ESS Task one. What is the importance of home school connection when ensuring student success with assessment. Dol 4 - Investigation

1. What importance is the
connection between home and
school when ensuring student
success.
EDED11405 – Ensuring Student Success
Assessment task 1
Stacey Pearce – s0224784

2. About this presententation.
 This presentation has been designed to identify and resolve issues regarding
home-school connection and how this effects student success.
 The issues identified will be investigated using scholarly and independent
research
 The presentation will develop using the Definitional Investigation process as
outlined in Dimensions in Learning Teachers Manual (Mazzarno and
Pickering’s. 1997. p 241.)

3. Home-School Connection
What is it?...
When parents and teachers work together, everyone benefits
(Greenburg, n.d.)
Factors that effect student success.
Parents/carers
The Home Evnironment
Child
Teacher
School Environment

4. A connection between the home and school
environment is a two way open communication
system where teachers and parents share
information regarding a child.
The aim of this is to enable both parties to be better
skills, ensuring the child receives the support they
need to achieve success.
Image retrieved from:
http://raisingchildren.net.au/verve/_resources/rcn_timeline_clean.JPG

5. Investigation Structure.
Mazarno and Pickering (1997) have developed a scaffold including a series of questions to
guide an investigation. By following this suggested guideline the question of What
importance is the connection between home and school when ensuring student success in
assessments will be examined comprehensively. The questions are:
1. What event or idea do I want to explain?
2. What do people already know?
3. What confusions do people have about the idea or concept?
4. What suggestions do I have for clearing up these confusions?
5. How do I defend my suggestions?
The following slide will display a graphic organiser to assist categorisation of information.

6. Graphic Organiser for Investigation.
Concept / Scenario:
Known or agreed upon: Confusions or contradictions:
Resolution:
Adapted from Dimensions in Learning (Mazarno & Pickering, 1997 p. 241)

7. Question 1: What event or idea do I want to
explain.
What importance is the connection between home and
school when ensuring student success

8. The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young
Australians (MCEETYA) states that
‘Achieving educational goals is the collective
responsiblyility of governments, school sectors
and individual schools as well as parents and
carers, young Australians, families, other
education and training providers, businesses and
the broader community” (2008 p. 07)
in other words, everyone within the Childs educational
environment plays a major role in ensuring students success.

9. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting
Agency (ACARA) has incorporated the philosophy
from MCEETYA (2008) into its publication of the
Australian Curriculum (2011). The same emphasis of
shared responsibility towards student success is
expressed throughout the following curriculum
documents:
• The Queensland Studies Authority – P-12 Syllabus design
principles (2008 p. 2)
• Early Years Learning Framework (ELYF) (2009 p. 11)
• Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (EYCG) (2006 p. 20)

10. According to the MCEETYA (2008 p.7) the aim is for all
young Australians become:
• Successful learners
• Confident and creative individuals
• Active and informed citizens.
To achieve this not only do school and teachers need to be held
responsible, but parents and carers need to take an active role in
their child’s education.

11. Question 2: What do
people already
know?
• Parent involvement in
the early years is
important to the social
and emotional
development of the
child, this continues into
later years.
• Parents rely on teachers
to educate their child.
Image retrieved from: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cQWzCu9H7OM/T-
5LXlB26bI/AAAAAAAAAIA/gyMGIcCjFi4/s1600/unlearning.jpg

12. Q1: What do people already know?
A Childs’ educational journey starts from before they have
been conceived.
The mothers’ education, attitudes, personal health and
support networks will play a vital role is this journey.
Image retrieved from: http://www.yonghui.sg/wp-
content/uploads/2011/12/pregnant-mum.jpg

13. Q1: What do people already know?
It is known that during the
early years of a child’s life
the primary carer will be
their most influential
educator (Ashman, 2008).
During this time a
foundation for their
learning journey is
established.

14. Q1: What do people already know?
When a child moves into later schooling (year 4
onwards), parents can often believe that their
role as educator is complete. This belief is
consistent with figures from Berthelsen &
Walkers studies (2008) revealing that 2/3 of
parents were involved in their child’s education
in the early years. These numbers dramatically
reduced as the child entered year 4 and onward.

