Parent-Teacher Collaboration

and How It Affects

Development
Kimberly Fairnot
ECE 497 Child Development Capstone
Instructor Dorisa Ramos-Podoba
August 27, 2018
Lincoln Elementary School: Lincoln Elementary School is located
in Gilbert, Arizona. Gilbert is a relatively large city with a strong
sense of family and community. The school has a population of
765 students from PreK to sixth grade. At Lincoln Elementary
School, 94% of the students are eligible for free and/or reduced
lunch, and 58% of the students are second language learners.
The majority of the students at Lincoln Elementary School are
Hispanic (93%). Five percent of the student population is white,
and 2% is American Indian.
 Piaget’s Preoperational Stage

The younger students at Lincoln Elementary School are in the

preoperational stage which covers the years from 2 to 7.

In this stage, play begins to be less self-centered and includes more

complex schemes.

Sociodramatic play tends to last longer than non-pretend activities

and cause children to be more engaged and cooperative with one
another (Berk, 2013).
Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage

This stage extends from the ages of about 7 to 11 years.

Children in the concrete operational stage use classifications

and categories to sort objects and are able to give directions by
visualizing how a person moves along a particular route (Berk,
2013).
As a special education teacher, my Fully supporting students requires
This Photo by Unknown
Author is licensed under CC
BY-NC-ND
primary role is to support the student ongoing communication and
and helping them to meet their collaboration between parents
educational and personal goals. and teachers. This collaboration
benefits everyone involved – the
family, educators, and the students
This will require working closely with (Schultz, Able, Sreckovic & White,
the parents and therapists to ensure 2016).
that I am meeting their particular
needs, whether they are physical or
emotional.
 Creating partnerships with families of
students is an important way to
ensure that the child has a consistent

Parent-Teacher and supportive environment between

home and school. A wider support
system that includes the teachers,
Collaboration parents, and children working
together gives the student the best
chance of succeeding in the
classroom (Skouteris, Watson & Lum,
2012).
Bronfenbrenner’s Mesosystem

 The mesosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s  Parental involvement and engagement

model has to do with the connections
between different microsystems like the
child’s home, school, neighborhood,
and child-care center (Berk, 2013). This
connections are vital because each
microsystem affects the child and the
other microsystems.
is an important contributor for
successful outcomes in the education
of children, especially in early
childhood education and care (Rouse
& O’Brien, 2017).

 Relationships are more likely to

support development when there is
cooperation between the
microsystems in exchanging
information (Berk, 2013).
 Epstein’s Types
of Involvement

These are six types of

involvement that should be
utilized between schools,
parents, and communities
in order to fully support
students in the school
system.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 Parenting
The quality of parenting that
a child experiences in the
home has a huge effect on
their learning and
development. Parenting
gives a child the personal
qualities, habits, beliefs, and
values that the family
considers important (Epstein,
n.d.). These foundational
qualities will affect how the
child views the world and how
important they consider
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school.
Communicating

When communication is successful, the child’s family will have a clear picture of their
progress and how to maintain or improve grades. They will understand what the school
policies are on behavior, attendance, and other areas of student conduct, be able to make
informed decisions about classes and programs, and be aware of their own role in
partnerships (Epstein, n.d.).

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Volunteering

Volunteering gives students practice in communicating with adults, increased skill

learning, and an awareness of their personal skills and talents (Epstein, n.d.).
Parents who volunteer can understand the school environment and get to know
the teachers on a personal level. This can create a positive relationship between
families and schools that can improve student outcomes.
 -allows the home and school
environment to become more
similar, as well as the roles of
teacher and parent.
-gives the student a more
positive attitude about
schoolwork.

Learning At Home -builds the student’s self-

concept about their abilities as
a learner (Epstein, n.d.)

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Decision Making
 Including families in the decision-
making process for their child’s
education gives them a sense of
authority and responsibility. Parents
have legal rights with regards to their
child’s education and school
environment (Englund, 2010).
 Students should be encouraged to
participate in the decision-making
process as well. Students can assist in
coming up with classroom rules or
submitting field trip ideas. Choices
can be provided for certain
assignments like projects.
 Collaborating
with Community
Connecting students with
the community is an important
task of the school. This raises
the opportunities for increased
skills and talents that can be
displayed through enriched
curricular and extracurricular
experiences, gives the
students an awareness of
options for future education
and work, and provides
specific benefits in the way of
programs, services, resources
and opportunities within the This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

community (Epstein, n.d.)

Revision

To revise this presentation, I reviewed the instructor feedback. It did

not contain any suggestions for revision or necessary editing. I
removed the references slide to add them to the separate
references page.