Parents share ‘what families wish teachers knew’ at symposium

How teachers and families can partner for student success

To prepare pre-service teachers to work with families on helping children get the most out of their education, the college recently held the inaugural Family Engagement Symposium.

The event brought together nearly 100 student teachers with parents and administrators from school districts around the state. The Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center and the Department of Teaching and Learning presented the event at the Metro School.

“The department has been looking at how to do more outreach for our educators, and this was an opportunity to give student teachers some more information about working with parents,” said Antoinette Miranda, chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning. 

“We talk about it in classes, but we thought it would be good to do a symposium that allowed them to find out more.”

Topics covered during the symposium included building strong family-school partnerships, supporting families of children with disabilities, preparing for difficult interactions and a panel discussion, “What Families Wish Teachers Knew.”

“We know that teachers who work well with families have high levels of job satisfaction. We want to contribute to that,” Barbara Boone, director of the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center, told attendees. “We’re hoping that you can go into your careers with a plan: ‘This is how I’m going to work with families.’”

Parent panelists discuss effective communications

The “What Families Wish Teachers Knew” panel discussion featured parents from school districts around Ohio: Charis Davis, whose two boys attend Portsmouth City Schools; Meghan Volk, whose son and daughter attend Reynoldsburg City Schools; and Jameson George, whose three daughters attend Chillicothe City Schools.

Each parent spoke about the importance of regular communication with teachers and administrators. Effective communication can help ensure children have the necessary resources to address learning challenges, panelists said.

Davis said maintaining communication with teachers has been especially important in helping her children, who have dyslexia and excel academically.   

“At the beginning of the [school] year, I’m like, ‘Hey, here’s my number, here’s my husband’s number,” she said. “And if that teacher says, ‘Oh, okay, well here’s my number,’ I'm like, ‘Yes!’ … If I don't hear from them for a couple weeks, I’m saying, ‘Hey, how’s [my son] doing?”

Volk said her children, who also have dyslexia, benefit from consistent communication with teachers.

“Parents are just like teachers: We want to know that we can do the job to the best of our ability. And to be able to do that, we need to know, what are your expectations?” she said.

“We will work within whatever boundaries you give us. What do you want from us? What do you need from us? We just need to know what those things are because every year that can change.”

George said ongoing communication with teachers is crucial to helping his children, whom he and his wife adopted from Colombia, adapt to the local education system and complete assignments.

“The problem with English learners is sometimes they’re not picking up that information. So when we are asking, ‘Hey, when’s your next test?’ sometimes their answer is, ‘I don’t know,’ and that is a huge challenge for us,” he said.

“Consistent communication from the teacher, even if it’s just a, ‘Hey, we’re having a test on Friday. … I’m sending home study guides,’ things like that, that’s been the communication that’s worked the best for us.”

The Family Engagement Symposium also included sessions on bridging communication gaps and language barriers with families and students from different cultural backgrounds, tips for teachers on partnering with families of middle and high school students, as well as self-care for teachers.

The Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center is a grant project located within the college’s Center on Education and Training for Employment, a translational research center.