Empowering Parents by Arming them with Personalized Student Data
Format
Poster Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Kingsley Elementary
Second Presenter's Institution
Tyra Harris-Thompson
Third Presenter's Institution
Elizabeth Daly
Fourth Presenter's Institution
na
Fifth Presenter's Institution
na
Location
Meet & Greet Poster Reception (Harborside)
Strand #1
Family & Community
Strand #2
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Relevance
Including all parents in small groups to fully understand our data wall and how instructional decisions are made using student data empowers parents (of all demographics and language ability) to become more involved in their child's overall school experience. This practice has led to an increase in our home/school connection as well as overall success as a Title I school. It addresses both the #1 and # 5 (Head and Home) strands.
Brief Program Description
Arming parents with their own child's data history and personalized small group sessions with the principal leads to increased parental involvement and increased student achievement. Parents are provided an in-depth look at assessments, how teachers plan using data, and how their child compares through a series of parent data sessions. Easy to use templates, agendas, and materials needed for the meetings and the actual data wall will be shared.
Summary
A series of small group bilingual sessions with the principal provides parents with a close up look at the school's interactive data wall and how their child compares academically. The personalized meetings allow parents (even those with limited English) to better understand the school's instructional program, the various assessments, and resources to support them at home. Parents have expressed they leave feeling empowered and have increased participation in the classroom and school because they feel more knowledgeable. (We have even received Thank You notes!) Templates, agendas, and materials will be shared for the parent sessions and the actual interactive data wall.
Evidence
Parents who have attended these sessions over the past three years have expressed how much better they understand their child's assessment results, reading levels, the instructional program, and how to support their child at home. Each year, the participation rate in the meetings has increased by at least 50 percent.
In four years, our demographics have changed from 47-61% Hispanic, 51-62% economically disadvantaged, and 33-51% ELL; however, our CCRPI has increased from 65 to 81 (in 2017). We were also recognized as a Beating the Odds School. We believe that providing access to all parents has contributed to this success.
Biographical Sketch
Melanie Pearch is in her twenty-fifth year as educator in Dekalb County School District in metro Atlanta. She has served 18 of those years as principal of three different Title I schools, two of them with more than 98% Spanish as a first language. She has been honored with The Superintendent's Excellence in Parental Invvolvement, Principal of the Year, Georgia Family Friendly School, and most recent STEAM state certification.
Keyword Descriptors
family engagement, data, Title I, Spanish, empower
Presentation Year
March 2020
Start Date
3-9-2020 4:45 PM
End Date
3-9-2020 6:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Pearch, Melanie, "Empowering Parents by Arming them with Personalized Student Data" (2020). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 54.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2020/2020/54
Empowering Parents by Arming them with Personalized Student Data
Meet & Greet Poster Reception (Harborside)
Arming parents with their own child's data history and personalized small group sessions with the principal leads to increased parental involvement and increased student achievement. Parents are provided an in-depth look at assessments, how teachers plan using data, and how their child compares through a series of parent data sessions. Easy to use templates, agendas, and materials needed for the meetings and the actual data wall will be shared.