Transcript Family and Community Engagement

www.laspdg.org
The Essentials of Effective
Communication with
Families
La Tefy G. Schoen, Ph. D.
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WELCOME
On behalf of the Louisiana State Personnel
Development Grant,
I would like to welcome you to today’s webinar
“The Essentials of Effective Communication
with Parents”
This webinar is part of the SPDG series on Effective
Family and Community Engagement.
My name is Dr. La Tefy Schoen and I am an
educational consultant with Learning Innovations in
Baton Rouge.
The presentation is being recorded and will be available for future viewing at
www.laspdg.org under FAMILY ENGAGEMENT-WEBINARS.
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Questions?
If you have a question pertaining to this
webinar or the LaSPDG Project
Please EMAIL US !
• Content-related questions:
[email protected]
• LaSPDG grant-related questions
- Melanie Lemoine [email protected]
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We use People First Language!
“People First Language puts the person before the disability and
describes what a person has, not who a person is.”
Kathie Snow. (n.d.) A few words about People First Language. Disability is Natural. Retrieved
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August 1, 2012 from http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/images/PDF/pfl-sh09.pdf
Purpose of this Presentation
1. Increase awareness of the importance of on-going
two-way communications with families
2. Increase awareness of barriers to effective
communication
3. Increase knowledge of practical strategies to design
school-to-home and home-to-school communications
that are two-way and accommodating to diverse families
represented within a school
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Students who perceive their teachers
and families are working together
to help them have
 Better attitudes
 More confidence in
their own ability to
improve
 Higher standardized
test scores
COMMUNICATION IS CENTRAL TO BUILDING A PARTNERSHIP WITH FAMILIES
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We all communicate. Daily.
But how effective are we in our communication?
HOW we communicate makes a difference.
EFFECTIVE communication achieves desired results.
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Poll:
Do you have a formalized
Communication Plan at your school?
• Yes
• No
• Not Sure
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Effective School/Home and
Home/School Communication
Facilitates
a partnership
with families
of our students
Builds a
unified team
approach for
reinforcing
learning
The Result-Better support for student learning- STUDENTS ACHIEVE MORE!
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Why is a Plan Important?
Helps us be intentional about
our actions.
Allows us to strategically address
issues and concerns.
 Fewer unintentional
oversights
 Facilitates improvement
because we exert our
limited resources where
they are most needed
 Time
 Energy
 Personnel
 Money
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Being Effective Requires…
Understanding the goals
Families work with the school
to help the student achieve
Planning strategies to get there
Develop/revise communication
plan to build a strong partnership
with families
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Barriers to Effective Communications
with Parents/families
Limited Staff Resources
 TIME – many more students than teachers; multiple
responsibilities & few breaks
 ENERGY – Long days, with multiple interactions and
countless tasks leave staff tired at the end of the day
 MONEY – for aides, expensive auto-calling systems or
public advertisements
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How can we overcome these barriers?
• To some extent these
difficulties just come
with the territory
However…
A well designed
“game plan” can help us
to focus our limited
resources to achieve
maximum results
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Barriers to Effective Home-School
Communications
• School staff not always accessible
when families are available
• Families not sure school staff WANT
to hear their opinions/ideas
• Families disenfranchised from or
intimidated by their own
experiences with school
• No obvious way for families to
share info with school
• Families unsure that they have
anything of value to contribute
• Lack of past communication,
misinformation or negative
incidents created a hostile
relationship with certain
parents/families
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How can we overcome these barriers?
DEVELOP A PLAN
THAT ADRESSES BARRIES STRATEGICALLY
 Build-in multiple receptive
communication methods
 Build trust by emphasizing the
importance of PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS with families
 Make ourselves as accessible
to families as possible
 Repeatedly articulate how
much the school values
partnerships with families as a
primary strategy for helping
students achieve more
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POLL:
What types of receptive communication
methods are you currently using?
(select all that apply)
Parent conferences
Parent meetings at school
Newsletters – regular basis
Parent Surveys
Family participation on school decision making bodies
Parent Outreach through regular phone calls
Online opinion polls
Email
Texting
Comment boxes
Signs (interior or exterior)
Ads in community forums (newspaper, radio etc.)
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A Well Developed
Communication Plan
can equip your staff
to communicate more effectively
with families and build
powerful partnerships
that impact student learning!
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Effective Home/School
Communication is
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Frequent
Two Way
Consistent
Clear
Positive
Accessible
Personal
Inclusive
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1. Frequent Communication
Habits and routines emerge out of
doing the same things frequently.
Families accustomed to
communicating with the school
frequently are more engaged in
helping their child because they have
a better sense of what is needed.
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Communicate Frequently…
in Many Ways
*Post Student Grades/Progress Weekly
*Provide Information
–
–
–
About Student behavior
About events
About Assignments
*Develop routines families can count on
& plan around
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Vary Communication Methods
& Times with the Age of the Student
For younger children consider:
• Parent Outreach Program
For older children:
• Website
– teachers call home routinely
•
•
•
•
•
Weekly folders
Monthly newsletters
Flyers
Bulletin boards
Newspaper/radio
announcements
• Face-to-face conferences
• Meetings at school
– post important assignments,
requirements & school
information
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mail outs
“robo-calls”
Emails & text messages
Exterior school signs
Personal phone calls
Announcements at
sporting/social events
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Rule of Four
If it is information worth
sharing ….
its worth sharing
at least FOUR
DIFFERENT WAYS!
That way everybody
gets the message!
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2. Two Way
Communication
Engaging families to support
school efforts is enhanced by
strong relationships.
