One of the best ways to improve student performance and wellbeing is to increase parent engagement. Building meaningful relationships between teachers and guardians undoubtedly creates a sense of continuity between school life and home life; one that helps young students thrive.
Plenty of research studies have shown that when schools focus on increasing parent engagement, that also helps improve students’ achievements. So, if you’re looking for new practical ways to improve or increase parent engagement at your school, we’ve got a few suggestions you may want to take into consideration.
Below, we’ll discuss a few practical ideas as to how you can make the most out of DreamClass, our school management software; so that you build bridges of collaboration between parents and teachers.
5 ways you can increase parent engagement, with DreamClass
DreamClass facilitates communication and helps establish and maintain a strong connection between parents and the entire school community. And, the way to do so is by offering parents a simple way to navigate the school system, where they’ll find personalized information regarding their children’s studies. With it, you can establish an asynchronous communication workflow; one where teachers, among other things, can take the time to communicate their feedback; sharing notes and assessments with parents or reply to their personal questions.
1. Warmly welcome parents and help them participate in their children’s school life
The beginning of a new school period entails a short period of adjustment; for both students and guardians, that is. Giving access to all the information they may need in advance is critical and helps increase parent engagement; especially for the parents of new students.
On a practical level, you can give them access to their own portal, where they’ll find all the information they need. Once you share credentials — in person or directly at the email account they’ve provided — parents and guardians will be able to view all available contact information regarding school faculty and staff. In particular, they’ll access information such as names of school Directors, secretaries, useful telephone numbers, snail mail addresses etc.
Once you process students’ enrollment to classes, they will also be able to access personalized information pertinent to their studies. All in all, by making the transition to the new school environment easier and more pleasant for both guardians and students, you set the foundation for a fruitful collaboration.
2. Invite parents to inspect student academic data, as it gradually becomes available in DreamClass
Guardians will be able to view all the classes their children attend; along with attendance data and gradebooks. The detailed gradebooks will also include class averages, so that parents get a better understanding of students’ progress; and make sure they keep pace with their classmates. In a similar fashion, you may help parents get a better understanding of their children’s performance, by encouraging teachers to fill in assessment forms in each student’s profile. These forms will be also visible from the parent portal.
3. Encourage parents to check up on student timetables
Parents and guardians will be able to view personalized timetables. And, by doing so, they’ll be able to verify whether young students are aligned with upcoming scheduled lessons. That is to say, they’ll be able to check whether they’re fully prepared, in terms of study material (books, notebooks etc.); and, also, verify the homework students are currently working on. In general, nurturing parent engagement, by letting parents be more included in their children’s school life, is really helpful; especially for the younger ones.
4. Remind parents to periodically consult students’ summarized performance data
Prompt parents to periodically have a look at students’ report cards, where they’ll find summaries of performance data. This way, they’ll get a better understanding of their children’s progress. That would be also helpful before a parents-briefing meeting, where they’ll get the chance to discuss, in detail, with teachers, all about their children’s performance.
5. Enhance and support communication and collaboration between teachers and parents
Encourage guardians and parents to contact teachers, whenever they need, to share concerns and questions they may have. Building a constructive relationship between parents and teachers is of paramount importance for students’ progress. With DreamClass, guardians are able to directly contact teachers; by sending a message to their email account, directly from the guardian — or parent — portal. All in all, building meaningful relationships between teachers and parents is one of the best ways to increase parent engagement; so that they’ll jointly support young students.
All in all, rather than sending written reports home or counting entirely on parent-teachers’ meetings to share updates on students’ progress, you may use DreamClass. This way, you save the time needed to prepare; and/or organize such updates, be it reports or events, making the most out of a tool that automates processes.
Want to improve parent engagement at your school?
Parent engagement has a positive effect on students’ academic achievements; and that’s what makes schools prioritize any efforts pertinent to that. A warm welcome, directed to parents and guardians in the beginning of the school year, is only the beginning. With the help of a tool that facilitates interaction between teachers and parents, such as DreamClass, schools can set the foundation for a fruitful collaboration among all parties involved.
With DreamClass, parents can asynchronously work with teachers and administrators, with the minimum possible effort. From the guardian portal, they’ll be able to monitor their children’s progress; and, by combining this information with teachers’ notes and the feedback they get, they’ll be able to support their studies.
If you want to make a head start on improving parent engagement at your school — among other things — try DreamClass, for free.
