Parental Involvement Essay Example for Free

Parental Involvement Essay The goal of positive and productive family and community involvement is on every school improvement list, but few schools have implemented comprehensive programs of partnership. Research suggests that this goal is an important one to reach because families and communities contribute to childrens learning, development, and school success at every grade level. Studies are accumulating that show that well-designed programs of partnership are important for helping all families support their childrens education in elementary, middle, and high schools. That is, if schools plan and implement comprehensive programs of partnership, then many more families respond, including those who would not become involved on their own. Three questions need to be addressed to help educators move from believing in the importance of family and community involvement to conducting effective programs of partnership: What is a comprehensive program of school, family, and community partnerships? How do family and community partnerships link to other aspects of successful schools? How can all schools develop and sustain productive programs of partnerships? Components of a Comprehensive Program of Partnerships A framework of six types of involvement guides schools in establishing full and productive programs of school-family-community partnerships. This section summarizes the six types of involvement and discusses a few sample practices that are being implemented in schools across the country that are working to improve and increase family and community connections. Also noted are some of the challenges that all schools must overcome to create successful partnerships, along with examples of results that can be expected from each type of involvement for students, families, and educators. Comprehensive programs of partnerships include activities for all six types of involvement. Because there are many activities to choose from, elementary, middle, and high schools can tailor their programs of partnerships by selecting activities that match specific school goals and the interests and needs of students and families. Type 1–Parenting. Type 1 activities are conducted to help families strengthen parenting skills, understand child and adolescent development, and set home conditions to support learning at each school level. Type 1 activities also enable families to provide information to schools so that educators understand families backgrounds, cultures, and goals for their children. Sample practices. Among Type 1 activities, elementary, middle, and high schools may conduct workshops for parents; provide short, clear summaries of important information on parenting; and organize opportunities for parents to exchange ideas with other parents, educators, and community experts on topics of child and adolescent development. Topics may include health, nutrition, discipline, guidance, peer pressure, preventing drug abuse, and planning for the future. Type 1 activities also provide families with information on what to expect and how to prepare for students transitions from pre-school to elementary school, elementary to middle school, and middle to high school. Additional topics for successful parenting may concern family roles and responsibilities in student attendance, college planning, and other topics that are important for student success in school. Schools also may offer parents General Educational Development (GED) programs, family support sessions, family computer classes, and other learning and social opportunities for parents and for students. To ensure that families provide valuable information to the schools, teachers may ask parents at the start of each school year or periodically to share insights about their childrens strengths, talents, interests, needs, and goals. Challenges. One challenge for successful Type 1 activities is to get information from workshops to parents who cannot come to meetings and workshops at the school building. This may be done with videos, tape recordings, summaries, newsletters, cable broadcasts, phone calls, and other print and nonprint communications. Another Type 1 challenge is to design procedures that enable all families to share information easily and as needed about their children with teachers, counselors, and others. Results expected. If useful information flows to and from families about child and adolescent development, parents will increase their confidence about parenting, students will be more aware of parents continuing guidance, and teachers will better understand their students families. For example, if practices are targeted to help families send their children to school every day and on time, then student attendance will improve and lateness will decrease. If families are part of their childrens transitions to elementary, middle, and high school, then more students will adjust well to their new schools, and more parents will remain involved across the grades. Type 2–Communicating. Type 2 activities increase school-to-home and home-to-school communications about school programs and student progress through notices, memos, conferences, report cards, newsletters, telephone calls, e-mail and computerized messages, the Internet, open houses, and other traditional and innovative communications. Sample practices. Among many Type 2 activities, elementary, middle, and high schools may provide parents with clear information on each teachers criteria for report card grades; how to interpret interim progress reports; and, as necessary, how to work with students to improve grades or behavior. Type 2 activities include parent-teacher conferences; parent-teacher-student conferences; or student-led conferences with parents and teachers. Student involvement in conferences helps youngsters take personal responsibility for learning. Activities may be designed to improve school and student newsletters by including student work, a feature column for parents questions, calendars of important events, and parent response forms. Many schools are beginning to use e-mail, voice mail, and websites to encourage two-way communication between families and teachers, counselors, and administrators. Challenges. One