running header: TEACHER ADVOCACY PROJECT 0

Tyler Deffner

Teacher Advocacy Project

Arizona State University

Lori Lovitt

SED 322-18579
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Abstract

Teachers are under pressure from both administration and their surrounding community

to establish lines of positive communication with the outside of the school. How a teacher

establishes those lines of communication may vary based on their environment, these

environments can introduce new hurdles, as well as new opportunities. It is the position of a

teacher to clear these hurdles, and take advantage of opportunities as they become apparent.

Introduction

Every classroom there is across the globe has three pillars that provide the support for a

functional and efficient education system, the absence of any of these supports will undeniably

result in a partial or full collapse of a student’s education. These supports are easily represented,

and difficult to replicate, or recreate. The first support is the teacher, an educator or holder of the

content to be passed to the pupil. The teacher while always in some way present in a classroom

environment is represented today in different mediums, especially with the emergence of online

schooling. The second support in a student’s education is the student themself, it is their

individual participation in developing and mastering their personal learning strategies, as well as

their ability in forming connections to the content that leads to the greatest mastery possible. The

last pillar, the home of the student, is the most ambiguous and, most often missing in a student’s

education. These three supports need to take an active interest in a student’s education and when

these three supports are tied together by strong communication ties, they the home, student, and

teacher will perform in the best interest of the other two.

Providing a foundation for the three pillars is essential to a student’s education and often

times difficult for educators to address. A student’s teachers, those educated on education, and

knowledgeable as to proper strategies on engagement and parental interaction are key to building
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such a foundation. However many teachers, do not engage their students, they do not build

relationships with their students or their families. These same teachers will have difficulty

providing genuine activities and lectures, which make students connect to their content, elevating

their lessons and time in class. It is because of this that a teacher’s first goal should be to get to

know their student. Learning a student’s popular, and cultural interests and their subsequent

background knowledge as well, all of these avenues provide valuable starting points for

connecting content to students. It is the exploring of these avenues, the backroads to a students

learning that are ignored by teachers, and their removal is detrimental to the educational

foundation a teacher should set upon building.

As a teacher is to reach out and learn about a student, it is important to understand and

adapt to that students home life as well as that students interests. The student will spend the

majority of their time at home, and more often than not are required to continue their education

in the home through assignments and practice. This makes communication with a students home,

another one of their educational supports, all the more important. This is not to say all

communication is beneficial though, as conflict and management issues with a student often

cause distrust, or the displacement of any importance that a home may have given to the

education a teacher provides. This is why positive communication, collaboration, and ideally

having home involvement in the classroom, are important to the support of a students education.

When an adult important to a student, such as guardian or parent are involved with the school

and that student’s classes, the effects on a student are multifaceted and beneficial in every way.

In research conducted by Simmons-Morton and Crump in 2003 results showed through surveys

given before and after school years, that parental involvement had dramatic impacts on issues
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students may face with emotional behavioral disorders, and parent involvement acted as an

excellent indicator of student engagement (Machen, et. Al, 2005).

The teacher is just one of the pillars supporting a student’s education, yet they are

required to establish and maintain communication, feedback and positive reinforcement with

both students and their homes. Teacher’s today while they do focus on their own teaching

strategies and concepts, the connections with students and their homes if often left unused,

leading to problems with engagement, and classroom management.

Environment Analysis

Education in general has no environment, learning is expected to occur at all times, and

in all places. It is this lack of a physical environment, and the advancement in technology that

makes communication and home involvement, simpler, more available, and of course more

valuable. Teachers in an upper middle socioeconomic suburban 6th-8th grade middle school, are

faced with a strong desire for home involvement, from both administrators, and the student’s

homes. It is this desire for more communication that various methods for communication have

been adapted. Students, teachers, and their parents have access to various online tools provided

by the district, as well as a system of class websites. These online tools are a part of a non

physical environment yet the impact they have on communication is concrete.

The online tools that the district uses have many strengths, apart from rudimentary tasks

such as attendence, or grade books. This system has a communication feature which is very

powerful in how it allows a teacher to address an individual, all the way to the district, and

everyone in between. When selecting who to address an email to, a teacher has several options at

their disposal for selecting their audience. If a teacher wishes to send a message to a single

individual this system can act as an email client. However if this teacher wishes to address all the
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students that they have, or all the parents of their students they can sort their audience with those

parameters. Other options for sorting recipients include, specific classes, or custom groups, for if

a teacher had a club or organisation they were involved with in the school. Using a combination

of these parameters means communication is easy to access, especially when it comes to

addressing specific people or incidents.

Class websites, which individual teachers may use to supplement and aid in classroom

extension into the home. On these websites teachers often provide a academic calendar, so due

dates discussed in class, testing days and various other events may be accessed by a student's

home at any time. Teachers also often post the assignments themselves onto their class websites,

so a student who missed class, or lost theirs may have them available to them at all times. Both

classwebsites and communication tools provided by district built communication between

teachers, parents, and students and establishing even the home as part of the classroom. However

as technology changes it is important to keep your website relevant as well as useful. One

strategy that is advised by Fred Ramirez in his article “Technology and Parental Involvement” is

the yearly surveying of parents, as to what you as a teacher can do to improve your website or

communication methods (Ramirez,2001).

It is with this access to communication however that communication can often become

forced. Administration in the same school that is provided with the access to these great tools for

communication, has enacted policies, which have teachers being set quotas for positive

communication with each student’s home. While positive communication is important especially

at the beginning of the year (Ramirez,2001) it becomes insincere and redundant when required.

