10 Things Every Parent Should Demand Before Deciding to Retain Your Child

  

  I receive calls from many frantic parents who are upset because they have received letters stating that their child is failing or is in jeopardy of being retained. In the old days, they called it being “held back”.  I ask all the parents who call me with this situation the same question, what interventions were put in place to help the child?  Many people associate academic interventions with students who have learning disabilities or Individualized Education Plans (IEP). Targeted classroom interventions can benefit all kids and should be put in place before considering retaining any student.

     The definition of an intervention describes in a nutshell, what should be happening in the classroom for struggling students.  By definition, intervention means to intervene or hinder a course of action.  In this case, the course of action is the student failing.  Interventions should be put in place to prevent the student from failing.  Only after targeted interventions have been put in place and effectively implemented, should parents consider retaining a child in their current grade. There is a vast amount of research on the pros and cons of retention.  I strongly advise parents to research this topic so that they can make informed decisions.

              10 Things Every Parent Should Demand Before Deciding to Retain Your Child

1.  Communication

Every parent should expect that their teacher communicate with them whether the student is making good grades or failing grades.  If your child is failing then you should be aware of it.  Most school districts require that teachers document parent communication before failing a child.  If you notice that your child has failing grades on their report card, immediately contact the teacher to set up a meeting.  Ideally, teachers should make parents aware that their child is failing before the end of the quarter. Many school districts have online database systems that allow parents to access their child’s grades and information about classroom assignments.  All teachers should have email addresses.  Communicating via email allows you to keep documentation of conversations.   You can also send notes to school or leave messages with the secretary.   It is never acceptable to fail a child without attempting to contact the parent.

2.  Intervention Plan

An intervention team should be assembled to figure out what strategies can be put in place to help the child achieve.  This team should include the parents, the child’s teachers, the appropriate specialists (school psychologists, speech pathologists, nurses) and any tutors or mentors who work with the child.  The intervention team should identify areas of concern and then create targeted interventions that will help the student achieve in the classroom.  It is important to identify the cause of the student’s failure.  Students who are failing due to lack of participation or behavior require different interventions than those students who are failing because of lack of ability.   The intervention plan should include short term and long-term goals, an action plan to implement and monitor these goals as well as a method to monitor the effectiveness of the plan.  If you realize that the plan is not working then a new intervention plan should be created.

3.  Targeted Interventions

Interventions are not effective if they are not targeted to meet the needs of the individual learners.  Studies have shown that no two learners are the same so therefore there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” intervention.  Interventions should be research-based and targeted to meet the needs of the child. Targeted interventions include things such as having the student pulled aside for small group instruction or individual instruction, providing students with audio versions of assignments and texts, peer tutoring, differentiated instruction.  There are many different interventions that when coupled with effective instruction can help the child succeed in the classroom. 

4.  Documentation of Intervention

Before retaining a student, a teacher should have documentation of all of the strategies that have been put in place to prevent the student from failing.  The documentation should include work samples, phone logs, report cards and data on the interventions.    

5.  Data

In order to assess the effectiveness of the plan, a teacher must collect data.  This data can include teacher observation notes, grades on class assignments and assessment scores.  Parents should not rely solely on state standardized test scores.  Proficiency cut scores vary by state.  In some states, students only need to get 30% of the test correct to be considered proficient meaning proficient really equals failing.  State test are summative tests which means students take the test at a certain point of the year to determine what they do or do not know.  Often times state tests result are received too late to implement interventions.  Data collection should include formative testing which occurs while instruction is taking place and is ongoing.  There are companies who publish short curriculum based assessments that can be done on a regular basis as well as give the teacher standardized results.

6. Implementation of the Plan

Every plan is only as effective as the implementation of that plan.  Once a plan has been created, it has to be effectively implemented.   During the initial meeting, the details of how the plan will be implemented should be put in place. Parents should schedule conferences periodically to discuss the implementation of the plan and the data that has been collected.

7.  Small Group Instruction and/or Individual Instruction

Every student can benefit from small group instruction and/or individualized instruction.    Parents can request that their child be pulled out for small amounts of time during the school day for small group instruction.  Small group instruction includes no more than five students.   During this time, concepts that the student did not master can be re-taught or practiced.  Teachers can also build small group instruction into their daily lessons.   Effective schools will have this type of specialized instruction in place for struggling students.  This small group instruction can be done by instructor assistants, other school staff and volunteer tutors that work in the building.   Parents can also request additional instruction to take place before or after school.     

8.  Progress Reports

I often tell parents documentation is the key.  Parents can request that their child’s teacher complete daily or weekly progress reports. Parents and teachers can communicate by writing notes on the progress report.  These progress reports can provide a snapshot of the student’s performance on a daily or weekly basis.   Progress reports allow parents to receive feedback about effort, behavior and progress on daily assignments.  As well, it allows parents to have record of progress to make decisions pertaining to retention of the child.  Parents should also require that their child keep all graded papers in an organized binder or folder.  Parents should keep a binder organized by date with all communication, student assignments and test scores.  This allows parents to see progression as well as tell the story of what is being taught in the classroom.  Students can also track their own progress in addition to the tracking that is being done by the teacher.  This helps the student be an active participant in their learning experience.

