By Colleen A.R. You, California State PTA President
California State PTA President Colleen A.R. You
As we join in the celebration of public education and honor individuals who are making a difference during American Education Week, the promise of a quality education for every child and how we value public education have never been more important. California is experiencing a watershed moment with the adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards, a new Local Control Funding Formula, and Local Control Accountability Plans tying school district budgets to improvement goals. School districts will be formulating these plans with stakeholder input. Community engagement in the process, with parents and teachers at the forefront, is essential so that these plans best serve the needs of all our students.
It is imperative for teachers and parents to work together in the most fundamental ways to ensure student success. With its focus on comprehensive parent education and resources, and affirming parents’ essential role in student success, PTA plays an integral part. Our goal is to Connect Families and Schools. Through this connection, parents first gain exposure to the local picture, become informed, and build confidence and knowledge. Their empowerment grows from initially advocating at their home schools to later speaking up within their districts and beyond.
While it seems intuitive, we must encourage an engaged and invested school community in every city in California. We do this by reminding parents to ask open-ended questions about their student’s day at school and ensure that a regular schedule of nutrition, exercise, rest and homework is followed. Parents should ask teachers for, and teachers and school administrators should share, facts about the curriculum and implications of Common Core State Standards, how they will affect instruction and assessment. Teachers can encourage parents to seek opportunities to learn together with their children beyond the school day. Maximizing occasions to learn (for example, practicing the application of fractions while measuring for and preparing a recipe) results in reinforcement of key mathematical concepts introduced in the classroom.
Teachers and families have opportunities to communicate, collaborate, and plan for student success during Back to School visits, during curriculum nights, at parent-teacher-student conferences, and at open house. Meaningful, two-way communication between the school and home ensures parents get to know their child’s teachers, and teachers can be apprised of any concerns and make an early connection with families in the community. The time a child spends with a teacher makes up a significant portion of the day. While parents are children’s first teachers, recognizing that both the teacher and parent are mutual partners in student success, and the continued improvement of our public schools, will go a long way in ensuring all children gain the 21st century skills and education that prepare them for career and college in an increasingly competitive global work environment.
Parents and teachers value schools that promote student engagement and a positive school climate in concert with improving student achievement. When students have access to sufficient instructional materials, well-maintained and modern facilities, and credentialed instructors with opportunities for professional collaboration and development, they are on the path to successful educational outcomes. Teachers and parents can continue to ask the essential questions moving forward: How do we invest education dollars appropriately in every community and not lose sight of our most vulnerable children? How do we ensure the funding is adequate, and the voices of the entire school community are heard? How do we elevate the importance of a well-rounded education that includes physical education, arts and STEM as a governing priority?
PTA joins with teachers in “raising our hand for student success” — we must not lose sight of the impact we can make investing and advocating together for our children, our future.
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