An over saturation and bland remarks may cause positive communication to be become less

meaningful to parents. The use of positive communication is absolutely perimount to forming

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strong bonds between home and school, as previously mentioned, and undermining that bond

with forced words may cause great damage to future communications.

While seeking, to promote positive communication with those outside of the school a

teacher should be prepared to seek out opportunities to establish, maintain, and give value to that

communication. These opportunities are often provided by the schools in ways a teacher may not

immediately conclude. Attending school functions, such as concerts, sporting events, or

performances, will show a student and their families that you care about their education and

interests. This is the first step in the foundation of good communication, as good intentions, can

speak louder and more clearly than canned praise. Other activities such as attending local

fundraisers, festivals, or other community events with which students are involved provide an

equal opportunity to set foundations for positive communication, even if away from the school.

However when one moves away from the school they face other issues in either

establishing or maintaining communication. One of the largest obstacles that plagues especially

lower income schools, is that while great digital tools are available for communication at school,

students and families do not have access to those tools at home. In the most recent publishing of

the Digest of Education Statistics in 2015, only 94.5% of families reported to have access to a

computer of any kind at home. That percentage drops below 90% if their income is less than

$30,000 a year (United States, 2015). This means on a national average 1 out of every 20

students does not have a computer at home. An absence of a home computer renders all the

communication tools provided by the district useless in maintaining communication with that

students home.

Stakeholder Analysis
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Home to school communication involves everyone around the student as they all have a

stake in its success. it is because of this that all parties involved in home and school

communication should have clear and realistic expectations of what to expect from each other.

Students, teachers, and the student’s home have responsibilities to each other and themselves in

maintaining positive and objective communication. When communication falters between any of

these groups it hurts all involved parties, and so all parties have an equal stake in its success, yet

different roles in its implementation.

Students

The most obvious stakeholder in the communication equation is that of the student.

Proper communication between all other parties is essential in determining that student’s

success. A failure even between school and home is detrimental in providing a united supportive

environment for the student. A failure at any level of communication may see a student faced

with incomplete assignments, an incomplete assessment on student behavior, as well as improper

handling and disclosure of effective differentiation strategies for that student. These failures, may

have a variety of impacts, on a spectrum of severity, students could be unresponsive to

instruction, become distractions for themselves and other students, or even lead to failure of

course material.

The student is the pivot of information, in the middle and high school level they’re

expected to communicate their needs at both home and school respectively. Expectations of

student to look out for their needs often are unseen and uncommunicated, in example a student

who may have trouble seeing at a long distance is expected to choose a seat close to the front of

the room. The expectations of a student in terms of communication with teachers are also usually

unspoken and ingrained in school culture. If a student needs to use the restroom during class they
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raise their hand, if they need to discuss a grade on an assignment they speak with the teacher

after class. When at home however, that student’s communication with their parent may never

even touch upon their education. This is where expectations vary between families, values, and

cultures.

Student’s Home/Family

In the fulfilling and shaping of home communication expectations, the student’s home,

most often their parents, will vary as much as each snowflake in a blizzard. However as part of

The American public school culture a student’s home is expected at a minimum to communicate

any details about the student’s behavioral, emotional, or academic tendencies that may act as

either a distraction or detriment to their education. Parental disinterest in their student’s

education may not be their fault however, teaching ideology in the past has had a “out of the

way” approach in home communication (Stafford, 1987, p.185) . These old mindsets may be

disappearing in new teachers but the creation of new expectations is the only way to erase that

pattern. On a higher level of expectations a student’s home may be expected to review student

academic progress through report cards, or online gradebooks. Parents may also be expected

support student interests by attending their sporting events or performances, and hopefully

support their academic achievements by attending a graduation ceremony. While a student’s

home can not be expected to value education, sports, or the performing arts they are expected to

value their student, If parents can communicate with both teachers and students with the idea of

putting the student’s interests and education first in priority, communication is expected to be

positive and objective.

Teachers
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The last stakeholder in the triangle of communication is the teacher. The teacher has

stake in the demonstration of effective and professional communication styles and techniques, as

these communications reflect on them as professional educators. Teachers are expected to clearly

and concisely communicate with students items such as classroom procedure, assignments, and

policies. Teacher expectations for home communication will vary from district to district, school

to school, and overall environment and culture surrounding the classroom. The expectations for

home communication were clarified and quantified by the administration in the observed

scenario brought to attention previously. Policies that clarify and provide measurable

expectations do benefit in giving accountability to the teacher, as they prompt the teacher to

reach out and establish that positive line of communication with parents. Yet a teacher’s personal

expectations of communication may be overlooked in the process.

Reflection

Inside the classroom, on and off campus, teachers have a obligation to establish methods

for identifying, evaluating, and addressing problems around them. Teachers must advocate for

themselves and develop as well as share their methods for handling problems they experience in

their education career. When teachers develop and share their solutions, as well as learn and

adapt those solutions provided from the other teachers they are forming a community of

professional learning. So when teachers

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References

Machen, Sandra M., Wilson, Janell D., & Notar, Charles E. (2005). Parental Involvement in the

Classroom. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(1), 13-16.

Ramirez, Fred. (2001). Technology and Parental Involvement. Clearing House,75(1), 30-31.

Stafford, Laura. (1987). Parent-teacher communication. Communication Education, 36, 182.

United States, Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2015).

National Center for Education Statistics. Table 702.10. Retrieved from

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/