Webinar DescriptionWebinar 4:
The Teacher-Parent Relationship: Using Professional Development to Improve Family and Community Engagement
The U.S. Department of Education and its partners United Way Worldwide, National PTA, SEDL, and Harvard Family Research Project
invite you to participate in the fourth installment of this webinar series:
The Teacher-Parent Relationship:
Using Professional Development to Improve Family and Community Engagement
November 18, 2010, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. (EST) View Webinar Archive
Strong parent-teacher relationships are invaluable. They contribute to a positive school climate, family engagement in student learning, improved student performance, and the retention of high quality teachers. Providing teachers with the resources they need to effectively connect learning in the classroom to learning at home is a challenge that many districts are struggling to address.
Family engagement must be a core element of any professional development system. It is not enough to offer random, one-time workshops-family engagement must be embedded in pre-service curricula, professional standards, teacher certification, and assessments for learning and accountability. Furthermore, all school personnel, from principals to receptionists, must have access to high quality professional development that reinforces family engagement as an essential strategy for improving student performance.
This webinar will examine practical examples of how states can embed family engagement into their professional development systems and how teacher education programs can systematically include family engagement in teaching and learning. The webinar will also discuss promising practices in higher education, including partnerships with Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) to build the capacity of family coordinators.
Presenters include:
- Beatriz Ceja, Program Manager, School Leadership Program, U.S. Department of Education
- Charles J. "Chuck" Saylors, President, National PTA
- Mishaela Durán, Interim Executive Director, National PTA
- Susan Walker, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
- Jane Groff, Director, Kansas State PIRC
- Katharine Mora, Education Coordinator, Columbia University Head Start, and Adjunct Professor, Bank Street College of Education
