Title: Building Parent-Teacher Relationships | Reading Rockets
Headings: Building Parent-Teacher Relationships
Building Parent-Teacher Relationships
Parent benefits
Student benefits
Teacher benefits
Good two-way communication
Communication strategies
Effective communication strategies involve:
Surprise a parent
Phone guidelines
Reprints

Content: Building Parent-Teacher Relationships | Reading Rockets
Building Parent-Teacher Relationships
By: American Federation of Teachers
Effective communication is essential for building school-family partnerships. It constitutes the foundation for all other forms of family involvement in education. Parent benefits
Positive parent-school communications benefit parents. The manner in which schools communicate and interact with parents affects the extent and quality of parents' home involvement with their children's learning. For example, schools that communicate bad news about student performance more often than recognizing students' excellence will discourage parent involvement by making parents feel they cannot effectively help their children. Parents also benefit from being involved in their children's education by getting ideas from school on how to help and support their children, and by learning more about the school's academic program and how it works. Perhaps most important, parents benefit by becoming more confident about the value of their school involvement. Parents develop a greater appreciation for the important role they play in their children's education. When communicating with parents, consider your remarks in relation to the three categories that influence how parents participate.