New Teacher Orientation2013

Parental Engagement

Review Objectives Meaningful Parent Participation It’s the Law Key Points It’s all about Customer Service Assumptions and Biases Parent/School Collaboration Parent/Caregiver Engagement (Grief Cycle

and Validation) Exit Ticket/What’s Next?

Agenda

Today’s Objectives:

New Teachers will create in writing a communication plan to connect with parents within 2 weeks of the start of the school year based on presentation and conversation with peers.

New Teachers will develop in writing concrete strategies to ensure parental participation at IEP meetings and other school events based on whole group discussions.

Guiding Principles

A shared belief in collaboration among families

and service providers

A committed effort to

minimize the bureaucracy in

the process

Meaningful Parent Participation

Indicators of Success

Think-Pair-Share• How would you know you were successful in engaging parents

meaningfully in their child’s IEP?

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorized in 2002 as theNo Child Left Behind Act state provisions for family involvement.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Federal law concerning the education of students with disabilities, requires schools to provide parents of a child with a disability with a notice containing a full explanation of the procedural safeguards available under the IDEA and U.S. Department of Education regulations. [34 CFR §300.504(a)]

Free Appropriate Public Education: (FAPE) A child with a disability has a right to receive a public education, free to the family.

Parents and student have the right to participation in meetings. Identification of the disability Evaluation planning Individualized Education Program planning Determining placement, which are services described in the IEP

It’s It is the LAW

Parents are full partners in planning their child’s education and should be included in the decision making process.

Provide parents with clear and ongoing communication regarding their child’s successes and challenges. A good rule of thumb is to provide 5 positives to

every one challenge.

KEY POINTS

Provide opportunities for full participation of all parents (including parents with limited English proficiency, with disabilities, or who may be struggling financially/emotionally)

Provide parents a copy of parental rights and safeguards and meeting agenda at each IEP event

Keep parents in the loop about their child’s academic/behavioral progress and school/district events

Include parents and communicate with them as equal partners

It’s all about Customer Service…

Recognizing that everyone has biases…

Find two other people and discuss the following questions

What are some common biases about parents of students with disabilities?

How do you think these biases can inhibit or enhance your work with parents?

Assumptions and Biases

Understanding bias and how it shapes perception and expectations enables special educators to host the conversation with school teams.

CDE also provides a toolkit for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse families. http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/CLD.asp

Effective Parent Involvement

Inclusion Thinking(adapted from CDE/CLD Toolkit)

• Parent involvement that links learning to student achievement.• Train parents to advocate for their

children.• All parents, regardless of

race/ethnicity, class, or parent’s level of education, can help improve students’ academic success.

Communication(adapted from CDE/CLD Toolkit)

• Translate written communications into the home language

• Put parents in touch with bilingual staff, bilingual parents who have volunteered to be a liaison, or an interpreter

• Educate parents about the school system• Host a starter event with parents from a

particular community to learn about their background and expectations

Develop language and resources(adapted from CDE/CLD Toolkit)

• Storytelling—by telling stories, parents are developing children’s vocabulary and oral language skills.

• A-to-Z Reading – English & Spanish

• Make frequent trips to the public library.

• Use everyday experiences such as telling time, counting change, or measuring ingredients to build math skills.

Parent/Caregiver EngagementGrief Cycle and Validation

Parent/Caregiver Grief Cycle(Bartz, C.A., 2009)

Shock

Anxiety

Denial

Guilt

Anger

Acceptance/Rejection

Establish mutual support and relationship

Time to process

Use of interpreters and/or cultural mediators

Provide information as needed

Empathy

Attend to parents’ concernsProvide information, answer questionsGive them

Time

Do not take anything personally

Listening and Validation

Strive for Unconditional acceptance

Collaborative Partner

Strategies: How can we respond

DO Listen to their stories without judgment and validate their feelings

Do not take it personally when a parent-caregiver displays anger

Listen for clues that may indicate where in the cycle they are and provide support accordingly, but

DO NOT push them to move through the cycle to adapt faster

Strategies: How can we respond?

Provide information and resources about the child’s disability and District resources

Provide them with information on what to expect of an IEP meeting prior to the meeting

During the meeting: Read cues from your parents during IEP meetings; are they disengaged, angry, or seem overwhelmed. It’s OK to stop and take a minute.

Strategies: How can we respond?

Develop an authentic relationship with the parents/caregivers

Call them periodically to ask how they are doing and let them know about their child’s successes

Home/School Communication Folder showing child’s daily work, successes, and challenges

Strategies: Validation(Source: Dr. Ron Ringenbach, DPS; 2012)

When we validate, we communicate that we understand the person’s experience as it is, and under the circumstances, the experience makes sense

No judgment or problem solving (yet)

Keys for validation1. Be clear in your goal2. Self-validate (be prepared to handle your own

feelings)3. Work at validating the person to help defuse

emotional crises.

Strategies: Validation(Source: Dr. Ron Ringenbach, DPS; 2012)

Premature problem solving runs counter to validation.

WHEN WE PROBLEM SOLVE TOO SOON, WE ARE INVALIDATING THE PERSON’S EXPERIENCE When we invalidate, we communicate that the

individual’s experience is not valid or justified– it is inaccurate or exaggerated and they cannot trust it (they feel crazy).

What validation is notHollander, 2008

Problem solving is not validation

Reassurance is not validation

When you are revved up and someone tells you it is going to be OK, your feeling may be that the person cannot appreciate the magnitude of your situation. Developmentally may be helpful to small children.

Saying “I’ve been there” is not validation

Shifts the focus from the other’s life and concerns to yours.

Putting things into perspective is not validation When a person is disregulated, the last thing they want to hear is that

they are making too big a deal out of things.

Best advice too soon is not validating

If a person is disregulated, the best advice will wash off until they can hear the information.

Strategies: Ways to ValidateSource: Ron Ringenbach, DPS 2011

Don’t validate the invalid Someone says “I am a horrible parent”- Don’t agree

Substitute the word “and” for the word “but” I see you are having a really tough time, and it is

time for spelling. Attentive listening

Posture, eye contact and focus Active listening

Add reflection or mirroring Giving voice to the unspoken

Noticing and suggesting what is not being said

Validation Exercise

Break-up into groups of three Have two people role play the parent-

caregiver and the school provider and the other person as the observer

Each person will have a turn to play all 3 roles

After each role play; the observer will provide feedback