For Principals, Teachers and Families
Brought to you by EPIC - Every Person Influences Children 
Issue: #3 March 2017
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In This Issue
Pointers for Principals
Tips for Teachers
Family Focus
Parent to Parent

Quick Links
EPIC Family Engagement Services:

Family Engagement Assessment & Planning


Parent Leadership Academy


Parent Capacity Building
Parent/School Volunteer Training
Taking Charge of Your Child's Future
Parents as Advocates


Academic Support Classes for Parents


Internet and Social Media Safety Workshop
 It's TESTING TIME
Pointers for the Principal
Communicating with Parents During the Testing Season 
 
How are you preparing your parents to help them support their child during the testing season? EPIC is offering the following tips to share with your parents:

Parents - The Most Important Support During Testing!

Dear Parents - We need your help! If you can do any of the following during the upcoming testing season, your child has a better chance for success.
  • Insist upon a good night's sleep! Some guidelines: Elementary and middle- 10 hours; High school 8-9 hours.
  • Offer a healthy breakfast that includes foods consistent with your culture.
  • Communicate and encourage that school success is important to their future success
  • Ensure they attend school. Even one missed school days puts your children behind.
  • Make at least one call or email to your child's teacher to identify how you can specifically help your child.
  • Check in with your child about how they are dealing with the upcoming test. Encourage but don't over-pressure. Reassure them to do their best! Offer some kind of small reward to look forward to after the test is done.
Tips for Teachers 
Dealing with Difficult Parents 
 
Have you ever interacted with a student's parent that you found difficult to communicate with? More than likely, you answered yes to that question, because communication isn't always easy. There are 5 strategies to effectively communicating with parents: start on a positive note; be prepared to accept and offer tactics; be open to the parents, not judgmental; know where you can compromise; and end with a plan.

Hearing that a child is struggling academically, behaviorally or socially is not pleasant for a parent. Starting a conversation on a positive note can set the tone for the meeting and future communications. Highlighting the positive can ease the discussion about specific areas for improvement.

Offer parents the opportunity to offer suggestions to improve a situation, such as things that may have worked for them in the past. Be prepared to offer suggestions if the parent doesn't have ideas. Buy-in is critical for working together. When a person feels they are being judged harshly, it is difficult to communicate openly. Being open-minded and meeting parents where they are, will allow everyone to feel on equal footing, and typically allow for more honest conversation.

Before the meeting occurs, know where you can compromise. If there is a certain behavior that is unacceptable in your classroom, be prepared to share that with the parent, but be willing to compromise when you can.
Set up a plan for action and how you will evaluate it. Write down the specific goals, actions the teacher, parents and student will take to meet the goal, the timeframe for accomplishment and how you will communicate from start to finish.

Parents and teachers have similar goals - to help their child or student to be successful in a wide variety of ways throughout their life. The best way to achieve those goals is through a cooperative relationship that allows children to feel nurtured and supported. Those relationships require open communication and positive interactions between all those involved in the child's life.
Family Focus
Testing Time   

Helping Your Child Prepare for Tests
 
There are several things that you can do to help your child with the standardized test experience.
  • Make sure that your child gets plenty of sleep for several nights before the tests.
  • Ensure that your child is eating enough and eating healthy for the days preceding the tests. Make sure that he or she eats a healthy breakfast the morning of tests.
  • Make sure that your child is in school on the day of the tests. Before making dentist or doctor appointments (which you should try to make for after school hours), check the testing schedule.
  • Do not put extra pressure on your child raising anxiety about the tests. Be positive and let your child know that the tests are a way for him or her to demonstrate the many things he or she knows.
  • Remind your child how important it is to follow instructions on any tests and to not get stuck on any one question.
  • As with many of your child's activities, encourage your child to do his or her best!

_______________________________________________________________ 

 

Strategies for Responding to Test Scores
  • Remember test scores only show the results for one measure of your child's academic achievement and ability to meet the New York State Learning Standards.
  • Talk with your child's teacher about this test as well as how your child does in class and on other assessments.
    • Extra instructional time to help students achieve the learning standards in the subject areas requiring AIS.
    • Support services to help students overcome barriers that are affecting their ability to learn, such as, attendance problems, family-related issues, discipline problems and health-related issues.
    • Support services could include school guidance and counseling services to improve attendance and coordination of services provided by other agencies.
  • You can also get more information by attending additional EPIC workshops and trainings including:
    • Helping Your Child Succeed in School
    • Ready, Set, Read Family Literacy Series
    • Parenting Young Children
    • Parenting Adolescents
For more information about EPIC's Family Engagement programming, please visit www.epicforchildren.org .
Parent to Parent
How Can I Help My Child in Preparing for a Test 
 
This year my son entered middle school. As we entered into this academic milestone I mentally prepared myself for all the homework my child would bring home and all the tests he would be studying for. Mid-way through the year, my after school questions are the same:
  • Do you have homework? 95% of the time the answer "No, I did it in school."
  • Do you have any tests coming up? 95% of the time the answer is "No."
  • Is there anything you are having trouble with, anything extra we can do to be prepared when you do have a test? 95% of the time the answer is "No."
Currently the school offers this wonderful tool called the Parent Portal, in which I can see results of "completed" assignments and tests. It is here that can see what he was supposed to do for homework (that he finished in school) and I can see the grades on all the quizzes and tests (he told me he did not have). In addition to the Parent Portal, the communication with the teachers is outstanding. I can always count on an email response or a return phone call, as well as a one-on-one meeting when I/we feel it is necessary.
 
What Would Help Me Help My Son?:
 
Monthly Calendar
So while I believe there are great tools to see how my child is doing and ways to address potential issues based on the results reported on the Parent Portal, I would like to be better prepared for what is coming up in my child's classroom - what major assignments, quizzes and tests are coming up - perhaps a monthly calendar. Also an outline of what will be covered on my son's test. That way we can plan extra study time and I can help him review. Practice sheets are great too (especially in math).
 
Study and Test Taking Tips
While his teachers provide homework help and study time after school, I would like to see them offer study and test taking skills, providing special useful tips.
 
Parent Signature
When I was young, we had to bring our tests home for our parents' signatures. I would like to see that happen, that way I can see what he got wrong and work with him to learn the right answer. It isn't helpful for me to just know that he received an 85 on a test, I need to know what he is not understanding and to see how I can help him.
 
In my short time as a middle school parent, these are a few items that I think would help me help my son. As a parent and an advocate for my son I will share this with his school in the hopes they can accommodate my request.