15. Q1: What do people already know?
How involved are parents in their child’s education?
Secondary
The results from an
Seniour Primary (6-7) independent survey
(2012) asking parents
Middle (4-5)
how often they were
involved in their child’s
schooling were
Early Years (K-3)
consistent to that of
Berthelsen and Walkers’
Not At all
Somewhat
amount
A tremendous
A little Bit
Quite a lot
(2008).

16. What confusions do people have about the issue?
1. Many barriers can limit interactions between parents and
teaches.
2. Older students tend to not want their parents to be involved
3. During secondary school relationships are hard to build due to
multiple teachers.
http://teaching-in-the-middle.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Parents.jpg

17. What confusions do people have about the issue?
There are many reasons for parent’s or carer’s are not
actively involved in their child’s education. Some lack
confidence in their own skills enabling them to become
involved in programs. This could be due to
• language barriers
• cultural differences
• economic backgrounds.
Image reterieved from: http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTpVPuG92hPoJMfRaMkHz80xZ8byRM-MV3lY5QMbID5fpBn4V_ND5mjiZxW3A

18. What confusions do people have about the issue?
Families from lower socio economic backgrounds tend
to have fewer years of education and could possible
relate school today to their own negative schooling
experiences enabling their child to gain a positive
perception of school (Berthelsen & Walker. 2008).

19. What confusions do people have about the issue?
Relationships appear easier to build in primary school
where there is only one teacher to communicate with.
Parents can be invited to assist with reading or classroom
activities. However, during secondary school, students
and therefor parents deal with multiple teachers
(Kemmis & Ahern, 2010).

20. What confusions do people have about the issue?
Also as students move through school they tend to not
want their parents to be involved in their school lives
(Bull, Brooking & Campbell, 2008). Parents are only
invited to meet with teachers twice a year during formal
interviews.
According to an independent survey (2012) interviewing
21 parents and 22 teachers found that the majority of
parents believed their schedule was to busy to be
involved in their child’s schooling. See the next slide.

21. Limitations for parents not being involved at
school.
Negative memories from
personal school experiences
(0)
Child no longer want you to
be involved with their
schooling (2)
Busy schedule not allowing
you time (18)
Language/cultural barriers
(1)
Other (0)

22. Suggestions for clearing up the confusion
Image retrieved from: http://blog.expressocorp.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/05/confused_w300.png

23. Suggestions for clearing up the confusion
Parents and carers need to be encouraged more to be
involved with their child’s schooling. They do not need
to be an expert in a field of study; just showing an
interest can be enough to boost communication.
An independent survey (2012) asked parents and teachers
who they thought was responsible for maintaining the
home-school connection.
Parents Teachers
Parents Parents
Teachers Teachers
Students Students
All parties All parties

24. Suggestions for clearing up the confusion
Good communication between all parties is the first step
to ensuring good home-school connections, resulting in
student success in assessment. Teachers can provide
parents and carers with information regarding what is
being covered during class times, and again with
assessment tasks, informing parents how the can assist
their child to achieve results.

25. Suggestions for clearing up the confusion
This can be done in return by parents supplying the
teacher with information regarding the child.
Religious Languages
culture and spoken at
traditions home
Life Childs
changing strong likes
Information
events. the teacher and dislikes
should
know.

26. Suggestions for clearing up the confusion
Providing services that accommodate to parents busy
schedules would allow for better communication
between home and school. Such as:
• Email
• Regular phone calls
• Forums/blogs/wikis
• Communication books

27. When parents are aware of what is being covered at
school, they will be able to monitor their child's
involvement from home. Offering assistance where
necessary. This will allow students to access the
support needed to complete assessment tasks that
they may not of be able to do previously.

28. How can we defend
our suggestions?
Image retrieved fro:
http://www.sngsanantonio.com/Images/Two%20Thumbs%20Up.j
pg

29. How can we defend our suggestions?
The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for
Young Australians (2008) have compiled a number of
goals to ensure that all you Australians become
successful learners. Part of their commitment to
action is to develop stronger partnerships with
parents, carers and families (p. 10).