challenge for successful Type 2 activities is to make communications clear and understandable for all families, including parents who have less formal education or who do not read English well, so that all families can understand and respond to the information they receive. Other Type 2 challenges are to know which families are and are not receiving and understanding the communications in order to design ways to reach all families; develop effective two-way channels of communication so that families can easily contact and respond to educators; and make sure that students understand their roles as couriers and interpreters in facilitating school and family connections. Results expected. If communications are clear and useful, and if two-way channels are easily accessed, then school-to-home and home-to-school interactions will increase; more families will understand school programs, follow their childrens progress, guide students to maintain or improve their grades, and attend parent-teacher conferences. Specifically, if computerized phone lines are used to communicate information about homework, more families will know more about their childrens daily assignments. If newsletters include respond-andreply forms, more families will send ideas, questions, and comments to teachers and administrators about school programs and activities. Type 3–Volunteering. Type 3 activities are designed to improve recruitment, training, and schedules to involve parents and others as volunteers and as audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs. Sample practices. Among many Type 3 activities, schools may collect information on family members talents, occupations, interests, and availability to serve as volunteers. These important human resources may help enrich students subject classes; improve career explorations; serve as language translators; monitor attendance and call parents of absent students; conduct parent patrols and morning greeters to increase school safety; and organize and improve activities such as clothing and uniform exchanges, school stores, and fairs. Schools may organize volunteers to serve as home-room parents, neighborhood representatives, and sports and club contacts and may establish telephone trees to help parents communicate with each other about school programs and events. Schools may establish a corps of volunteers to offer a wel-come wagon of information about the school to students and families who enroll during the school year. Schools also may create opportunities for mentors, coaches, tutors, and leaders of after-school programs to ensure that students have experiences that build and expand their skills and talents and that keep them safe and supervised after school. Some Type 3 activities may be conducted in a parent room or family center at the school where parents obtain information, conduct volunteer work, and meet with other parents. Challenges. Challenges for successful Type 3 activities are to recruit volunteers widely so that parents and other family members feel welcome; make hours flexible for parents and other volunteers who work during the school day; provide needed training; and enable volunteers to contribute productively to the school, classroom, and after-school programs. Volunteers will be better integrated in school programs if there is a coordinator who is responsible for matching volunteers available times and skills with the needs of teachers, administrators, and students. Another Type 3 challenge is to change the definition of volunteer to mean anyone who supports school goals or students learning at any time and in any place. This includes parents and family members who voluntarily come to school as audiences for students sports events, assemblies, and musical or drama presentations, and for other events that support students work. It also includes volunteers who work for the school at home, through their businesses, or in the community. A related challenge is to help students understand how volunteers help their school and to encourage students to interact with volunteers who can assist them with their work and activities. Results expected. If tasks are well designed, and if schedules and locations for volunteers are varied, more parents, family members, and others in the community will assist elementary, middle, and high schools and support students as members of audiences. More families will feel comfortable with the school and staff; more students will talk and interact with varied adults; and more teachers will be aware of and use the time, talents, and resources of parents and others in the community to improve school programs and activities. Specifically, if volunteers serve as attendance monitors, more families will assist students to improve attendance. If volunteers conduct a hall patrol or are active in other locations, school safety will increase and student behavior problems will decrease because of a better student–adult ratio. If volunteers are well-trained as tutors in particular subjects, student tutees will improve their skills in those subjects; and if volunteers discuss careers, students will be more aware of their options for the future. Type 4–Learning at home. Type 4 activities involve families with their children in academic learning activities at home that are coordinated with students classwork and that contribute to student success in school. These include interactive homework, goal-setting for academic subjects, and other curricular-linked activities and decisions about courses and programs. Sample practices. Among many Type 4 activities, elementary, middle, and high schools may provide information to students and to parents about the skills needed to pass each class, course, or grade level and about each teachers homework policies. Schools also may implement activities that can help families encourage, praise, guide, and monitor their childrens work by using interactive homework strategies; student-teacher-family contracts for long-term projects; summer home-learning packets; student-led at-home conferences with parents on portfolios or folders of writing samples or work in other subjects; goal-setting activities for improving or maintaining good report card grades in all subjects; and