Relationships require
interaction – one party cannot
do all the talking.
School staff must not only distribute
information BUT…provide ways to
listen to parents & support their
efforts, as well.
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Conferences
Parent Outreach
Program
Phone Calls
Suggestion Boxes
Surveys
Town Hall Meetings
Family Participation in
Planning
Interactive Online Formats
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Survey Families
• Identify key topics
where family input is
needed
• Administer annually
• Be responsive to
feedback from families
Consider using LaSPDG’s
Family Toolkit (2010)
http://www.laspdg.org/co
ntent.cfm?id=198
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3. Consistent
Communication
Use several core methods to communicate with families throughout the year.
You can add additional methods of communication, but do not discontinue a method
of communication mid-year without good reason – this disrupts family routines that
support learning!
Consistent Home Routines & Communication Patterns Support Student Learning!
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4. Clear Communication
Share exact/precise information
– Use same terms each place
– Be concise
– Provide references to consult for greater
detail
– Label any change from an earlier
communication with bold print
– Assign a contact person that family
members can call
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Focus Messages on a Single Point
Always be clear on what you
want to accomplish when
you communicate with
families
Clear
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Check Outbound Messages
Set up a school-wide
process to proof-read
language for consistent
phrasing, exact
language across
messages ,
appropriateness &
grammar
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5. Positive Communication
Do not fall into the trap of
only calling parents when
there is a problem
Parents are eager to engage with school staff
when they expect to
-hear positive comments about their children
-receive helpful suggestions
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Develop
Family Communication Protocols
for Positive Interactions
When there are concerns…
Be honest, but encouraging
Positive comment
State reason for concern
Make suggestion for addressing issue
Agree to work together to help student
Identify method to monitor progress
Articulate a timeline for next
communication on this topic
• Express optimism & appreciation
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Recognize Progress Publicly & Often
Institute ways of routinely reporting
and rewarding students for work
well-done
–
–
–
–
–
Happy grams
Praise reports
Certificates
Rewards for accomplishments
Award ceremonies
And don’t forget to
recognize parents &
family members
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6. Accessible Communication
• Archive important information
• Provide contact information for person in charge
• Be available to talk (beyond school hours if necessary)
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Accessible Communication
is Constant Communication
Archive Information
On Demand Access to Information is empowering!
 Builds confidence & motivation of students & family members
 Encourages families to help
 Facilitates transfer of academic knowledge & skills to the real-world
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7. Personal Communication
Make Personal Contact
Relationships are built
through person to person
contact
• Regardless of how much
information, notification,
communication is available
to families; everyone
appreciates having a point
of contact.
• People are more responsive
to people than they are to
notes, signs and websites
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8. InclusiveCommunication
Be aware of family members who may need
assistance to participate fully and provide it!
F
A
M
I
L
Y
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Use the
Effective Communication Checklist
This process is the
starting point for
developing a Plan for
Effective Home/School
and School/Home
Communication
Identify ways you can
improve communication with
families at your School
The checklist helps
you evaluate
communication
methods for a
particular event, or
purpose
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Handouts
Effective Communication Checklist
ensure individual messages are well
delivered.
Developing
A Communication Plan
to ensure your Communication Plan
is comprehensive
Develop a
Communication Plan
for your school
A Communication Plan
Outlines Typical Methods & Processes
used to communicate with families
throughout the year,
regardless of the purpose
of individual communiques
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Components of a
Communication Plan
1.
2.
The plan provides a way to
ensure that communication
at your school is …
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Frequent
Two Way
Consistent
Clear
Positive
Accessible
Personal
Inclusive
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
List routine outbound communications & determine
frequencies for routine communiques’ of information
–
Outbound Rule of 4: use 4 methods to get word out
Establish set ways to receive information from families
–
Inbound Rule of 4
Use the same methods of communication routinely
Establish a process to identify the purpose of each
communication & target participants/recipients
–
Set up a school-wide process to proof-read
language for consistent phrasing, exact language
across messages , appropriateness & grammar
Design a Positive Communication Protocol staff can use
to assist with personalized communications
Archive as much information as possible and ensure
people know how to access it 24/7
Build-in methods to maintain a personal relationship
with members of each family
Identify which families require additional assistance
(ex: translations)
–
Establish methods to provide services so that they
can interact with the school meaningfully
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Well-developed programs result from
planning that has …
A clear focus on shared goals
 Teacher collaboration
Strong input from parents & students
 Been based on data that reflects needs
Guidance & support from administrators
PERIODIC REVISION of plans & strategies
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for Success
Good communication builds
strong partnerships with
families
Positive Student
Outcomes Include






Higher GPAs
Higher standardized test scores
More high school credits earned
More difficult courses taken
Better attendance
Fewer discipline problems at home & school
See – Lets’s FACE it ! Series
On engaging families
and getting SET for Success !
www.laspdg.org
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REVIEW-
Purpose of this Presentation
1. Increase awareness of the importance of on-going
two-way communications with families
2. Increase awareness of barriers to effective
communication
3. Increase knowledge of practical strategies to design
school-to-home and home-to-school communications
that are two-way and accommodating to diverse families
represented within a school
42
www.laspdg.org
The contents of this PowerPoint presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of
Education, #H323A110003. However those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US
Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
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Questions?
• Please use your chat pod if you have questions
related to this presentation (if time permits,
we will answer them, if not please email
questions to contacts below)
• After this webinar, you may email any contentrelated questions to La Tefy Schoen
[email protected]
• You may email any grant-related questions to
Melanie Lemoine [email protected]
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