Importance of Communicating with Families

Quality two-way communication between schools and families is essential for a student's success. The more families and teachers share pertinent information about a student, the better prepared both will be to support the student to achieve academically.  

Family involvement support teachers in focusing on teaching. By having more contact with families, teachers learn more about students' needs and the home situation. Teachers can then use that information to meet those needs better. When families and teachers have an open communication line, it is easier to share information that will benefit the child. Often, the child's family doesn't know that they are struggling or don't know how to support them at home. The teacher needs to see the family as a team member and keep them informed of the plan and how to help.

Communicating with families aligns with the COE Professional Dispositions of Learners because it is interacting appropriately and effectively with students and their families. It is also communicating properly, frequently, and effectively because you need to support the families in understanding what is going on with their child and keep them updated on the progress being made. When a teacher gets to know their students' families to align with professional dispositions, it allows them to see the student beyond the academic picture (Grand Canyon University, n.d.).

Every day, teachers collect and use student data. Some of the data is confidential and otherwise sensitive. Student data always needs to be accessed, presented, and used responsibly. Student data needs to be acquired respectfully and equitably. It needs to be kept confidential and used appropriately to guide instruction and support the student in getting a higher quality education. To ethically share data, it should always be private and individualize for each student. Students and students' families should not have access to other students' data.

References

Grand Canyon University. (n.d.). Professional Dispositions of Learners. Phoenix; Grand Canyon University.