Beyond the Bake Sale: An Educator's Guide to Working With Parents

by Anne T. Henderson

Educators guide to working with parents.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Leadership, Professional Development, Parenting

139 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Ariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the best book I read all year, specifically because it gave me a million ideas for stuff I want to do at my kids school. So, if your a parent of a student in a school where you'd like to see more parent involvement, this is an awesome book. Or if your a teacher in one of those schools.
Otherwise, it might not be that interesting.

It's an amazing book, it's super practical with lots of examples, not a bunch of academic language and tons of ideas that make you go "duh, why didn't I think of that?"

It's great.

[Heather Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the real ideas to support families and community in schools

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been at two different school's during my children's school years thus far, this book was extremely helpful in recognizing the different cultures at our schools and how to go about making changes so that parents can get more involved. At our first school parents were almost too involved yet at the new one parents are not always openly welcomed to the school....but things are changing and this book helped me learn that it is a process and that there can be a happy medium!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library. I think if I were a school administrator I would want to own a copy. PTA/PTO kind of groups might also like it. It contains a lot of suggestions for making schools more open and welcoming to families, as well as questionnaires, and observation protocols etc, for gauging how open your school is and maybe even deciding how open you want it to be.

[Tina Lieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen Mapp's approach to family engagement is evidence-based and shown to improve student wellbeing and academic outcomes. This book is a practical guide for school leaders, teachers, and leaders of parent groups for how to transform family engagement from "feel good" activities (like multicultural night and spaghetti suppers) to proactive family engagement that invites parents/caregivers to be partners in their children's education. The foundation is building trusting relationships between home and school and linking all family engagement to learning.

This book shows you what that looks like with plentiful anecdotes. Checklists help you self-evaluate where your school is now: Is it a "fortress school" or "partnership school" or somewhere in between? How do you set up action teams to figure out what is needed to make a difference in making all families and students feel included and belonging which then sets up students to be able to learn well?

The book covers topics such as how schools can build relationships with parents instead of either side blaming the other; how to link family engagement to learning and what that looks like; how to share power; and how to bridge the divide of racial, class, and cultural differences. The last chapter has templates for all the different surveys and checklists you might need.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided helpful ideas for strategies, programs, culture initiatives, reflective questionnaires, and events to strengthen the family-community partnership with schools. It also includes example ideas from other schools and anecdotal reviews which is helpful when creating a school-community relations improvement plan.

[Serenity · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was easy to read, with many real-life examples and concrete examples of things like surveys, checklists, etc. At this point some things are outdated (like the many references to NCLB), but a lot of it is still relevant.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hoping for a more recent edition - but this is it. Was looking for more information on using social media and the internet to help achieve the same goals.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great practically guide to carrying out equitable practices in education.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny how a book is just as relevant today as the year it was published (1986!) Sound advice for how to move past the PTA and create real parental involvement in schools.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Sarah Klyve · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO many incredible ideas for family engagement. Dr. Mapp will always be #1 in teaching me how to better engage with families and communities.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still exploring my place in P's school He is only in Kindergarten, after all, and I mostly go to the PTSA meetings to hear what is going on and potentially identify where I can be of some help. Not long ago, parent education came up as something that our PTSA would like to provide. Mostly because I would like to have some education about how to help my kid in school (and life) I thought I would help by exploring what is out there. In Internet browsing, I came across this book, and fortunately my public library had a copy for me to read!

Keeping in mind that this is mostly a foreign/new topic for me, I found the book to be interesting. It had lots of good individual ideas and tips to address specific needs. I wrote a lot of stuff down that I want to share with the PTSA with full disclosure that I'm not yet aware of what the major issues our school faces! Many would be good to implement regardless as they build better community and resources for the school and parents (and community!) Meanwhile, parts of the book didn't feel applicable because we are not inner-city nor an academic-performance struggling school (again, that I am aware of!) Overall, I think it is a good well-rounded resource for schools, parents & communities. It is bound to include a tip that could be implemented at any school.

[Markmisfit5000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems real handy book to have, with lots of great ideas and examples of how schools are getting parents involved. Also, each chapter has a worksheet to help teachers evaluate themselves on how they are getting parents involved.

The standards the authors hold to evaluating how you are doing is really high, but they seem to understand that the school's parent policy should not necessarily reflect what individual teachers believe.

This book would probably do the most amount of good in the hands of a principal or school board, a group that has more school and district-wide influence.

[Lorette · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are in the schools in any way shape or form, you should read this.
Not all of the ideas are applicable, especially in this day and age where schools now protect children from outside forces - community as collateral damage. Also, the authors seem to not gasp how much of a "business" world education has become. People from the community are not going to be able to walk into a school and use the copiers. That's not feasible. But I love this book and the premise - it puts words to my feelings as a parent and educator.

[Mleander23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a MUST read for principals, parents, and teachers. So many great ways to connect school and the parent community. The book provides not only a plethora of strategies but also samples of surveys and techniques used by schools around the country to open the door to the community. This will be a go to book for the "stuck" situations as well. A great book to use if developing a school book club.

[Oplandam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good tip and pointer to take back and use. I found this book easy to read and it will make a great reference for setting up my class next year with back to school night and letters home as well as great ideas to put into newsletters.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the books I bought after hearing Dr. Mavis Sanders at the BYU ELL Symposium. It is EXCELLENT!--filled with wonderful ideas and resources.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

all schools need parental involvement - and this book proves why and how.

[Steve Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book now with my kids' school principal for our site council. I wished I had read it before I became a principal! There was just oh-so-much I could have known more about and done better!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great guide for school administrators to improve parent - school community partnerships.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educators: listen to the parents. And recognize that all want the best for their kids, but their methods may be different than yours. All about the importance of respect and transparency.

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bible for parent engagement!! Should be read by every principal.

[Tracey Adamowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for anyone wanting to engage families in their children's education!