Positive stories of effecting change.

[kathymuggle]

I would love to hear stories of parents who were unhappy with something in the school environment - advocated for change - and was successfull. I would like to know what you were unhappy about, how you advocated, and the change that took place.

There is no personal reason for this - other than I know I am not particularly good at advocating from change, and would love to learn from those who are. I have a DD enterring school tomorrow, and would enjoy a bit of advice in advance on how to effectively advocate if the need arises.

[karne]

I don't know if this will resonate with you or not, but i'll throw it out there. My experience has been that I need to know, first hand, what the day to day school experience is. What the curriculum looks like in practice, what classroom management looks like, how certain programs are run-you get the idea. I have mostly done this through volunteer work, any thing I can possibly do, I volunteer for, as does DH when he has a moment to give. I have found that any suggestions I have to make are taken far more seriously when I am a "known quantity", so to speak, and I have also shown my willingness to support the educational environment as best as I can. Godd relationships with principals, teachers, etc. foster mutual respect in my experience.

Do you have an idea of what sort of advocacy you'll need or want to be looking at this year?

[LauraLoo]

subbing.......

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by karne

Do you have an idea of what sort of advocacy you'll need or want to be looking at this year?

Well, I will answer because it may be useful, but I a really am interested in focusing on others experiences instead of this thread being about me. I don't want to buy trouble and the school may be fine. But I want to know how to advocate in case they are not

2 issues:

1. DD is gifted (tested). She is in school for the first time in 4.5 years, after being HSed/USed. I expect she will have gaps in her education, but will catch up quickly. I worry about how they will interpret a child who has gaps in academia but scored very high (98% percentile) on the WISC. This school district is not known for being very gifted-child friendly as a whole, and my biggest worry is that I will have the school saying she is not gifted, or they do not plan to differentiate, due to her not performing perfectly on their academic tests.

2. I often have issues with schools, lol - from rules, to homework, to discipline. That being said, I am committed to being reasonable - my DD is choosing to go to school, and is 11, not 6, so by choosing to go to school she is choosing to tolerate some of the stuff I find nonsense. It is possible they will have a rule or policy that i genuinely cannot abide - and I would like a gameplan in advance on how to deal with such things. I have not been overly effective in the past.

I do like your idea of volunteering - so I am a known entity and can foster positive relationships ahead of time.