Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
Advocacy Plan for Hartford, CT
Area of Need:
The city of Hartford, CT is an urban city that has constant struggles with
parental involvement. Due to the many circumstances and challenges that people in
low-income communities face, it is very common that parents aren’t involved as
they should or would like to be. Parents, guardians, and family involvement are an
important element in building school success since families provide children with a
primary education environment. Research has found that involving parents
improves student achievement and has many benefits to learning. Although the No
Child Left Behind law mandates that parents are informed on how they can be
involved in school improvement efforts and are provided with report cards, the
school is mandated to take action rather then the parents. This city needs a program
that is mandated for parents and guardians to attend at least three times a school
year. Although the city has resources and programs like this, they are currently all
optional. Therefore, having mandatory sessions throughout the school year that can
determine if their child pass to the next grade will really enforce the parental
involvement in this city. Hartford is the capital city with so many resources but if
these great resources remain optional then very little people will use them and little
progress will be made.
Advocacy Issue:
Hartford needs to create a program that will educate parents on what school
is now, the new laws that have been passed in education and inform them on new
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Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
state exams. This program will give them a closer look into what there child/
children is learning, and teach scaffolding skills that will help further their child’s
education at home. If parents are more informed of what is expected in students,
they will have a better idea of what to do to help them succeed. Parental
involvement helps children learn by setting a positive attitude and behavior about
school, shows higher achievement in reading, and can help increase homework
completion and test scores. Although most schools in Hartford have PTO meetings
or have parent-teacher conferences that can inform them about these issues, having
a program where mandatory attendance of 3 times a year for their child could make
all the difference. This program will be offered multiple times a year at different
times. Most parents don’t seek help from resources centers or know what to do
with their child who may need that extra assistance, so making it a mandate will
enforce parental involvement.
Action Plan:
Rallying Support:
To begin organizing this program, the support will be needed from programs
currently in place that involves parents and education, teachers, and all of the
supportive parents in one school. Starting off with a group of supportive teachers
and parents from one particular classroom or school is what will be needed to get
the word to other parents, teachers, districts, and principals. Having one group of
teachers’ hold these informative sessions about education issues (state exams, laws,
etc.) and specific scaffolding techniques that parents in each grade level can use
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Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
with the help of parents promoting and attending these sessions will guide the
advocates on what need to be shared. Once teachers develop an idea of the type of
information that needs to be shared and have a set agenda, they can then get the
principal more involved to start to enforce engagement of this program within the
entire school. The support from the principals can affect the success of the parental
involvement program because they are essentially the ones that can help fight
getting this type of program mandated in their schools, curriculums, and districts.
Funding and Budget:
To initially start a parent involvement education program, all it will take is
time and dedication. Dedicated teachers, parents, principals, and resources will have
to be willing to share their research and knowledge on the importance of parental
involvement and be willing to spread the word about its development. Once there is
a huge improvement on parental involvement and academic success, schools could
then make room in the budget for these sessions where food and a fun educational
activity is involved. Until a program based on parental involvement get recognized
by the Department of Education and become a mandate, then more discussion on
budgeting for the run of the program, employees, and educational resources (books,
flashcards, etc.) can be held. Government funding and grants for a program like this
will eventually be needed in order to have the positive impact on students that is
hoped for within the entire district.
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Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
Steps to Reach Plan
1. Introduce the idea of forming a parental involvement education program
to the staff of your school, at PTO meetings, and supportive parents.
2. Get support from principals and other programs currently in place that
involves parents and education.
3. Hold an initial meeting of parents and teachers within one school that
would like to hold these “education information sessions” and discuss
things that should be covered during these sessions. Figure out how the
session would differ from elementary, middle, and high school.
4. Share this newly developed program idea with other schools in the
district in hopes of schools wanting to form their own type of program.
5. Get enough support from schools, teachers, educators, resource centers,
and government officials to fight for these sessions to be mandated at
least 3 times a year for parents.
Role of the Classroom Teacher
The role of the classroom teacher is to be an advocate for their students and
to create a learning community that will help students succeed as students and
citizens of the world. Part of creating that sense of community is having great
communication and involvement with parents. Maintaining that two-way
communication, making all students and families comfortable, and having that
welcoming climate with all families are things teachers needs to do in order to have
high parental involvement in the classroom. Being sensitive to parent availability
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Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
and diversity is also the role of the classroom teacher. The role of the classroom
teacher in regards to the making of this program would be to continue finding ways
to involve parents in the daily classroom routine. Having field trips or a fun
academic nights where parents could come in to see what their child is learning are
ideas that teachers can do. Some families doesn’t realize the importance of being
involved in a child’s education so just promoting the importance of how it affects
students success is what is needed especially in the higher grades. The early years
are common for having the most parental involvement, but it needs to be stressed in
the higher grades we well if we would like to lower the drop out rates and increase
the amount of students going to college.
Since teachers are mandated to try to get parental involvement, teachers can
also start the argument that parents should be mandated to get involved. Educators
have plenty of research to show the importance of involvement and already have
the support of those in higher positions, so making the moves to get laws that would
make their job easier is a route that can also be taken. Starting off with a group of
educators and parents in one school as advocates, getting more educators’ support
from other schools in the district, and then rallying for changes in the laws to the
correct government officials will then have to be done. Although this may seem like
another “task” teachers will have to do, it is one that will help further the success of
the students and will make parents also accountable for their child’s education.
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Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
Timeline of Action
The best time to start rallying support for a parental involvement education
program would be in September. The beginning of the school year is often when
parents are the most excited and concerned with their child’s education so setting a
high expectation of involvement and creating that supportive environment is a great
way to start off the year. The first PTO meeting of the school year would be a great
place to bring up the idea of this program developing. You can then get an idea of
what parents would like to be involved and would support the idea of the program.
If enough parents and educators are interested, having a parent session where
teachers could “teach” each grade level of parents the changes in the education laws,
techniques of scaffolding your child, and to help guide the making of what parents
need to heard.. The beginning of the year will be used to get the support from other
teachers, parents, and programs to figure out what questions parents have that all
parents need to know. Developing a guide for what should be covered at these
sessions will ultimately determine the success of the program.
By mid year, the group of supporters will try to hold there first information
session and invite other schools, teachers, principals, and parents. They will also
visit other schools to try to get the support of staff to start a similar program at their
own school. Towards the end of the school year, the program will offer another
information session updating parents on any changes, what they can do during the
summer with their child, and discussing any concerns with parents. The turn out of
these sessions will then decide if the program is worth continuing to do, if there
were any major increase in success in specific students, and if promoting this
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Chamari Davis
ECE 435
Advocacy Report
program to other schools is worth it. After at least one entire school year of having
these sessions in school, would be the time to get government officials involved on
eventually making it a mandate that parents attend programs that focus on
involvement. If teachers are being held accountable for student’s success, then their
first “teachers” of parents and guardians should be involved as well.
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