As the debate over public education rages on, one area that almost everyone agrees on is the importance of parent involvement. But what exactly is parent involvement? How open are our schools to genuine partnerships? How well do our schools engage with low income communities and communities of color? What happens when the cultural values reflected in our public schools clash with the values and experiences of students and their families?
The evening of Wednesday, December 11, hosts Tom O’Connell and Michelle Alimoradi spoke to panelists and guests at the Minneapolis Urban League about approaches that go beyond site councils and parent-teacher meetings (as important as they are) to deeper relationships between schools, parents and communities. Tune in this Monday at 9am to hear the audio reprise of last week’s live forum.
Guests:
Victoria Balko- Former Chair, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change Education Committee
Zuke Ellis & Rebecca Wade- Parent/Teacher Home visit program team, St. Paul Federation of Teachers St. Paul
Kristen Talbert- Participant, Absent Narratives Project sponsored by the Minnesota Humanities Commission, currently works at the Ain Dah Yung Center for Native Youth.
Tracine Asberry- Minneapolis School Board Member, District 2, former Minneapolis Public Schools and teacher and parent, PhD in Critical Pedagogy from the University of St. Thoma<iframe width=”550″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/Q2fB10H4BZY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>