5 A Missed Opportunity: Mia’s First Back To School Night

Excited to begin her first year of teaching, Mia read through the email her principal sent to the entire middle school staff. The principal included a schedule for the week before students returned; there were times noted for professional learning, team meetings, and individual preparation, as well as the time for a back to school night. Mia reviewed the schedule and began preparing the information she would share with families. When the back to school night arrived, she had practically memorized her script that she practiced alongside her creative powerpoint slides: she shared the learning goals for the year, her preferred contact information, and a few things about herself so the families could get to know her. She provided hand-outs with all of the information that she verbally shared and her smile wasn’t forced because she was genuinely excited to share! Not to mention the fact that her presentation was perfectly timed–the bell rang just as she finished.

After a few weeks, Mia began to wonder why she didn’t hear from students’ parents and other important adults. No one reached out with questions or concerns, as she invited them to do, though some of her students seemed uninterested in the course material or in demonstrating the level of success that she knew they were capable of. 

What happened here? Let’s consider the perspective of a family who attended her presentation to help us understand the potential disconnect.

Bess and Manny looked forward to meeting all of their children’s teachers. They managed to attend the elementary school event and meet both of their younger children’s teachers before rushing to the middle school to meet all seven teachers working with their oldest child. By the time they arrived at the middle school, they felt a bit overwhelmed. They had just signed so many forms, met two teachers, and navigated a very busy parking situation. They were a bit late, but worked to catch up. By the time they found Mia’s classroom, they had already met four other middle school teachers and learned that they would need to find another time to meet with the ESL teacher as well. Bess and Manny both came to the U.S. as refugees and were conversational in English, though they spoke their home language with each other. Mia’s powerpoint and handout were in a font that Bess and Manny found difficult to read. There were no materials accessible in their primary language, but they would have felt comfortable reading less “swirly” text. She mentioned an online tool where they could see their children’s grades, but the organization of that site seemed a bit challenging, especially given the font choices. They appreciated the opportunity to connect a face with each teacher’s name. Mia seemed particularly warm and kind. They were grateful for that. Once they got home, they put all of the papers from the nine teachers they met and the contact information for the ESL teacher and two school counselors in a folder. They would find time to look through everything if a major challenge arose.

Mapp and Bergman (2019) remind us that educators may not have received necessary preparation for effective family-school partnership work and only personally observed or experienced ineffective practices. Like many novice teachers, Mia drew on her own observations from her practicum and internship experiences to prepare an informative presentation to families. She remembered to use multiple means of information-sharing: an oral presentation, visual slides, and handouts. She hadn’t seen other teachers use this opportunity for a conversation, so she didn’t consider that these families felt overwhelmed by the amount of information received across multiple schools, grade levels, and offices at the start of the year. She hadn’t thought about the ways this first meeting could serve as the foundation for a trusting, collaborative relationship by inviting families to share information with her, as opposed to their role as passive recipients of information. Let’s instead reimagine Mia’s preparation and facilitation of a true conversation:

Excited to begin her first year of teaching, Mia read through the email her principal sent to the entire middle school staff. The principal included a schedule for the week before students returned: professional learning, team meeting, and individual preparation time, as well as the time for a back to school night. Mia reviewed the schedule and began jotting down everything she wanted to know about her students and their families. Knowing that she couldn’t learn everything that night and share the expected points of information, she began to organize her ideas into two larger categories: Information to Share and Information to Learn. Once she had a long list of necessary information to share, she began to organize it into smaller, more digestible pieces so she wouldn’t overwhelm anyone. She obtained contact information for the families, asked the instructional technology specialist about the approved text message system to use, and sent a brief email and text to all families to introduce herself and share her contact information. She then included an easy response method for families to share their preferred mode of communication, adults to contact, and spoken languages. On back to school night, she welcomed everyone verbally and displayed just a few powerpoint slides. The first had a QR code to a brief questionnaire, but she made sure to distribute it in paper form as well. Families could fill it out on their personal devices or write down responses in the moment. She asked, “What does your child do really well in school?” and “Where would you like to see your child improve?” She also asked, “What are some of the ways you have (or wish you could) support your child’s learning at home?” and “If given the choice, what would your child choose to do with their time?”

In this version, Mia focused on what she needed to know from them, learning more about each family’s focus and what they value, as well as making clear that she wanted to support them as they support their child.

In our analysis of Mia’s, Manny’s, and Bess’ experiences, we see that a common school experience, back to school night, can take various forms. Much like classroom newsletters and other school-based events, many educators see the purpose as information sharing, rather than information gathering and/ or relationship building.