Friday, December 2, 2016

Progress Updates to Parents: Oregon

  • Oregon outshines most states at reporting to parents on school performance
  • Source/Author/Date Oregonlive.com / Betsy Hammond / 12/1/16
  • URL Link
  • Key Points: Recent studies and data indicate that schools in Oregon do a great job at delivering student progress and data to their parents. One thing that Oregon schools tend to do more than others is publish the reports in both English and Spanish which allow easier access and facilitation tools between parents and teachers. The article also mentions evaluation tools and the re-examination of what metrics should be viewed when critiquing teachers and their performance.
  • Relevance: Open and clear communication between students, teachers, and parents is an area that teachers need to be try and focus on improving in their classrooms. Granted, not all parents or family members will be willing or engaged in discussing student progress, but teachers should set precedence with their classes by providing avenues in which parents can contact them and/or monthly "newsletters" that give general updates. By doing this, teachers are more pro-active with the communication instead of being reactive as time nears parent teacher conferences or progress monitoring.

2 comments:

  1. I agree, Alex! Open communication between teachers and parents is crucial to improving classrooms within any educational setting. However, I think this is even more prevalent and important when working within a SPED classroom. There is so much interaction between parents and teachers between all the different types of meetings or just the regular check ins to making sure their child is doing alright. It is important to keep open pathways of communication and to always let the parents know that you are always going to do what is in the best interest of their child!

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  2. One of my fears is poor communication with parents. Communication can seem daunting especially with the number of students within the classroom or with the diversity of students we teach. There are many forms of communication and I its is best to find which works best for parent. One teacher I worked with said that she found the notebook and emails the best form of communication for her parents, but each week she would make a positive phone call to the parents. This phone call was different than the ones she had to make regarding an incident with the child.
    I really like the concept of a monthly newsletter. I think that it would be a great way to communicate the over all workings/doings within the classroom.
    I can speak to how much I want a personal goal of being ahead on communication so that there is never a time when I will need to "react" to a parents' concern or incident.

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