30. How can we defend our suggestions?
School policies and procedure handbooks offer a guide to
how the school operates. Each school must have an up to
date edition to abide by.
While investigating local schools and their policies
regarding the home school connection, a common
section was discovered. This encouraged the vision that
“Parents and families work together as partners in a
child’s education”.

31. How can we defend our suggestions?
The same vision was viewed in the policy hand book for
the following schools local of Yeppoon:
• Yeppoon State School Parent handbook (2010 p.2)
• Sacred Heart Primary (2012 p.21)
• Taranganba State School (2012 p.14)
• Yeppoon High School (2012)
• Farnborough State School (2012)
• St Ursula’s Collage Ltd. (2011. p1)

32. How can we defend our suggestions?
The repetition about the value of establishing a home-school
connection proves that it is a vital step in ensuring student
success. A study conducted by the New Zealand council for
educational research concluded that students who are exposed to
a positive home-school connection will:
• Earn higher grades and test scores, and will enrol in higher
level programs.
• Attend school regularly
• Better social skills, show improved behaviour and adapt well to
school.
• Graduate or go on to post secondary education.
Data retrieved from Successful home-school partnerships (Bull. A,. Brooking. K., &
Campbell. R,. 2008

33. Completed Graphic Organiser for Investigation.
Concept / Scenario:
What importance is the connection between home and school when ensuring student
success in assessments
Known or agreed upon: Confusions or contradictions:
• Parent involvement in the early years is • Many barriers can limit interactions
important to the social and emotional between parents and teaches.
development, this continues into later • Older students tend to not want their
years. parents to be involved
• Parents rely on teachers to educate • During secondary school relationships
their child. are hard to build due to multiple
teachers.
Resolution:
The theory of positive home-school connections is constantly mentioned throughout
guiding policies, curriculum documents, educational frameworks and school policies and
procedure handbooks. This repetition highlights the importance of this connection, and
how when implemented positively will ensure student success in assessments.

34. References
Ashman. A., & Elkins. J. (2002). Educating Children with Diverse abilities. Frenchs Forrest, NSW: Pearson
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace. (2009). Belonging, Being and
Becoming -The Early Years Learning Framework. Commonwealth of Australia.
Berthelsen, D,. & Walker, S,. (2008). Parent Involvement in their children’s education. Family matters no. 79
Brady. L. & Kennedy. K. (2012). Assessment and Reporting celebrating student achievement. Frenchs Forest.
NSW: Pearson
Bull. A., Brooking. K. & Campbell. R. (2008). Successful home-school partnerships. New Zealand: New Zealand
council for educational research.
Ewing. R., Lowrie. T. & Higgs. J. (2010). Teaching and communicating rethinking professional experiences.
Melbourne. VIC: Oxford

35. Farnborough State School. (2012). Policies and Procedures. retrieved from
http://farnboross.eq.edu.au/wcms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=104
Queensland Studies Authority. (2008). P-12 Syllabus design principles. retrieved from:
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach/syll_design_principles.pdf
Marzano, R., Pickering, D., Arredondo, D., Blackburn, G., Brandt, R., Moffett, C., Paynter, D., Pollock, J., & Whisler, J. (1997).
Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual (2nd Ed.) Denver, Colorado, USA: ASCD
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for
Young Australians. retrieved from:
http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf
Sacred Heart Yeppoon. (2012). Information Handbook. Retrieved from
http://www.shyrok.catholic.edu.au/forms/Information%20Booklet.pdf
Greenburg. P. (n.d.). The Home-School Connection. retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/the-home-school-
connection/
St. Ursula’s Collage Ltd. (2011). Parent/College Relationship. retrieved from
http://www.stursulas.qld.edu.au/publications/policies/PolicyUpdateOct12/Parent%20College%20Partnership%20feb%202011.pdf
Taranganba State School. (n.d). School Handbook. Retrieved from
http://taranganbass.eq.edu.au/wcms/images/Documents/Enrolments/handbook.pdf
Yeppoon State School. (2010). School Prospectus. retrieved from:
http://yeppoonss.eq.edu.au/wcms/images/enrolment_package/schoolprospectus12072010.pdf