other approaches that keep students and families talking about schoolwork at home. Family fun and learning nights are often used as a starting point to help parents and students focus on curricular-related topics and family interactions. These meetings require parents to come to the school building. A systematic approach to increasing academic conversations at home is found in the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) interactive homework for the elementary and middle grades. Challenges. One challenge for successful Type 4 activities is to implement a regular schedule of interactive homework that requires students to take responsibility for discussing important things they are learning, interviewing family members, recording reactions, and sharing their work and ideas at home. Another Type 4 challenge is to create a schedule of activities that involve families regularly and systematically with students on short-term and long-term goal-setting for attendance, achievement, behavior, talent development, and plans for college or careers. Results expected. If Type 4 activities are well designed and implemented, student homework completion, report card grades, and test scores in specific subjects will improve; and more families will know what their children are learning in class and how to monitor, support, and discuss homework. More students should complete required course credits, select advanced courses, and take college entrance tests. Students and teachers will be more aware of families interest in students work. Type 5–Decision-making. Type 5 activities include families in developing schools mission statements and in designing, reviewing, and improving school policies that affect children and families. Family members become active participants on school improvement teams, committees, PTA/PTO or other parent organizations, Title I and other councils, and advocacy groups. Sample practices. Among Type 5 activities, elementary, middle, and high schools may organize and maintain an active parent association and include family representatives on all committees for school improvement (e.g., curriculum, safety, supplies and equipment, partnerships, fund-raising, postsecondary college planning, career development). In particular, along with teachers, administrators, students, and others from the community, parents must be members of the Action Team for Partnerships, which plans and conducts family and community involvement activities linked to school improvement goals. Schools may offer parents and teachers training in leadership, decision-making, policy advocacy, and collaboration. Type 5 activities help to identify and provide information desired by families about school policies, course offerings, student placements and groups, special services, tests and assessments, annual test results for students, and annual evaluations of school programs. Challenges. One challenge for successful Type 5 activities in all schools is to ensure that leadership roles are filled by parent representatives from all of the major race and ethnic groups, socioeconomic groups, and neighborhoods that are present in the school. A related challenge is to help parent leaders serve as effective representatives by obtaining information from and providing information to all parents about school issues and decisions. At the high school level, a particular challenge is to include student representatives along with parents in decisionmaking groups and in leadership positions. An ongoing challenge is to help parents, teachers, and students who serve on an Action Team for Partnerships or other committees learn to trust, respect, and listen to each other as they collaborate to reach common goals for school improvement. Results expected. If Type 5 activities are well implemented in elementary, middle, and high schools, more families will have input into decisions that affect the quality of their childrens education; students will increase their awareness that families and students have a say in school policies; and teachers will increase their understanding of family perspectives on policies and programs for improving the school. Type 6–Collaborating with the community. Type 6 activities draw upon and coordinate the work and resources of community businesses; cultural, civic, and religious organizations; senior citizen groups; colleges and universities; governmental agencies; and other associations in order to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development. Other Type 6 activities enable students, staff, and families to contribute their services to the community. Sample practices. Among many Type 6 activities, elementary, middle, and high schools may inform students and families about the availability of community programs and resources, such as after-school recreation, tutorial programs, health services, cultural events, service opportunities, and summer programs. This includes the need to assist students and families to gain access to community resources and programs. Some schools work with local businesses to organize gold card discounts as incentives for students to improve attendance and report card grades. Collaborations with community businesses, groups, and agencies also strengthen the other five types of involvement. Examples include enhancing Type 1 activities by conducting parent education workshops for families at community or business locations; increasing Type 2 activities by communicating about school events on the local radio or television stations, and at churches, clinics, and supermarkets; soliciting volunteers from businesses and the community to strengthen Type 3 activities; enriching Type 4 activities by offering students learning opportunities with artists, scientists, writers, mathematicians, and others whose careers link to the school curriculum; and including community members on Type 5 decision-making councils and committees. Challenges. One challenge for successful Type 6 activities is to solve problems associated with community-school collaborations, such as turf problems of who is responsible for funding, leading, and supervising cooperative activities. The initial enthusiasm and decisions for school-community partnerships must be followed by actions that sustain productive collaborations over the long term. Another Type 6 challenge is to recognize and link students valuable learning experiences in the community to the school curricula, including lessons that build on students nonschool skills and talents, their club and volunteer work, and, in high school, their part-time jobs. A major challenge is to inform and involve families in community-related activities that students conduct. Related challenges are to help students understand how community partners help their school and to engage students, themselves, as volunteers and in service-learning in their own schools, in other schools, and in the community. Results expected. Well-implemented Type 6 activities will increase the knowledge that families, students, and schools have about the resources and programs in their community that could help them reach important goals. Well-designed community connections will increase student access to and participation in community programs. Coordinated community services could help many students and their families prevent health, social, and educational problems or solve problems before they become too serious. Type 6 activities also should support and enrich school curricular and extracurricular programs. Summary. The six types of involvement create a comprehensive program of partnerships in elementary, middle, and high schools, but the implementation challenges for each type of involvement must be met in order for programs to be effective. The quality of the design and content of the involvement activities directly affect the expected results. Not every practice that involves families will result in higher student achievement test scores. Rather, practices for each type of involvement can be selected to help students, families, and teachers reach specific goals and results. The examples above include only a few of hundreds of suggestions that can help elementary, middle, and high schools develop strong programs of partnerships. How Partnerships Link to Other Aspects of Successful Schools Good schools have qualified and talented teachers and administrators, high expectations that all students will succeed, rigorous curricula, engaging instruction, responsive and useful tests and assessments, strong guidance for every student, and effective school, family, and community partnerships. In good schools, these elements combine to promote students learning and to create a school climate that is welcoming, safe, caring, stimulating, and joyful for all students, educators, and families.

Lime Disease Essay example -- essays research papers

Lime Disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is a tick-borne spirochete. The dangers of this disease became more publicised in 1977, where a geographic grouping of children in Lyme, Conneticut were thought to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis1. Soon after, it was discovered that lyme disease was an illness that mainly affects the skin, nervous system, heart, and joints. The borrelia species is part of the eubacterial phylum of spirochetes. Containted within a protoplasmic cylinder is a cell membrane, followed by wavy flagella, and then an outer membrane. The genes encoded within the outer membrane are located on plasmids which allows the organism to make antigenic changes in these proteins. When a borrelia cell attaches to its host, the whole outer membrane moves to one end of the cylinder, which is called capping to patching1. B. burgdorferi do not live in water, soil, or plants. Borrelia grow slowly compared to most bacteria. They elongate for 12 to 24 hours before dividing into two cells. B. burgdorferi is approximately 20 to um long and 0.2 to 0.25 um wide, with 7 to 11 flagella. More than 30 proteins are contained within B. burgdorferi1. This bacteria uses white-footed mice, mosquitoes, and deer as their hosts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This disease does not discriminate between sex and age; male and female, as well as old and young are affected. It is widely distributed around the world in the temperate zones3. A person is infected when a black-legged tick imbeds itself into them while out in the open in wodded and forested areas. This usually occurs between the months of May and July. Tick abundance is associated with humidity, temperature, landscape slope, forested areas with sandy soils, and the extremity of residential development?.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Generally, lyme disease occurs in stages, which are not always clear-cut; they may overlap. The first stage involves the injection of B. burgdorferi by the tick. Shortly thereafter (3 days to 4 months), it spreads throughout the skin, causing erythema migrans (EM), which is basically a skin lesion. This lesion can vary in size, body site, color, duration, intensity, and recurrence. Erythema migrans is a marker of the disease, yet may also be absent altogether. EM resolves spontaneously in a few weeks or months4. Also like to occu... ...itive skills in children who have been treated for lyme disease using antibiotics. It seems likely that the lyme disease spirochete can cause an adverse fetal outcome. However, the question is, how likely and just what are the outcomes, which is what I would like to test for. My proposed study will be an experimental study in which lyme disease treated pediatric populations will be examined to identify possible cognitive or psychologic abnormalities resulting from lyme disease. The focus will be on children because they have a high incidence of lyme disease? and are less likely to have cognitive deterioration due to confounding factors, such as aging.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children between the ages of 5 and 15 who have been treated with lyme disease will be studied. These children will be randomly chosen for endemic areas such as Delaware. Serologic testing (ie. enzyme-linked immunosorbent assa; ELISA) will be used to determine the presence of B. burgdorferi antibodies. The following hypotheses will be tested: Ho: No cognitive differences between lyme disease children and control group HA: Cognitive differences between lyme disease children and control group are present.

Poetry Analysis: Joseph Von Eichendorff

Desires Joseph von Eichendorff is seen as one of the most famous poets of the German romanticism. Eichendorff composed many poems about his desires, the romantic world of joy, the simple intimacy, and the experience of nature as a way to God to create a mental antithesis to his violent affected military life. In this manner, his poem â€Å"Moonlight Night†, written in 1837, reflects his desires and his closeness to nature and to God. The speaker of the poem describes his feelings and impressions of a moonlit night presenting nature and its beauty in a very detailed way with the use of illustrative language. Related article: How to be Old by May Swenson AnalysisThe poem consists of three four-line stanzas. The stanzas are written in an alternating end rhyme scheme and it is striking that the first and the third stanza both contain an imperfect rhyme. In addition, there are enjambed line-breaks between the respective first and second line of the first and third stanza. Due to the similarity of the structure of these stanzas, the second stanza seemed to be framed and the poem appears as a circle. The rhythmic meter is iambic with alternate female and masculine cadences. Each stanza features one sentence.Also, the poem radiates deep peace and harmony; it seems relaxing to the reader which is reinforced by repeating of the adjectives â€Å"quiet† and â€Å"soft†. The headline â€Å"Moonlight Night† and the first stanza give the frame of the story: â€Å"It was like Heaven’s glimmer/ had [quietly] kissed the Earth’s skin /that in Her blossom’s shimme r/ She had to dream of Him†, it is night and the speaker seems to dream. The heaven is used as a metaphor which symbolizes God and the earth is an image for the mortal. The heaven and earth – being personified – interact with each other in the form of a kiss.The interaction of the kiss stands for the love that god gives. The â€Å"blossom’s shimmer† is understood as the godly shine which can be interpreted as warmth and love which god spreads over the earth. The word â€Å"quietly† makes the moment – of the heaven touching the earth – intimate and creates a calm atmosphere. In the second stanza, the speaker focuses on the nature: â€Å"The breeze was gently walking/ through wheat fields near and far;/ the woods were softly talking/ so bright shone ev’ry star. † The speaker personifies the breeze which is walking through the wheat fields.The breeze being sent from heaven – thus from god – is touching t he woods and wheat fields â€Å"gently† and â€Å"softly† which again creates a harmonic atmosphere and the touch shows the connection of god and mortals. The breeze goes â€Å"near and far† which again shows God’s endless love for the earth. Translating word to word from the original, German version, the second line would say â€Å"ears of the corn swayed gently† which also puts the description of the nature in context to the first stanza: ears of corn are a Christian symbol for the Eucharist.The nature is used as a symbol for the religious feelings of the speaker. The speaker appears the first time as a first-person narrative in the last stanza: â€Å"And thus my soul extended/ its wings through skies to roam:/ O’er quiet lands suspended, my soul was flying home. † Importantly, that the speaker uses the adjective â€Å"quiet† again to underline the calm and intimate atmosphere of the setting. The speaker gives a comparison sa ying that his soul is opening its wings like a bird that gets ready to take off.The speaker dresses his soul with wings which shows the deep emotion that the speaker perceives through the nature. Caught in the perception of the heavenly-touched, harmonic, and beautiful nature the speaker lets go all earthly bonds for his soul to be free; the here and now is not enough for the speaker which is a typical topic of the late romanticist movement. Furthermore, the first stanza stated that the heaven (god) is moving down to touch the earth and the last stanza is saying that the soul is flying up home.The heaven can be interpreted as the home of the soul, which is the Christian paradise. The harmonic atmosphere which was carefully built up during the whole poem is hurt by the last two lines which imply the death of the speaker and therefore puts the mortal speaker in contrast to immortal beauty of the nature. The poem â€Å"Moonlight Night† gives a typical example of the romanticism showing the speaker’s love of nature and his religiousness.The religiousness is not only seen in the words but also in the structure of the poem: the number three. There are three stanzas and three is also the cross sum of the number twelve (the poem consists of 12 lines). The number three represents the Trinity which is the matrix of the Christian faith. Eichendorff created a poem which is – especially despite its brevity – very deep and impressive, showing the infinity of the beauty and the desire to be close to god.

About Biomythography Zami a New Spelling of My Name

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name is a memoir by feminist poet Audre Lorde. It recounts her childhood and coming of age in New York City, her early experiences with feminist poetry and her introduction to the women’s political scene. The story meanders through school, work, love and other eye-opening life experiences. Although the overarching structure of the book lacks definitiveness, Audre Lorde takes care to examine the layers of female connection as she remembers her mother, sisters, friends, co-workers and lovers—women who helped shape her. Biomythography The â€Å"biomythography† label, applied to the book by Lorde, is interesting. In Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Audre Lorde does not stray far from normal memoir structure. The question, then, is how accurately she describes events. Does â€Å"biomythography† mean that she is embellishing her tales, or is it a comment on the interplay of memory, identity, and perception? The Experiences, the Person, the Artist Audre Lorde was born in 1934. Her stories of her youth include the beginning of World War II and a fair amount of political awakening. She writes of vivid impressions remembered from childhood, from first-grade teachers to neighborhood characters. She sprinkles snippets of journal entries and fragments of poetry in between some of the stories. One long stretch of Zami: A New Spelling of My Name treats the reader to a view of the lesbian bar scene of New York City during the 1950s. Another portion explores factory working conditions in nearby Connecticut and the limited job options for a young black woman who had not yet gone to college or learned to type. By exploring women’s literal roles in these situations, Audre Lorde invites the reader to ponder other more esoteric, emotional roles played by women in their lives. The reader also learns about Audre Lorde’s time spent in Mexico, the beginnings of writing poetry, her first lesbian relationships and her experience with abortion. The prose is mesmerizing at certain points, and always promising as it dips in and out of the rhythms of New York that helped shape Audre Lorde into the prominent feminist poet she became. Feminist Timeline Although the book was published in 1982, this story tapers off around 1960, so there is no recounting in Zami of Audre Lorde’s rise to poetry fame or her involvement in 1960s and 1970s feminist theory. Instead, the reader gets a rich account of the early life of a woman who â€Å"became† a famous feminist. Audre Lorde lived a life of feminism and empowerment before the women’s liberation movement became a nationwide media phenomenon. Audre Lorde and others of her age were laying the groundwork for a renewed feminist struggle throughout their lives. Tapestry of Identity In a 1991 review of  Zami, critic Barbara DiBernard wrote, in the Kenyon Review, In  Zami  we find an alternative model of female development as well as a new image of the poet and of female creativity. The image of the poet as black lesbian encompasses continuity with a familial and herstorical past, community, strength, woman-bonding, rootedness in the world, and an ethic of care and responsibility. The image of a connected artist-self who is able to identify and draw on the strengths of women around her and before her is an important image for all of us to consider. What we learn may be as significant for our individual and collective survival as it has been for Audre Lorde.The artist as black lesbian challenges both pre-feminist and feminist ideas. Labels can be limiting. Is Audre Lorde a poet? A feminist? Black? Lesbian? How does she construct her identity as a black lesbian feminist poet native to New York whose parents come from the West Indies? Zami: A New Spelling of My Name offers insight into the thoughts behind overlapping identities and the overlapping truths that go along with them. Selected Quotes from Zami Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me—so different that I had to stretch and grow in order to recognize her. And in that growing, we came to separation, that place where work begins.A choice of pains. Thats what living was all about.I wasnt cute or passive enough to be femme, and I wasnt mean or tough enough to be butch. I was given a wide berth. Non-conventional people can be dangerous, even in the gay community.I remember how being young and Black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell. Edited and new content added by Jone Johnson Lewis.​