently includes goals and actions

directed toward engaging parents from diverse cultures in promoting understanding and appreciation of

diversity within the school environment, as well as increasing staff/teacher understanding of the various

cultures represented in the student body and their needs. Some of the following recommendations

support already defined goals and actions; additional goals and actions are also proposed which may

enhance the schools systems success in their diversity initiatives. While the focus of these

recommendations is supporting a diverse culture in the school environment, many can be more broadly

applied to the entire student population and have been proven to be effective in enhancing academic

achievement and decreasing dropout rates.

The recommendations for additional goals and actions, are based on an extensive review of literature on

best practices in promoting diversity and parent engagement their childrens education.

Additional Goals/Actions Recommended:

Under B. Staff

Goal: Create a clear understanding of the expectations of teachers and staff in understanding and

responding to the needs of parents from diverse cultures, as well as increasing their engagement in their

childrens education.

Actions:

a) Review and revise position descriptions to clarify specific expectations for understanding and

responding to the needs of diverse groups, using a process that involves staff and teachers toassure ownership for and clarity of defined expectations.

b) Modify recognition and reward systems to include achievements in cultural diversity and parent

engagement

Goal: Provide administrative support and resources to support staff and teacher professional

development in working with families from diverse cultures and in implementing goals and actions that

are directed toward involvement of parents from diverse cultures.

Actions:

a) Formally designate administrative responsibility for staff/teacher development and provide

adequate resources to support diversity related strategic initiatives

a) Develop an infrastructure to support diversity and parent engagement initiatives at various P-

CCS locations and which includes diverse representatives from administrative staff and all

teaching levels.

b) Form a parent volunteer group which is representative of diverse cultures to: assist in planning

implementing specific diversity and parent involvement initiatives; support outreach initiatives;

and promote involvement and attendance of parents from diverse cultures in/at school

activities



c) Evaluate the effectiveness of diversity and parent involvement strategies annually.

y Establish specific performance measures to assess the effectiveness of actions taken

each school year; support with defined data collection processes and accountabilities.

y Conduct annual assessment that includes input from staff/teachers, parents, and

community leaders/organizations.

Under C: Parents and Community

Goal: Develop a philosophy for parent involvement that provides guidelines and direction for

administrative and teaching staff efforts to: a) involve parents in supporting their childrens academic

achievement, 2) encourage volunteerism, and 3) achieve the desired level of parent involvement in

school governance and decision-making.

Actions:

a) Form a representative task force to develop a philosophy statement and role expectations

(administrators, teachers, support staff, and parents) that reflect the school systems values and

beliefs regarding parent involvement. Task force membership should include representatives

from all stakeholder groups: administration, teachers from elementary, middle, and highschool, and parents that represent the diverse student population.

b) Provide an opportunity for stakeholders groups to provide feedback on the proposed philosophy

and statement and role expectations and incorporate feedback.

c) Publish the final philosophy statement and role expectations to all stakeholders and include in

any parent information materials distributed.

Goal: Gain a clear understanding of the attitudes, values, and needs of parents from diverse cultures

as it relates to involvement in their childrens education and what might influence them to increase their

involvement.

Actions:a) Conduct a survey with parents from diverse cultures to generate understanding of factors and

barriers affecting their level of involvement, providing versions in languages spoken by parents;

supplement with home visits to interview families about their beliefs and needs and gain a

deeper understanding of survey results; use survey and interview results to guide the

development of policies, processes, and techniques to increase parent engagement, as well as

diversity education planning for teaching and administrative staff (PotentialResource:

Intercultural Development Research Associations Family and Community Engagement Survey)

b) Identify and establish relationships with community leaders and organizations that serve diverse

populations to seek input on strategies to increase parent involvement; engage these

community leaders and organizations in supporting strategy implementation for diversity

initiatives and increased parent involvement.

