Put On Your Listening Ears....Parent Engagement Begins with Listening!

Remember when you were growing up and the teacher always said to "Put on your listening ears" whenever important things were being discussed? MCCOY's Student Success Team thinks it's time for the community to "put on our listening ears" and listen to what parent's have to say about the success of their children.

The research is there. Study after study points to involved parents as an indicator of successful students. So why isn't more being done to make sure families can be involved in the educational process? Schools try year after year to host Parent Nights, Parent/Teacher Conferences, and even create strong PTAs. But with all of the responsibilities parents deal with on a daily basis, it is difficult to connect with families in the ways that we all wish we could. Let's face it- there's a lot of competition for parents' time.

MCCOY's Student Success Initiative is committed to ensuring every Marion County student has the opportunity to receive a complete education by attacking the dropout crisis from various angles through 5 different task forces. One of the most critical of these angles is involving parents in their student's academic and social growth in school. This is exactly what our Parent/Family Engagement Task Force is dedicated to doing. To try to bridge the gap between parents, schools, youth organizations, youth programs, and the greater community around this issue of student success and education, MCCOY's Student Success Team is hosting an event geared towards information sharing and listening to what parents have to say. What are the barriers in parents being involved with their student's school? What can schools do better to engage families? What can families do better in connecting with their student's school? How can youth programs and youth development professionals play a role? All of these questions and more will be addressed during an evening event for parents to share.

This event will give parents the opportunity to share their opinions, obstacles, and possible solutions to the age-old struggle of getting parents and schools to work together to support students. The night will include dinner, a guest speaker, as well as a panel of parents and educators. The majority of the evening will be spent on small round-table discussions where parent's voices will be heard and rich discussion will be first priority. The event is being co-sponsored by the Indiana Partnerships Center/Parent Information and Resource Center (PIRC) and Indiana Youth Institute (IYI).

Plenty of events happen to inform and educate parents, but the goal of this event is for us to be informed and educated BY parents.

Date: March 10, 2011 Time: 5-7 p.m. Where: WFYI (1630 N. Meridian St.)

Questions/Comments?
Contact Michelle Clegg, MCCOY Dropout Prevention Coordinator
317-921-1230