Family Engagement

The PTA National Standards examine how schools can work to engage families and build collaborative partnerships between school and home.  The Standards provide guideposts that educational partners can thoughtfully consider in order to determine the efficacy of family engagement practices.  They cover the following topics: Welcoming All Families, Communicating Effectively, Supporting Student Success, Speaking Up for Every Child, Sharing Power, and Collaborating with the Community.  Which topic is of most interest to you?

Who do you find talks the most at IEP meetings?  Is it the special educator? The administrator? You?  Odds are, it is not the student's family.  Research shows us that educators talk more at IEP meetings that parents or other family members do.  However, we cannot truly build collaborative partnership unless we engage families in two-way conversation.  This document walks through all of the sections of the IEP and helps educators figure out ways to authentically engage families in the IEP team meeting.  Think about how you can use this document in your own IEP meetings.