Title: Introduction: The Teacher as Everyday Advocate
Headings: Introduction: The Teacher as Everyday Advocate
Everyday Engagement
Introduction: The Teacher as Everyday Advocate
Finding a New Solution to a Familiar Challenge
Meaningful Engagement
Being the Difference, Being the Advocate
Requesting Permission

Content: A more positive attitude toward school
Improved academic achievement
Better behavior in the classroom
Higher rates of work completion
Increased participation in classroom activities
Better attendance
Any educator reading this list is sure to notice that the picture it paints is of a positive, functional, harmonious classroom—the kind of environment we strive to set up for our students and maintain through their collective participation. Once I made that connection, it seemed foolish to continue working alone. Simply put, using engagement practices to partner collaboratively with parents and students alike made much more sense. Finding a New Solution to a Familiar Challenge
Of course, if facilitating effective parental partnership were simple, all schools would already be doing it. Numerous obstacles stand in the way, from parents' lack of time and know-how, and their perception that schools don't want them around, to teachers' perception that parents don't get involved because they don't care about their own children's academic success. According to the 2006 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, new teachers consider engaging and working with parents their greatest challenge, more so than classroom management, organizing a new classroom, or obtaining supplies. In fact, parent involvement in learning is the area they feel the least prepared to respond to during their first year of teaching. Not surprisingly, fewer than half of the new teachers surveyed were satisfied with their relationship with parents. It is time for a change. It is time to look at parent partnership in a different way, using the lens of engagement.