Ms. Timmons is a first-year principal of a Title I elementary school. She wants to increase family presence and participation in the school by starting a new family volunteer program. Most of the students’ families, however, are working families, and many have limited English skills. What can Ms. Timmons do to establish a successful program in her school?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Conduct a specific needs assessment of families concerning their demographic background, personal goals, and individual knowledge and experiences.
Find out about family needs for transportation and/or childcare, convenient times and location for events, language or bilingual formats, knowledge or experiences with the technology being used, and questions or concerns that they may have about the topic of the event.
Develop specific objectives for events, followed by revisions for future events, based on family responses.
Carefully select activities that have a clear cultural connection to the community and the participants.
Include school facilitators and community stakeholders who are familiar with the culture of the school and community.
Plan activities that are reflective of community values and will increase families’ level of comfort and result in cultural cohesiveness between school and home.
Get family feedback after the event in order to make improvements.