Effective Communication Between Military Families and Local Education Leaders Can Make All the Difference
As military spouses, we know how helpful open communication can be when it comes to our children’s schools and relocating. But even knowing this, sometimes it can be difficult to get involved and engage with school and district leaders.
That’s why I’m excited to share the most recent Military Families for High Standards blog post, “Effective Communication Between Military Families and Local Education Leaders Can Make All the Difference, by Col. Glen Butler.” Col. Butler, a military spouse and U.S. Marine officer, outlines the second main point of Promise to Practice, the importance of “establishing an ongoing dialogue with school board leaders and members in your local district and state.”
Scroll down to read Col. Butler’s piece and learn more about the ways you can engage your local school board and officials to make sure your voice is heard.
Effective Communication Between Military Families and Local Education Leaders Can Make All the Difference
By Col. Glen Butler
In a 2006 National School Public Relations Association report titled, “How Strong Communication Contributes to Student and School Success: Parent and Family Involvement,” researchers found that “effective family involvement has a positive impact on students, families, and the schools, not only on testing performance but also class attendance and “improved behavior at home and at school.”
Over a decade later, remains equally true. Consistent, effective communication between parents and education leaders remains a critical component of students’ success — especially for military dependents, given the unique set of challenges our children face as members of military families.
Fortunately, there are many more resources and much more widely-accessible information to aid in communication planning.
For starters, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) offers its “National Standards for Family-School Partnerships,” first developed in 1997 after thirty years of research and republished last year. These guidelines include six key standards, including “communicating effectively,” and “collaborating with community” (see www.pta.org for more information).
More recently, the Collaborative for Student Success, a partner organization of Military Families for High Standards released an “independent peer review of current school improvement efforts in 17 states” called “Promise to Practice.” These 17 states were chosen because of the wide availability of their data, and the analyses provides parents and other stakeholders much information about state-level efforts for support their state’s lowest-performing schools. The analyses included best practices and promising efforts, alongside some shortfalls, that states have created as they implement their school improvement plans.
Promise to Practice highlights the importance of engaging with stakeholders. One way to do this is to practice effective communication by establishing an ongoing dialogue with school board leaders and members in your local district and state. This can be a very useful tool for military parents as they prepare to relocate and seek to open up conversations with school leaders and local and state education officials.
Most states have websites listing school board meeting locations, times, and agendas. State-level departments of education also often publish similar announcements, and both local and state board meetings are typically open to the public. For example, in Virginia Beach, VA, the district routinely publicizes future board discussion topics, disseminates newsletters and surveys, and holds “town halls” to invite parents and students to offer feedback. These opportunities provide easy but important ways for families to connect with leaders and legislators, as they work to improve education methods or consider new initiatives.
Our military-connected children deserve a quality education no matter where their families are stationed. The only way to make sure your voice is heard, and your concerns are addresses is to become involved and engage with your local school board and officials. Get involved. Do a little online research and communicate clearly with the people who have input into how your military children are being taught and what resources are being offered to your school.
A little bit of research in advance of meeting attendance can undoubtedly lead to more effective and efficient engagement.
Glen Butler is a Colonel in the Marine Corps. He currently resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This blog post reflects his own opinions.
This piece was originally published on February 26, 2019 on Medium. The original post is accessible here.