Epstein's Framework

This week in Middle Grades Organization we were challenged to think critically about Epstein's Framework of Family Involvement. The two that I have chosen to take an in-depth look at are communication and volunteering.

The communication tier of Epstein's framework involves both school to home and home to school communication. It is so important to have a fluid line of communication between teachers and families because that is one way to ensure student success. Communication can be seen through parent-teacher conferences, report cards, sending portfolios of student work home, and providing information about various programs and topics that relate to a child's school experience. Of course these are not the only ways in which teachers should be communicating with parents, but it is a few examples that move away from the typical phone calls, emails, or letters home. The benefits of ensuring an open line of communication between teachers and families is that families will become more aware of what is occurring within the school and they will be capable of better understanding the policies in place.

Like many things, communication is not always perfect. One of the major challenges with communication is simply having the time to carve out of one's daily schedule to communicate with families. Many teachers have between twenty and thirty students so it can be difficult ensuring that you make contact with each family on a regular basis. However, that is a place where something like a weekly newsletter may come in handy because you will be able to briefly update families on the happenings within the classroom, saving your time to be used for calling or writing to parents about their child's success, or struggles.

In my future classroom, I would ideally like to have a weekly newsletter to send home with parents, as well as a set time each week to make phone calls or send emails to update parents on anything significant that happened for their student. I would like to make contact with every family at least once every two weeks, but I know it may be a difficult task within my first few years of teaching. I would also like to implement student run parent-teacher conferences because involving students in their future is the only way to set them up for success.

The other tier of Epstein's framework that I feel is important is encouraging families to volunteer whenever possible. Volunteering can be done in many ways. A few examples are allowing parents to participate in coaching a sport, leading a club, speaking on career day, providing contacts/networking opportunities (for students or other parents), or helping within the classroom or school. Allowing parents to volunteer their time or abilities is an important well to help ensure that parents feel welcome within the school building. It is also important to remember that not every parent or guardian will be able donate their time, but they may still want to volunteer in some form - it is crucial that they know that we, as educators, are willing to work with them and that we try to find a way to involve them, however that way may be!

In the future, it may be difficult to welcome parents into my classroom frequently, but I would like to think of ways to involve them throughout the year. I do envision working in a school that has a "bring your parent to school day" or something of the nature, which is beneficial for parents to see what their students are learning. Students can also benefit from volunteer parents because it provides them with the opportunity to practice socializing with adults that they may not typically come in contact with. Teachers also benefit from the involvement of parents because it reminds teachers that they are not alone and they have the support of their student's parents.