Building Collective Ownership in the School Community Through Authentic Engagement of Latino Families and Students: A Professional Development for School

Research has shown that students who have parents that are involved in their education have higher school attendance, school participation and graduation rates. The professional development series developed for this project focuses on the most effective methods teachers and support staff can utilize to authentically engage Latino families in their child\u27s education. In the past, teachers and support staff have expressed frustration at what they perceive as lack of participation in school activities by English Language Learner families. This project discusses traditional and non traditional methods for authentically engaging Latino parents in their children’s education. These methods first require staff to understand their own bias towards Latino families and work to understand the cultures and traditions that reflect the ways families choose to engage in their school communities. The main goal of the project is to help all staff build a trusting relationship with the Latino families in their school community which will hopefully in turn support Latino families in being more involved in their children\u27s education. There is also a goal of staff seeing our Latino families as assets to the community not deficits as well as funds of knowledge about their individual cultures