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The School-Home Connection

Forging Positive Relationships With Parents

By: Rosemary A. Olender, Jacquelyn Elias, Rosemary D. Mastroleo

The keys to bridging the gap between school and home!

This book provides teachers and administrators with tools to develop more positive relationships with students and their families. Drawing on original research and their professional experiences, the authors identify the common sources of both negative and positive home-school relationships. The book also presents a comprehensive approach to building closer connections, including:

Tools to help educators develop a deeper understanding of the communities they serve
Strategies for improving communication skills
A chapter on documenting and celebrating school events
Guidelines for creating three distinct levels of parental participation

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412968645
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2010
Page Count: 152
Publication date: May 04, 2010

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Author(s) Table of Contents Reviews

Description

"A useful resource for all educators with practical suggestions to help close the gap between school and home. Through analogies and shared reflections on real-life examples, the authors provide guidance for dealing effectively with parents, understanding the importance of family dynamics, and considering the effects of personality types on relationships."
—Annette Speach, Director of Human Resources
North Syracuse Central School District, NY

"Becoming skilled in relationships is the foundation for successful home-school collaboration, and these authors provide the why's and how-to's in a very readable form."
—Bonnie Dunn, Retired School Social Worker
The Collaborative School, New Gloucester, ME

The keys to bridging the gap between school and home!

Research has consistently shown that student success is directly related to the strength of the relationships between parents and schools. This book provides teachers and administrators with tools to build a foundation for student success based on positive relationships with students and their families.

Drawing on original research and their professional experiences, the authors identify the common sources of both negative and positive school-home relationships. The book presents a comprehensive approach to building closer connections and includes:

Tools to help educators develop a deeper understanding of the communities they serve
Strategies for improving interpersonal skills and communication skills
A chapter on the importance of documenting and celebrating school events
Guidelines for creating three distinct levels of parental participation in schools

With suggestions for cultivating a community network of support services and a summary of lessons for forging constructive relationships, The School-Home Connection is an essential tool for educators looking to strengthen the learning community and increase student achievement.

Author(s)

Rosemary A. Olender

Rosemary Olender is a retired school administrator who is currently providing consulting and staff development services for school districts across a broad range of educational issues. She has focused her work on the development of educational practices that lead to higher standards for all students and increased public relations between schools and communities. Olender received her bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from the State University of New York at Albany, her master's degree in speech and language pathology from Syracuse University, and her CAS in educational administration from Syracuse University.

Prior to becoming an administrator, Olender taught for 17 years as a teacher (Grades 1-2; 7-9; 10-12) of profoundly deaf children in inclusive settings. She then became a general education administrator as associate principal for a junior high school (Grades 8-9) and principal of an elementary school (Grades K-4) before becoming director of special education (K-12) for the North Syracuse Central School District in upstate New York. She now focuses her consulting and staff development training for school districts and state organizations on a variety of topics centered on effective parent relations, inclusive practices, special education laws and practices, behavior management, and school-related personnel.

Olender is a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association, the Council of Exceptional Children, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Additionally, she is a part-time administrator for the supervision of speech therapists providing Medicaid services in several upstate New York school districts.

Jacquelyn Elias

Jacquelyn Elias is a retired speech therapist and school administrator residing in upstate New York. She received a bachelor of arts degree in speech pathology and audiology from the State University of NY at Geneseo and a masters and educational administrative degree from Oswego State University. Elias spent 19 years in the public schools as a speech therapist and special educator. Her primary interest was working with students with emotional disabilities and the very young child with language disabilities.

Elias was a school administrator for 10 years. She spent 3 years as an intermediate school principal and 7 years in the capacities of assistant director and director of special education programs in three different school districts.

Elias was active in the NYSWA (New York State Women in Administration) organization and SANNYS, a NYS organization for all administrators.

Rosemary D. Mastroleo

Rosemary Mastroleo is a retired school teacher and supervisor now living in Southwest Florida. Throughout her career, Mastroleo was responsible for the set up and design of special education programs in public school settings. She focused her efforts on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each child in order to build a successful academic program both at home and at school. Mastroleo’s consistent efforts to build cooperative relationships with families enhanced the success of her students and her programs.

Prior to becoming an administrator, Mastroleo taught for 17 years in the North Syracuse Central School District in central New York. During that time, she was a first grade teacher, an elementary counselor, a resource teacher, and then an itinerant junior and senior high school teacher. Following her tenure as a teacher,Mastroleo became a program monitor for the special education department in the North Syracuse District. Her duties included overseeing self-contained special education classes, sitting as a permanent member of the Committee on Special Education and providing consultant services for special education and regular education teachers regarding students with special needs. In addition to her supervisory and consultant duties, Mastroleo became a hearing officer for the North Syracuse District during her last five years of service.

