Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2014 V 44 No 1 | Page 15

mon Core, Smarter Balanced, NCLB – the
list goes on – and it can quickly cause parents to rub their temples. One of the best
ways to engage parents is to ditch the jargon
and communicate in a straightforward way.
Educators should explain clearly to parents
how a particular program or service affects
their child in his or her classroom.

Show parents you genuinely valued their
time and participation
How did your school district process all
of the initial input it received from parents,
students and community members? Which
feedback shaped your district’s first LCAP?
Parents will understand that not every idea
makes it into the district’s final plan – but
they also want to see that their ideas were in
fact listened to and thoughtfully considered.
Take every opportunity to share back with
parents and your community summaries
from input sessions, as well as brief reports
on how the feedback is being incorporated
into or informing the plan. If some suggestions from parents take the district longer

to achieve, be sure to note those and explain
how the district plans to take action to move
in those directions.
Also, don’t rest once you’ve shared back
with your district advisory committee.

Administrators set the tone for
constructive engagement by
being accessible and approaching
it from the perspective of what
parents need, rather than what
the district can do, or what the

Neither the new LCAP process nor parent engagement is static. The key to longterm success is evaluating what you’re doing
that is working well and what the additional
needs are, and constantly striving to improve. Again, the Family-School Partnerships Standards Assessment Guide is a good
place to start in terms of evaluating what is
working.
Most of all … seize the opportunity for
a new spirit of collaboration. The greatest
promise of the new era of engagement is that
parents, educators and elected school board
members will talk more often and work together even more. The results, when we do,
will be amazing for children. n

minimum requirements may be.
Their work is made more valuable when
the district makes information and “report
backs” accessible to all parents and the public. Transparency and frequent sharing back
are some of the core ways to demonstrate
how much you value participation.

Colleen A.R. You is president of the California State
PTA; Paul Richman serves as executive director.
The association connects families and schools,
and has nearly 800,000 members throughout the
state working on behalf of public schools, children
and families, with the motto, “Every child, one
voice.” For more information, visit www.capta.org.

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