9.  Monitoring of Intervention Plan

As I said above a plan is only as successful as the implementation of that plan.  Parents should expect that there is a procedure put in place to monitor the effectiveness of the plan.  The plan should include specific timeframes to regroup to determine if the plan is producing the necessary results. The meeting should contain the same persons who developed the intervention plan.  During this meeting, the group should analyze the data that has been collected.  This data should include teacher observation notes, grades on class assignments, assessment scores and work samples.  The group should assess whether the student is achieving based on classroom grades and curriculum based measurements.  If the intervention plan is not producing results then the team needs to evaluate if a new plan needs to be put in place. 

10.  Cooperation

Parents should expect full cooperation from the staff at their child’s school.  In order for struggling students to receive the necessary support, there must be collaborative planning between the parent, teachers and school administration.  As the old adage says, “it takes a village to raise a child”.  The village has to move past the point of blame and focus on helping the child.  Teachers and other school staff should be willing to fill out necessary paperwork in a timely manner, attend meetings and work with parents to implement the intervention plan.  Parents should expect to feel involved in the process and should feel as though their voice is being heard.   All parents should understand their rights as a parent.  Most school districts post this information on their district websites as well as other pertinent information.  An informed parent is a powerful parent so be sure to read the information posted on the district’s website so that you understand what to expect from your child’s school.  Parents must also provide the support to teachers so that the plan can be implemented.   If you feel that, you are not getting the support you need begin by contacting the principal.  If the issue is not resolved, contact the appropriate district personnel using the complaint procedure established by your school district.

Brandi Steagall

Nia Educational

Five Benefits of Reading to Your Child

Five Benefits of Reading to Your Child

I often receive calls from frantic parents who are looking for ways to help their children become better readers.  When I make the simple suggestion to read aloud to the child each day for twenty minutes, some parents give a look as though they are offended that I assumed they were not already reading with their child.  I have concluded that many parents are embarrassed to admit that they are not regularly reading with their child. I do not fault those parents who do not regularly read to their children. Some parents are unable to do this because barriers such as work schedule and other responsibilities do not permit them to do so. There are also those who are unaware of the important role that reading to their child plays in the child’s growth and development. There are many organizations that promote the act of reading to children, but these organizations do not do a good job of explaining the importance and the benefits of reading to children.  Parents should read to their children daily for a minimum of twenty minutes.  Children who are read to benefit in many ways.  Below are five ways that children benefit when parents read to them.

1.    Reading to children helps build vocabulary and language skills.

Literacy development begins long before children enter school.  The quest for literacy begins at birth. As children grow, they use their environment to build their oral language vocabulary.  Research has shown that vocabulary is not learned through direct instruction.  Vocabulary is learned through exposure to language. By age three, children have acquired an oral language vocabulary of about 1,000 words.  By age five or six, students may have 5,000 or more words in their oral language vocabulary. The major influence on the size of a child’s vocabulary is the quantity and quality of the exposure they have had with oral language. Reading aloud is an effective way to develop oral language and expose children to the high quality oral language needed to build their vocabularies. Reading aloud to children teaches them new words and concepts. Children who are read to have highly developed language skills, larger vocabularies and are able to communicate more effectively.

2.  Reading to children builds the experiential background knowledge necessary for comprehension skills.

For a moment, think of the human brain as a file cabinet that stores memories, experiences and knowledge.   These files keep the knowledge that we have acquired organized in the human brain.  These organized knowledge files are called schema.  When we have to comprehend or understand a concept, we have to rely on the schema or experiential knowledge we have stored to make sense of the concept.  If we have no stored schema for a concept, our brain naturally develops one that will be stored with our other knowledge files.  As we learn more and have more experiences, we are constantly refining and altering the knowledge we have stored.  As you read to children, they are constantly activating prior knowledge, constructing new knowledge and refining and expanding prior knowledge.   Reading to children allows them to build the experiential knowledge necessary to have good reading comprehension skills.    

3.   Reading to children helps develop thinking skills.

Being read to and discussing books builds thinking skills.  The quality of the child’s thinking skills is determined by the quality of discussions and questions presented to the child as they read with their parent.   While reading to the child, parents should ask open-ended questions that require the child to make inferences, draw conclusions and express their thoughts and understanding of the book or concept.  Parents should be sure to include non-fiction books in their child’s library.  Reading non-fiction books in addition to fictional stories, helps develop students understanding and thinking skills.

4.  Reading to children helps them develop a sense of story.

Reading to children aids in developing a sense of story.  The term “sense of story” simply means that the reader understands the types of language that is used in stories and as well as story elements such as plot, setting and characters.  As children are read to regularly, they become familiar with story elements and are able to better comprehend and retell the stories.   As they develop their sense of story, they are able to create and write their own stories.

5. Reading to children provides pleasant association with books.

If you were to ask the average child or adult about reading, many would respond that they dislike reading.  Many people associate reading with tasks that they dislike.  Many people only read for academic purposes (reading for school assignments) rather than recreational purposes (reading for enjoyment).  Reading to children helps children have positive association with books and encourages recreational reading.  Research shows that recreational reading improves literacy skills.  As children are read to regularly, they begin to have a love for reading and stories.  Children who are read to will less likely look at reading as a negative and cumbersome task.  Children who are read to, can readily tell you their favorite book and are more likely to develop interest in topics they have learned about through books that have been read aloud to them. 

Written by

Brandi Steagall

Nia Educational