New Teacher Orientation 2013

1. Parental Engagement New Teacher Orientation 2013

2. Agenda Review Objectives Meaningful Parent Participation It’s the Law Key Points It’s all about Customer Service Assumptions and Biases Parent/School Collaboration Parent/Caregiver Engagement (Grief Cycle and Validation) Exit Ticket/What’s Next?

3. Today’s Objectives: New Teachers will create in writing a communication plan to connect with parents within 2 weeks of the start of the school year based on presentation and conversation with peers. New Teachers will develop in writing concrete strategies to ensure parental participation at IEP meetings and other school events based on whole group discussions.

4. Meaningful Parent Participation Indicators of Success • Think-Pair-Share • How would you know you were successful in engaging parents meaningfully in their child’s IEP?

5. It’s It is the LAW The Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorized in 2002 as the No Child Left Behind Act state provisions for family involvement. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Federal law concerning the education of students with disabilities, requires schools to provide parents of a child with a disability with a notice containing a full explanation of the procedural safeguards available under the IDEA and U.S. Department of Education regulations. [34 CFR §300.504(a)] Free Appropriate Public Education: (FAPE) A child with a disability has a right to receive a public education, free to the family. Parents and student have the right to participation in meetings. Identification of the disability Evaluation planning Individualized Education Program planning Determining placement, which are services described in the IEP

6. KEY POINTS • Parents are full partners in planning their child’s education and should be included in the decision making process. • Provide parents with clear and ongoing communication regarding their child’s successes and challenges. • A good rule of thumb is to provide 5 positives to every one challenge.

7. It’s all about Customer Service… Provide opportunities for full participation of all parents (including parents with limited English proficiency, with disabilities, or who may be struggling financially/emotionally) Provide parents a copy of parental rights and safeguards and meeting agenda at each IEP event Keep parents in the loop about their child’s academic/behavioral progress and school/district events Include parents and communicate with them as equal partners

8. Assumptions and Biases Recognizing that everyone has biases… Find two other people and discuss the following questions • What are some common biases about parents of students with disabilities? • How do you think these biases can inhibit or enhance your work with parents?

9. Effective Parent Involvement • Understanding bias and how it shapes perception and expectations enables special educators to host the conversation with school teams. • CDE also provides a toolkit for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse families. • http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/CLD.asp

10. Inclusion Thinking(adapted from CDE/CLD Toolkit) • Parent involvement that links learning to student achievement. • Train parents to advocate for their children. • All parents, regardless of race/ethnicity, class, or parent’s level of education, can help improve students’ academic success.

11. Communication(adapted from CDE/CLD Toolkit) • Translate written communications into the home language • Put parents in touch with bilingual staff, bilingual parents who have volunteered to be a liaison, or an interpreter • Educate parents about the school system • Host a starter event with parents from a particular community to learn about their background and expectations

12. Develop language and resources(adapted from CDE/CLD Toolkit) • Storytelling—by telling stories, parents are developing children’s vocabulary and oral language skills. • A-to-Z Reading – English & Spanish • Make frequent trips to the public library. • Use everyday experiences such as telling time, counting change, or measuring ingredients to build math skills.

13. Parent/Caregiver Engagement Grief Cycle and Validation

14. Parent/Caregiver Grief Cycle(Bartz, C.A., 2009) Establish mutual support and relationship Collaborative Partner Strive for Unconditional acceptance Use of interpreters and/or cultural mediators Time to process Empathy Provide information as needed Do not take anything personally Attend to parents’ concerns Listening and Validation Provide information, answer questions Give them Time

15. Strategies: How can we respond DO Listen to their stories without judgment and validate their feelings Do not take it personally when a parent-caregiver displays anger Listen for clues that may indicate where in the cycle they are and provide support accordingly, but DO NOT push them to move through the cycle to adapt faster

16. Strategies: How can we respond? Provide information and resources about the child’s disability and District resources Provide them with information on what to expect of an IEP meeting prior to the meeting During the meeting: Read cues from your parents during IEP meetings; are they disengaged, angry, or seem overwhelmed. It’s OK to stop and take a minute.

17. Strategies: How can we respond? Develop an authentic relationship with the parents/caregivers Call them periodically to ask how they are doing and let them know about their child’s successes Home/School Communication Folder showing child’s daily work, successes, and challenges

18. Strategies: Validation(Source: Dr. Ron Ringenbach, DPS; 2012) • When we validate, we communicate that we understand the person’s experience as it is, and under the circumstances, the experience makes sense • No judgment or problem solving (yet) • Keys for validation • Be clear in your goal • Self-validate (be prepared to handle your own feelings) • Work at validating the person to help defuse emotional crises.

19. Strategies: Validation(Source: Dr. Ron Ringenbach, DPS; 2012) • Premature problem solving runs counter to validation. • WHEN WE PROBLEM SOLVE TOO SOON, WE ARE INVALIDATING THE PERSON’S EXPERIENCE • When we invalidate, we communicate that the individual’s experience is not valid or justified– it is inaccurate or exaggerated and they cannot trust it (they feel crazy).

20. What validation is notHollander, 2008 • Problem solving is not validation • Reassurance is not validation • When you are revved up and someone tells you it is going to be OK, your feeling may be that the person cannot appreciate the magnitude of your situation. Developmentally may be helpful to small children. • Saying “I’ve been there” is not validation • Shifts the focus from the other’s life and concerns to yours. • Putting things into perspective is not validation • When a person is disregulated, the last thing they want to hear is that they are making too big a deal out of things. • Best advice too soon is not validating • If a person is disregulated, the best advice will wash off until they can hear the information.

21. Strategies: Ways to ValidateSource: Ron Ringenbach, DPS 2011 • Don’t validate the invalid • Someone says “I am a horrible parent”- Don’t agree • Substitute the word “and” for the word “but” • I see you are having a really tough time, and it is time for spelling. • Attentive listening • Posture, eye contact and focus • Active listening • Add reflection or mirroring • Giving voice to the unspoken • Noticing and suggesting what is not being said

22. Validation Exercise Break-up into groups of three Have two people role play the parent-caregiver and the school provider and the other person as the observer Each person will have a turn to play all 3 roles After each role play; the observer will provide feedback