No Link News Round Up, Part II

Here are two stories about the local school district announcing their desire and intention to "engage" parents... read carefully -- is is engagement or something else?

Parents: How would you like to be engaged?

Hailey Heinz / Journal Staff Writer/Published: Oct 5, 2012This afternoon I'm working on a story about Albuquerque Public Schools' efforts to more meaningfully engage parents in their children's educations. It's one of the district's four broad goals for the next three years, and I've written about it here. The story I just linked to was published back on my birthday, making it additionally worth reading.
The reason I'm writing this particular story now, is that APS is holding a community meeting Monday, to gather input from parents about how the district can engage them better. Details here. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the main APS offices in Uptown. As an aside, the Uptown office is now officially called the Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex. There's a pretty sign and a nice picture:
But I haven't made the transition to calling it that in the newspaper because: a) Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex is a lot longer than City Centre, and b) I'm not sure people will know what I'm talking about, even if I shorten it to "King Complex." Maybe I can slowly start calling it that online, and start a movement.
But I digress (which I get to do, because it's MY blog). The point of Monday's meeting, and of the story I'm working on today, is that having involved parents is one of the most important drivers of student success. But in an ever changing world, I think it's worth asking just how parents want to be engaged. Do they want to be called in for face to face parent meetings, or would they prefer to have frequent email and text message exchanges with teachers? How important are language and translation services? Do parents care more about their school building having a welcoming atmosphere, or an easy to navigate school website? I'd like to hear from parents in the comments here, and I will post back next week with some of what I hear at the meeting.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

See here that this is not exactly asking the parents' opinion but setting up the parents to be "involved" with the district in its own pursuits...

APS Hopes Parents Get Involved

Hailey Heinz / Journal Staff Writer/Published: Oct 6, 2012Albuquerque school district officials have a new parent engagement policy, and now they are looking to flesh it out with details.
The policy, which the board approved in August, "affirms that the involvement of family and community partners is critical to student success" and lays out four pillars:
? Fostering safe and welcoming environments.
? Strengthening relationships among families, school staff and community.
? Expanding communication among families, community and schools.
? Cultivating equitable and effective systems in the district.
But just what these pillars mean in practice will be the focus of a community meeting Monday at the main Albuquerque Public Schools offices. The meeting is intended to gather comment from parents about how they would like to be engaged.
In addition to the new policy, increasing family engagement is one of APS' four broad district goals for the next three years. The district has already begun a number of initiatives toward that end, including a review at every APS elementary school for its family friendliness.
Kris Meurer, APS director of family and community supports, said the reviews look for things like how visitors are greeted when they enter a school, whether someone promptly helps them and whether someone is available to translate for parents who speak only Spanish. The assessments also check for things like whether signs are clear and whether it is easy to find the front office.
Meurer said she hopes her staff will have reviewed every elementary school by the end of this school year. After each review, the findings are used to make plans for the school, if needed, to improve its family friendliness.
APS also has made it cheaper and easier for volunteers to get background checks and to get into schools. While prospective volunteers still must have a criminal background check, the process no longer requires fingerprinting and now costs only $12.
Meurer said APS is also working toward involving volunteers with district initiatives beyond the classroom. She said this might be particularly relevant for parents with secondary school students, who no longer want their parents volunteering in the classroom.
"We're looking at how we can use volunteers in helping us with truancy prevention and intervention, how we can use volunteers as we begin to roll out the plan for bullying prevention," Meurer said.
APS is also starting up a "parent university" initiative, which is still in the planning stages and won't be up and running until next year. Parent universities, which have been started in other parts of the country, offer free classes in subjects like parenting, financial literacy or understanding new curriculum like the Common Core standards. Meurer said she hopes registration will be open this spring, with classes starting in the fall.
This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal