<p>A program we used, and that had positive impact on at least 1/3 of the class, was from the K-2 school I taught in a rural poverty multi-racial district in a small town with many families recently moved in from urban poverty. I guess that demography hits a lot of bases. It came back signed from 1/3 of the class and I have to believe it was read, at least, by most of the others before being tossed out.</p>
<p>At the annual November Teacher Conference (there was only 1 annually), we presented the first quarter report card and a trifold to every parent. The trifold had 3 checklists of “responsibilities” for the teacher, parent and (young) student. It was a contract with each party signing at the bottom of their own page after reading and checking off each line. The language was so simple a Kindergartener could understand every word. The school was talking to the parents but through their children. If parents didn’t return it, we included another copy with the first report card, which usually did not get returned either. You might not consider 1/3 response a success, but I did. I was sorry when a few powerful veteran teachers voted it down a few years later because they were totally discouraged and didn’t like taking up any more parent-teacher conference time with “the contract.” Previous attempts to send the contract during start-of-school had met with abysmal response, so the approach of giving it with the first report card was adopted. </p>
<p>I no longer have a copy, but as I recall, it sounded like this:</p>
<p>The teacher’s list (which we sent home already signed in block print, so the kids could read it) had 7 responsibilities such as “Every night, get lessons ready for the class for the next day.” and “Call or write notes home to parents for important things.”</p>
<p>Examples from the children’s list: “Listen to the teacher’s directions,” “Show my parents my planner and homework sheet,” and “Help other children at the school.”</p>
<p>For parents: “Help my child get to school or school bus on time every day.” “Check and send bookbags to school every day.” “Reply to school notes.” “Let the school office know promptly about any changes in emergency information.” “Encourage my child to try his best at school.” “Praise and encourage my child for good work.” “Communicate with the teacher.” </p>
<p>When I presented it to each parent I devoted one minute of our allotted ten minutes to say that this would help their child understand that school was a 3-way deal; that the parents and teachers had jobs to help make sure the student could learn, so the child would feel they were part of a “team.” I never spoke directly to parents about their responsibility items.</p>
<p>I learned in the years I taught there that young parents (ages 20-25) of First Graders, who had attended that rural school district, had bitter memories from high school, particularly if they’d been in Special Education during high school. I also picked up their hope that they wanted their kids to have it better than they had. They ALL loved their kids but didn’t know how to get from here-to-there in terms of daily and annual organization around a school calendar. Some truly saw their turn as parents as a chance to do things better. Generally, it was they who participated with the contract, returned it, and gave me feedback that their child liked reading it with them.</p>
<p>The out-of-district parents with urban backgrounds barely communicated with the school ever, avoided it like the plague, were “no-shows” on conference night. In my classes, I sent then phoned them with a choice of available daytime or evening slots to account for working families, so they made the appointment then failed to show or phone. The school’s policy was that if a parent hadn’t come to conference (on ANY timeframe) they held the report card and required the parent to pick it up personally from the school office. The school would not mail them out without the parent coming personally to the school, although parents called and wanted this to happen.</p>
<p>What amazed me was how EVERY parent eventually asked to see their kid’s report card and this was the leverage the school used to make them come into the building. Sometimes court hearings were the stimulation to find out the child’s school progress. After January, a handful (from 500 students) still hadn’t been picked up so the principal finally did send out the last handful like that, with a letter from her. </p>
<p>More than indifference to their children, I felt the paretns’ hostility and fear of schools in general. It was visceral, really. </p>
<p>I think the question to ask is not whether or how to send a “parent report card,” or what kind, but is it worth occupying the teacher’s time to chase down the last recalcitrant parent. At what point do you give up the program, versus just “hope” it’s getting through to some, if not all…that it’s “better than nothing.” </p>
<p>The teachers who had been doing this for 20+ years adored the children and the learning process, but were sick to death of the parents and all their games. They resented taking time from attending to students in order to make politically powerful people happy. Someone was always parachuting in to come up with a fix-it program like the one suggested in Manchester, CT. </p>
<p>At the end of each year, out of 25 students, I could usually make a breakthrough with around 5 of the “somewhat suspicious” parents, but this could only happen in the context of private 1:1 conversations and had little to do with the tri-fold contract. Usually they cried on my shoulder about their own bad memories of school, and I tried to use that to reframe their understanding of what to do next with their own child. Because I had come into teaching in my 40’s, I had a bit more patience for all of this drama than the veteran teachers, who considered me naive and said I reminded them of their early years. They were generally tougher than I with the difficult parents, washed their hands sooner on certain situations, and focussed their energy more on the more teachable part of each class. </p>
<p>Anyone who thinks this problem is easily solved is wrong, although I respect anyone who tries and wouldn’t laugh off any new idea. WHere the Republican school board member is missing the point, IMHO, is to imagine that the business model ("anything not measured is not attended to…) applies to parents who simply do not accept the authority or meaning of the “Measurer” in their life’s landscape. </p>
<p>These tri-folds I’ve described (from my former school) did not measure but attempted to educate families about the role of the parent to ensure their child’s success at school, rather than just yell at their children or about the teacher. It was an educational and motivational device, not a measurement instrument. If your goal is to affect 20% of the parents, I think these kinds of voluntary approaches do that. If your goal is to measure and rank 100% of the school families along a scale of cooperation, a mandatory parent report card will do that but not change anyone’s behavior. So the one who has to prove more to me is the Republican school board member, because I don’t see any accountability in his approach.</p>