Partnering With Parents For Students Success

Here are three ways to establish and maintain partnerships with parents and
guardians:
DETERMINE THE BEST METHOD OF CONTACT

Every parent is different. The parents and guardians of our students are small
business owners, nine-to-fivers, gig workers who manage multiple jobs, and stay-at-
home caregivers. Establishing strong partnerships with parents through effective
communication involves a willingness to be flexible with our mode of messaging. For
those of us who are introverts, this does mean that we will have to pick up the
phone sometimes.
I have found that most parents are just as busy as we are and often prefer emails
and text messages. Still, the tone and content of text messages and emails can be
misinterpreted. Sometimes, going the extra mile to make a phone call can be the
difference between a successful collaboration that mitigates student challenges and
a stressful exchange that produces little support on the home front.
NORMALIZE POSITIVE, BUT REALISTIC, COMMUNICATION

Most commonly, we contact families to notify them about student misbehavior and
academic failure. However, when a parent or guardian receives positive
communication from teachers, they are more likely to be responsive and supportive
partners. For our part, as we work closely with our students week after week, we
learn to identify the wins at every level. These are the moments that become the
building blocks of normalizing positive contact with our parent partners.
We can do so by making a habit of sending a quick message to parents on the heels

of acknowledging the student. As a teacher, I would send positive text messages
about student effort, improved behavior, and class participation during class. I
would even send an occasional picture of an engaged student. When I did so, I
noticed an increase in the student’s confidence and an improved attitude (even if
only for the day).
Spotlighting positive moments in this way, particularly for students with

behavioral issues, became a part of the relationship-building process. One of the
first times I messaged a parent about their child being engaged with writing during
class, the student did not believe me, going so far as requesting to see the text.
She told me that her teachers only called home about behavioral issues. That first
positive contact alone did not manage all of our issues, but it was a sizable step
toward strengthening the relationship between the student, her parent, and me.
However, positive communication should not be disingenuous. Many teachers use the
“compliment sandwich” when communicating with parents, saying something nice about
a student in order to slip in the real issue, followed by more praise. While this
is well-intentioned, parents do not take it as positive communication. What really
matters to parents and guardians is whether or not we can express that we see and
understand their children.
REFLECT ON MINDSET: ARE YOU ENGAGING IN DEFICIT THINKING OR TAKING AN ASSET-BASED

APPROACH?
Understanding our mindset—the way we frame our understandings of students—requires
consistent reflection. As we reflect, sometimes we may find ourselves engaged in
thinking about goals and challenges from a deficit mindset, fixed on problems
rather than finding solutions. In my experience, deficit thinking is prevalent
where diversity is not understood and therefore not valued.
Thinking about the families of our students through a deficit lens means focusing
on our perceptions of what parents and guardians do not have, what they do not have
access to, and/or what they are not capable of. Deficit thinking reveals itself
when we engage in conversations about “saving” our students or providing them with
food or supplies they cannot get at home. (Having a well-stocked classroom to meet
the needs of students is never a bad thing. However, we provide pencils for
students because they need pencils, not because there are no pencils at home.)
The concept of partnering with parents, in and of itself, is an asset-based

approach to communicating with families about student progress. Communicating with
parents through an asset-based approach means asking the question, “How can we work
together to address the needs and challenges of your student in order to ensure
their success?”
Adopting an asset-based approach to parent communication allows us to see parents

and guardians as partners who are invested in their children’s success. If we begin
our interactions with an asset-based assumption that families care about their
children’s education, we are less defensive when parents have questions about our
classrooms, our instruction, and our roles as teachers. We are able to concentrate
our efforts on how we can effectively work together to ensure the success of our
students. After all, through an asset-based lens we see clearly that as teachers
and parents, we share a common goal.

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Here are three ways to establish and maintain partnerships with parents and

DETERMINE THE BEST METHOD OF CONTACT

NORMALIZE POSITIVE, BUT REALISTIC, COMMUNICATION

We can do so by making a habit of sending a quick message to parents on the heels

Spotlighting positive moments in this way, particularly for students with

REFLECT ON MINDSET: ARE YOU ENGAGING IN DEFICIT THINKING OR TAKING AN ASSET-BASED

The concept of partnering with parents, in and of itself, is an asset-based

Adopting an asset-based approach to parent communication allows us to see parents

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