 Fourth in a series Two new teachers, teacher-to-be test their knowledge, experience against the reality of the classroom
Maria J. Avila © News 
English as a Second Language teacher Stephanie Leija waits for parents during a parent-teacher night at Wheat Ridge Middle School. "I think a lot of my parents are intimidated because they don't speak English," she said. "Whenever I call, they will come. But you have to tell them, 'Hey, I want you to come.' You have to make them feel comfortable."More photography »
Colorado teachers get lessons in involving students' moms, dads in their classrooms
By Holly Yettick News Staff Writer
Colorado students spend only a quarter of their daily lives in the classroom. But the classroom -- not the home -- is the focus of nearly all the standards teachers must meet to earn licenses in the wake of Senate Bill 154, a 1999 teacher-education reform law. "Most teachers receive absolutely no training in how to work with parents and how to involve parents," said father and Colorado PTA President Mark Townsend, a 40-year teaching veteran who mentors newcomers to the profession. "The first-year teachers I've been around, their biggest fear isn't the first day of class. It's those first parent-teacher conferences. "When you're fighting that kind of apprehension, that doesn't exactly lead to productive relationships." Colorado "performance-based standard" 5.8 requires prospective teachers to show they have learned to "communicate with parents, partners and guardians effectively in order to involve them as participants in student learning." Linda Molner Kelley, director of teacher education and partnerships at the University of Colorado, said the new teachers she works with in a four-district teacher-induction program interact well with communities and parents. "We're paying more attention to parent communication now than probably for teachers who were prepared 15 years ago," Kelley said. Kelley said CU revamped its community-experience training six years ago, upping the number of schools a prospective teacher must spend time in from one to four. Prospective teachers are also required to work with children outside a school -- at a community center or program. The settings a teacher chooses should be diverse. A teacher's experience with parents and communities can vary widely, depending on which parents and communities the teacher serves. First-year teacher Erin O'Grady grew up in a middle-class suburb, only to find herself at an inner-city school where poverty, homelessness and transience followed many of her students to class. Stephanie Leija, who is earning her teaching credentials while teaching English-language learners, found herself reaching out to families from war-torn Bosnia and Somalia. And CU teacher-education student Dani Broe found herself student-teaching in the suburbs, where high parental involvement can make new teachers feel under the microscope. Nationwide, teacher-education programs say they are preparing their students to work with parents in diverse settings, said Priscilla Watkins, a researcher for the CREED center at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Of 140 American teacher-education programs that responded to a 2000 survey, 90 percent required students to work with children of different ethnic groups; 90 percent required exposure to poor children; and 85 percent required exposure to English-language learners. "We try to help teachers understand that working with kids is one aspect of the job," said Gloria Ladson-Billings, a University of Wisconsin education professor. "A big part is working with adults. "You work with administrators. You work with colleagues. You work with parents."
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Part 4: Perhaps the most challenging aspect of teaching isn't dealing with students; it's with their parents. 
Age: 23
Age: 22
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