Prioritizing Parent/Teacher Relationships: Lessons From 50 Years of Research and Practice

This November 19, 2019 GLR Learning Tuesday webinar — the second in the Productive Parent/Teacher Partnerships series co-sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New Year — provided a deep dive exploration of the history and current state of parent/teacher relationships.

Helen Westmoreland of National PTA reviewed and summarized 50 years of research on parent/teacher partnerships and brought attendees up to the present day, sharing the field’s current focus on impact, equity and implementation. She asked us to think about what forms of engagement most consistently correlate with achievement across demographic groups in elementary school. Among the options she shared were participating in a PTA/PTO meeting; requesting a specific teacher for your child; reading to your child; and attending a parent-teacher conference (the one that came out in front might surprise you!).

David Park of Learning Heroes presented data on parents’ perceptions of their children’s school experiences. For parents, there is often a false sense of security (they believe their children are doing better than they actually are); for teachers, communicating with parents is not in their job descriptions. These realities feed a disconnect between parents and teachers in their perceptions of the most important ways to know a child is achieving. Addressing these gaps can be done with a “surround sound” approach, a readiness-check tool and other materials for parents that provide vital information for shaping their perceptions accurately.

Kwesi Rollins of the Institute for Educational Leadership explored systems, handoffs, fumbles and bright spots in the field of parent/teacher partnerships. He shared the Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (which Dr. Karen Mapp discussed in the first webinar in the PPTP series); presented key elements of systemic engagement; and explored the ways in which leadership drives systemic engagement and can lead to systems change. He shared bright spots and the high-impact strategies that successfully facilitate productive parent/teacher partnerships. He encouraged us to consider that, despite many challenges, families have enormous assets and strengths that can be nurtured. The IEL report he co-authored, Taking It to the Next Level, explores many of the concepts he presented in greater depth.