Creating Welcoming Schools: A Practical Guide to Home-School Partners with Diverse Families

by JoBeth Allen

This engaging and rich resource details how schools and diverse families throughout the country have formed partnerships that support and enhance student learning. It is designed for teachers who care deeply about students and welcome diverse families as partners; for parents who want to be active partners in educating their children; and for administrators in diverse schools or districts who know there is no quick fix for building lasting partnerships among families, schools, and the community. Going far beyond traditional “parent involvement programs,” this essential

Genres: Education

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

JoBeth Allen retired from the University of Georgia in 2014 where she loved teaching, writing, and codirecting the Red Clay Writing Project where all of us met. She relishes spending more time with her family, including grandchildren Grace, Luke, Mia, Cora, and Anikin. Her educational passion now is work with undocumented immigrant students pursuing higher education in the face of institutional and societal barriers.

Reviews

[Heather Wall · Rating 3 out of 5]

JoBeth has written a very conversational book that challenges both teachers and parents to create schools that invite parents to be equal participants in their child 19s learning. She sprinkles many anecdotes throughout the book, along with practical suggestions for ways for parents, students and teachers to connect. These include dialogue journals, social justice projects, family stories, and suggestions for powerful conferences. JoBeth writes in the first person and often addresses the readers, who she envisions as a group of parents and teachers working together to develop their relationships at their school. She explores cultural barriers and provides suggestions for crossing them while making room for the many different types of families we encounter in schools today. Very well written, and very practical.

[Mollie Kruger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful look at how to make welcoming schools and thus welcoming classrooms