District Administration - November/December 2011 - (Page 48)

The Ultimate Empowerment Program for Parents Continued from page 44 Programs like LSNA’s summer institute, in which teachers take an immersion course that includes tours of the community and exposure to such organizations as the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs programs help teachers better understand and, in turn, serve families. “Schools are still repairing damage inﬂicted by NCLB, which put all of the focus on assessment and accountability and turned away from parent satisfaction,” Zrike says. “Schools need to be clear about what their priorities are, and they need to design activities around parents’ schedules. It’s not culturally sensitive to make them sit in front of a PowerPoint presentation for 45 minutes. We need to go out into local churches and the rest of the community.” Replicating the LSNA Model Marilyn Price-Mitchell, co-founder and president of the 15-year-old National ParentNet Association, a nonproﬁt organization that supplies structure for communities to communicate and problem solve, and Linda Serrato, deputy communications director of Parent Revolution, stress that parent engagement programs are far from one-size-ﬁts-all and that each must be responsive to its individual community’s particular needs and goals. Parent Revolution, which has expanded beyond the LAUSD to include other districts in the state, focuses on empowering parents through parent unions, which provide organizational training in techniques such as how to run a meeting and keep a ﬁrm commitment. Price-Mitchell says that global competition has created a new urgency for fully engaged parents. Her organization shares with LSNA the goal of striving to create more eﬀective parents. ParentNet oﬀers a range of resources on its Web site and provides a parent engagement starter kit, which includes a training manual and DVD on how to organize parents and keep them educated about school programs. Changing Ingrained Attitudes “ e farther away people are from the LSNA program, the more it may seem like a lot to ask of teachers,” says Hong, who’s seen principals go from adamantly opposing the program to acceptance.. “But the closer you get, the more you realize it’s not more work for teachers and administrators.” e secret of LSNA’s long-term success, says Zrike, lies in the fact that parents are really heard. “ ey have a sense of purpose, and they’ve been given the tools and the education to assume leadership roles in schools and the community.” DA Susan McLester is a contributor for D A. score post secon PROVEN ONLINE dignity research fashion SOLUTIONS FOR HIGHER PLATO attainments refinement tact training culture STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. accomplishment education literature PLATO Learning offers a full range ofwisdom learning innovative online instruction knowledge schooling solutions. Discover them at www.plato.com/remediation. delicacy www.plato.com | 1.800.44.PLATO future proficiency dignity score Copyright © 2011 PLATO Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. 175-COMM02 9/11 schooling elegance 48 November/December 2011 forward college education post second education training District Administration refinement accomplishment grace program ideasculture skill skill instruction schooling skill attainments forward instruction grace education delicacy dignity attainments wisdom instructi knowledge future proficiency instruction wisdom knowledge proficiency literature ideas skill forward PLATO kindness K enlightenment wisd http://www.plato.com/remediation http://www.plato.com/remediation http://www.plato.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November/December 2011

District Administration - November/December 2011
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Inside the Law
Administrator Profile
District Profile
CIO news
How to Update Your Network on a Budget
The Importance of IT Team Unity
Creating an Anti-Bullying Program With the Resources You Have
The Ultimate Empowerment Program for Parents
Taking the Helm in Cheating Scandals
Readers’ Choice: Top 100 Products
New Directions
Professional Opinion
Problem/Solution
Going Mobile

District Administration - November/December 2011