 Partnering with parents Student teacher learns early the importance of parental involvement
By Julie Poppen News Staff Writer
As the school year wound down, parents flooded into the gym at Westminster's Arapahoe Ridge Elementary School where fifth-graders speaking in mock British accents had set up a colonial village. Around the large, windowless room, girls wearing long skirts and lace demonstrated how to make soap or candles. Boys in long aprons banged away with hammers, pretending to be blacksmiths. "Slaves" swept the floor. Wearing a long skirt and scarf, student teacher Dani Broe, a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, wandered around the room, chatting and laughing with parents and kids. She seemed in her element. The event marked the culmination of the school year and gave students a chance to show off their new knowledge of American history. Besides parent-teacher conferences, it's one of the few academic events that specifically targets families. Jessica Weinert, 11, was embarrassed but pleased to see her parents and big sister in attendance. "It makes me feel good they actually wanted to spend time to see what I learned," Jessica said. Experts agree that parental involvement is essential to the health of a school. So far, Broe is comfortable with parents, but she has yet to encounter a difficult parent making unreasonable demands or, perhaps worse, a parent who doesn't care. Even though dealing with parents wasn't part of her educational curriculum, Broe had other experiences that helped prepare her. In one of her general education classes, Broe had to prepare a newsletter for parents, explaining in layman's terms the pros and cons of retaining a student in the same grade for a second year. In addition, the 22-year-old psychology major tutored a Korean boy at his home for a semester as part of her coursework. The goal was to give Broe one-on-one experience with a student and help her attain a comfort level with the boy's family and community. As part of that experience, Broe went to Sunday school with the boy. Pam Ford, director of field experience for the School of Education at CU-Boulder, said it is critical to train new teachers how to deal with parents. In fact, to graduate, a CU education student must rank at least "satisfactory" in the eight new standards for Colorado teachers. One of those, knowledge of classroom and instruction management, includes components on working with parents. The standards require new teachers to involve parents "as participants and partners in student learning" and communicate test results and their implications. "If they perceive the parent as a partner, then I think we make great strides in helping the student succeed, because learning doesn't just end at the end of the school day," Ford said. "We encourage our students to look for ways to involve parents, whether it's a newsletter, Web site or voice mailbox." CU students are evaluated as they student teach as well. Broe helped orchestrate a spring parent/teacher conference in mentor teacher Marnie Danielski's classroom. Parent Brenda Roberts, a special needs teacher at a different school, said Broe did a great job. "She was very friendly, very positive," Roberts said. "I think she enjoys the kids, and it shows." With the support of Danielski, Broe regularly called parents at home with both good and bad news. Broe learned that positive feedback, such as telling a parent about their child's progress in reading or improved behavior, builds trust and helps pave the way when bad news arrives. Debbie Decker's 11-year-old son, Zane, has prompted both types of phone calls. "He takes a little extra attention sometimes," Decker, 35, said of her son. "She has a very patient demeanor," she said of Broe. On the last day of school, Decker had the students give Broe supplies that will help her in a future teaching job. Broe said she got a kick out of meeting parents the first time. "It's so funny. I thought, 'Oh my God, now I know why this kid acts like this.' It's a really neat experience." But Broe admits she has learned little about her students' lives outside the classroom, other than things she hears from the students themselves or from their parents when they come to school. But she said she's not totally comfortable with the notion of teachers visiting students' homes. As far as parents coming to school, Broe has noticed that interest in volunteering generally wanes after kindergarten and first grade, when parents "love to see their kids and help out and cut and glue things." Parents rarely volunteer in Danielski's classroom and some students act embarrassed to be seen with their parents, Broe said. The mobility rate of Arapahoe Ridge is 25 percent, meaning a quarter of the students move in or out of the school each year. Ten percent of the school's 557 students receive free or reduced-price lunches. Most of the students, 79 percent, are white; 11 percent are Hispanic; 5.5 percent are Asian; 3 percent are African-American; and 1 percent are Native American. Like any group of children today, many come from single-parent homes or have divorced parents. A segment of the children live in an adjacent trailer park. Still, 98 percent of the parents attend parent-teacher conferences at the 4-year-old school, Principal Marilyn Jerde said. Compared to other elementary schools in the Adams 12 School District, Jerde describes the level of parental involvement at her school as "high." In fact, 90 volunteers were recently honored at a breakfast. Each year, parents and teachers also organize a fund-raiser that nets the school $15,000. Decker said only eight to 10 parents show up for the monthly PTO meetings she helps organize, though. She said she has seen greater parental involvement at other Adams 12 schools, particularly those that draw students from upper-middle-class neighborhoods. "Being a new school, we're still trying to get traditions in place," Decker said. "Parents want community things, but it takes someone to organize them." Some of Broe's skill with parents may stem from the fact that she was raised in a similar suburban community in Colorado Springs. And she has a good relationship with her own parents. Dad, mom, grandma, aunt and cousin -- some of whom traveled from New York -- attended Broe's recent graduation ceremony. Broe's mother Pat beamed as she talked about her daughter. "I'm proud, like we did things right," said Pat Broe. "Unfortunately, I think (teachers) are underpaid for the responsibilities they have. It's one of the most important jobs -- except for being a parent."
Contact Julie Poppen at (303) 892-5176 or poppenj@RockyMountainNews.com.
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Age: 22