Goal: Develop and direct programmatic efforts to help families from diverse cultures to adopt

effective strategies to support student learning

Actions:

a) Develop an orientation program for immigrant parents from diverse cultures (in home

languages represented) that includes:



y Basic obligations of parents

y Basic obligations of schools

y Parent involvement at school

y Parent involvement in learning activities at home to assist their children

y Parent involvement in governance and advocacy

b)

Assess the self-efficacy of family members from diverse cultures to provide support to theirchildrens academic performance; offer training to improve skills in needed areas, which might

include: techniques for motivating their children, discipline methods, Ideas for games/activities

at home to reinforce school lessons, reading strategies, how to communicate more effectively

with the school/teachers, technology training, how to interpret assessment test scores, how the

school system works, volunteer opportunities, etc.

c) Identify and address issues related to language, including not only translation, but capability to

support a child studying in a language difference from the home language

Specific Ideas to Support Actions Included in Current Diversity Plan:

The P-CSS District Diversity Plan includes many goals and actions that are mentioned in the literature

reviewed and have proven to be effective in other schools. The following are some specific ideas that

can be considered in implementing actions already included in the Plan.

Under B. Staff: Goal 2 (relating to staff development):

1. Collaborative projects between teachers and parents from diverse cultures that promote trust

building and opportunity to identify and resolve misconceptions about their respective roles

2. Teacher education on family involvement (adapted from the work of the Harvard FamilyResearch

Project):

a. General family involvement: knowledge of the goals of, benefits, and barriers to parent

involvement

b. General Family Knowledge: knowledge of different family cultures, childrearing, lifestyles,etc.

c. Home-School Communication: provision of techniques and strategies for two-way

communication between school and home

d. Family Involvement in Learning Activities: Information about how to involve parents in their

childrens learning at home or in the community

e. Families Supporting Schools: Information about ways that families can help the schools,

both inside and outside the classroom

f. Schools Supporting Families: Information on possible ways that schools can help support

the social, educational, and social service needs of families

g. Families as Change Agents: Information about the possible roles that families can play as

decision makers, researchers, and advocates in the improvement of policies, programs, and

curriculum

3. Invite culture experts to staff meetings to discuss how different cultural perspectives may

influence a parents role in their childrens education



Under C. Parents and Community: Goal 1 (relating to welcoming environment for parent

engagement):

1. Increase outreach activities with parents from diverse cultures, e.g.:

a. Neighborhood coffees to find out what they think about their schools

b. Neighborhood walks. Two or three teachers representing different grade levels walk door-

to-door and talk to parents and hand out relevant information

c. Phone home. Volunteers call parents and personally invite them to a school event.

2. Create a family resource center devoted to informal gatherings, workshops or meetings with

parents and community members

3. Hold workshops in neighborhood churches, community centers, restaurants or other locations

convenient for diverse populations

4. Create welcoming hallways at school entrancesfriendly greeting from security/staff, colorful

student art, available translators

5. Identify staff or volunteers who can act as translators during parent-teacher meetings, school

events, etc.

6. Invite parents to fill out a volunteer form when they register their child at school

7. Be specific about what help you need from parents and community members

Under C: Parents and Community: Goal 2 (relating to communication strategies):

1. Telephone hotline for parents

2. Parent folders with important information in languages of diverse parent groups

3. Promote school events and community meetings in neighborhood newspapers

4. Introduce electronic systems that families can use to determine what their children are doing in

their classrooms (telephone or email)

5. Home calendar showing knowledge and skills being introduced that month.

6. Multi-lingual school materials/handbooks, etc.

7.

On website:a) Weekly or monthly school newsletter with current information about activities/important

information

b) Short videos focusing on issues parents care about: helping children with homework, volunteer

opportunities at the schools, etc. School calendar in various languages

Support Available from the Plymouth-Canton Citizens for Diversity and Inclusion Education Subgroup:

Members in our subgroup have a wealth of experience and skills to assist the school system with many

of the goals and actions outlined in the current District Diversity Plan, as well as those additional goals

and actions recommended herein. We feel, however, that internal resources must be identified and

dedicated to leading diversity initiatives to assure their success and to coordinate volunteer involvement

from our group, as well as parent and other community volunteers or organizations. We urge the school

system to make it a priority to put these resources in place. Once this is done, we suggest a process for

identifying priority actions for this school year. Once priorities have been determined, we can be more

specific about the support we might offer.

strategies for increasing involvement of parents from diverse cultures

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