HOW TO INCREASE PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Below is checklist of criteria to consider in building steps to increase parent involvement in schools

CRITERIA/QUESTIONS Yes No Needs
Improving
1. Are meeting announcements, posters, and publications printed in the languages of the parents who attend the school?
2. Are special efforts made to involve parents in the educational process and content?
3. Is a particular effort made to involve women and men from different racial and national origin groups, and varied socioeconomic levels, in all parent activities?
4. Do teachers, administrators, and principals make an effort to communicate regularly and positively with parents (parent conferences, school newsletters, notices on school procedures and rules)?
5. Are transportation and child care arrangements made for parents to attend school meetings and parent-teacher conferences if needed?
6. Are there parent recognition programs for many types of service to the school?
7. Is there an ongoing commitment to substantive parent involvement, such as an active PTA and/or parent advisory council in the school?
8. Are parent meetings schedules at mutually convenient times and places for employed as well as nonemployed parents and teachers in the school community?
9. Are teacher observations, both positive and negative, about their chilcfs progress communicated clearly and regularly to parents in an interactive, two-way process?
10. Are the sites for all meetings and activities accessible to parents with disabilities?

Source: Elements of Equity: Criteria for Equitable Schools
Developed by Jill Moss Greenberg and Susan Shaffer, The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, 1991.


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