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

1. Committing to the Relationship

Benefits to the Student

Benefits to the Teacher

Benefits to the Parent

Benefits to the Class

Benefits to the School

Benefits to the School District

Summary

2. Recognizing Different Personalities

Determining Personality

Effects of Personalities on Your Relationships

Implications

Dealing With Difficult Parents

Summary

3. Identifying Potential Red Flags

Recognizing Red Flags

The Likelihood Rating Scale

Parent and Family Conditions

Teacher Conditions

Administrator Conditions

Summary

4. Honing Solid Communication Skills

Verbal Communication Obstacles

Nonverbal Communication Obstacles

Summary

5. Adopting Key Rules

Rule 1: Be Respectful

Rule 2: Be Proactive

Rule 3: No Surprises

Rule 4: 24 Hours

Rule 5: No Dump Trucks Allowed

Rule 6: Document

Rule 7: Be Prepared

Rule 8: "I Don't Know"

Rule 9: Never Say Never

Rule 10: Never Lie

Summary

6. Using Flexibility to Enhance Relationships

Common Family Issues Needing Accommodation

Failing Students

Students With Disabilities

Families of Divorce or Separation

Illness or Death of a Close Family Member

Non-English-Speaking and Low-Literacy Families

Counterproductive Family Dynamics

Summary

7. Documenting and Celebrating School Events

What Do We Need to Document?

Quick, Easy, and Routine Daily Documentation Methods

Weekly or Monthly Newsletters

Specialized Daily Contacts

Conferences

DVDs/CDs

Back-to-School Nights and Open Houses

Summary

8. Connecting Home and School

Levels of Parent Participation

Level 1: General Parental Support of School Activities

Level 2: Parental Involvement in Daily School Events

Level 3: Parental Involvement in Decision-Making Processes

Summary

9. Cultivating Resources

Where Do You Start?

Compiling a List of Family Resources

What Should Your Resource List Look Like?

One Step Further

Summary

10. Summarizing Global Lessons Learned

Lesson 1: Keep the Student Front and Center

Lesson 2: Be the Best Communicator You Can Be

Lesson 3: Become User-Friendly

Lesson 4: Be Proactive

Lesson 5: View Parents and Families as Opportunities to Bring Diversity, Interests, and Talents into the Classroom and School

Lesson 6: Above All, Keep and Use a Sense of Humor

Summary

Resource A: Discover Your Personality

Resource B: The Animal Test

Resource C: Personality Types

References and Recommended Readings

Index

Reviews

"When parents and school get together, all kids can win. Every teacher and administrator should read this book. The detailed table of contents directs you to a solution for your problem."

NZ Carol, Development Officer
Dominican Hospital Foundation

"After enduring a 16-day due process hearing with Rosemary Olender, in which the district prevailed but nobody 'won,' especially the student, Rosemary said to me, 'There has to be a better way.' I agreed. The research conducted by the authors, combined with their years of special education experience, has found a better solution. This book provides sound, practical, readily implemented advice regarding communication and relationships—the keys to successful outcomes for special education students, their families, and their school districts."

Donald E. Budmen, School Attorney
Ferrara, Fiorenza, Larrison, Barrett & Reitz, P.C.

“A useful resource for all educators with practical suggestions to help close the gap between school and home. Through analogies and shared reflections on real-life examples, the authors provide guidance in dealing effectively with parents, appreciating the importance of family dynamics, and understanding the effects of personality types on relationships.”

Annette Speach, Director of Human Resources
North Syracuse Central School District, NY

"A resource that every school district should use for staff development. It provides excellent strategies with effective examples to use in various situations that occur in our schools. Effective strategies are offered to deal with parents who are insecure, feel threatened, or are very anxious. The book also offers insight on how school staff should act to develop a climate of respect."

Nellie A. Bush, Retired Assistant Superintendent
Amsterdam School District, NY

"These authors understand the basic and important concepts to working successfully with even the most challenging students and families. In clear language, they provide concrete steps to guide readers in developing the relationships that are the basis of all successful collaboration between school and home. Becoming skilled in these relationships is the foundation for successful home-school collaboration, and these authors provide the why's and how-to's in very readable form."

Bonnie Dunn, Retired School Social Worker
The Collaborative School, New Gloucester, ME

"This commonsense and practical approach to improving relationships contains a storehouse of solid resources and tools that will assist both neophytes as well as the experienced practitioner. The book serves as a strong wake-up call, as the research clearly indicates that student achievement improves when parents are involved in a child's education."

Jerome F. Melvin, Superintendent of Schools
North Syracuse Central School District, NY

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