Partnering with Parents to Ask the Right Questions

A Powerful Strategy for Strengthening School-Family Partnerships

Luz Santana, Dan Rothstein, Agnes Bain

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781416622673
• eBook ISBN: 9781416623236
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Theory & Practice

How can we make it easier for schools and families to work together on behalf of all students? It all begins by tapping into the different strengths educators and parents and caregivers can contribute to building a strong partnership.

Partnering with Parents to Ask the Right Questions, by Luz Santana, Dan Rothstein, and Agnes Bain of the Right Question Institute, presents a deceptively simple strategy for how educators can build effective partnerships with parents—especially those who typically have not been actively involved in their children's schooling. It distills complex, important ideas on effective civic participation into an easy-to-learn process that teaches parents two fundamental skills they can use to support the education of their children, monitor their progress, and advocate for them: asking better questions and participating effectively in key decisions.

Based on more than two decades of work and research in a wide range of low- and moderate-income communities, this book empowers overburdened and under-resourced educators and parents to work together and achieve their common goal of successful students.

This indispensable guide includes case studies spanning K–12 classrooms, and it explores ways to assist struggling students, collaborate on IEPs, and communicate with families of English language learners.

The accessible and easy-to-use format, field-tested advice, and vivid examples from schools that put the advice into practice make this a must-have for everyone from the classroom to the central office.

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Chapter 1

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The Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy

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The Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy (Right Question Strategy) is a deceptively simple strategy that can be used with all parents, including those who are already active and those who have not participated previously, to greatly enhance their ability to partner more effectively with educators on students' behalf. It has just three core components: one set of specific roles for parents to play and two skills that allow them to play those roles effectively. Research in different fields and diverse communities has shown that the Right Question Strategy, despite its simplicity, quickly and efficiently produces profound cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes, as you will see in the following chapters.

The strategy is designed to allow for a modular approach to make it easier to implement. There are many ways to mix and match the three components in your work with parents and families. The case study chapters (Chapter 2–6) demonstrate the strategy's flexibility by exploring a variety of adaptations depending on different challenges, goals, ages and other demographics, and student needs.

The three key components are as follows.

1. Question Formulation Technique (QFT): Developing the Skill of Question Formulation

• A step-by-step process that allows parents to produce their own questions, improve their questions, and strategize on how to use their questions.
• The QFT also makes it possible to use three distinct thinking abilities in one process:
  • » Divergent thinking
  • » Convergent thinking
  • » Metacognitive thinking

2. Framework for Accountable Decision Making (FADM): Developing the Skill of Participating Effectively in Decisions

• A clear analytical structure that allows parents to focus sharply on key decisions, ask their own questions, and apply specific criteria for ensuring accountable decision making.
• Use of the FADM begins with defining a decision as the selection of one option among two or more options and then using that definition to identify key decisions.
• Three criteria to apply to decisions:
  • » There is a legitimate reason for the decision.
  • » There is a transparent process for the decision.
  • » Anyone affected by the decision has an opportunity to participate—to play a role in the decision-making process.

3. The Support, Monitor, and Advocate Model: Partnering Effectively with Educators

Parents can play the following three roles:

• Support their children's education.
• Monitor their progress.
• Advocate for them when necessary.

These components of the Right Question Strategy constitute the core content, the what of the strategy, but to use the strategy most effectively requires a clear understanding of the how—that is, the principles and best practices related to how the strategy is taught, facilitated, and shared (Karchmer, 2010). The entire Right Question Strategy is grounded in a strengths-based approach that recognizes the potential of all parents, regardless of their literacy level or background, to ask good questions, participate effectively in decisions, and partner constructively with schools. Teaching resources and templates to support your use of the strategy in a range of settings can be found in Appendix B.

The Question Formulation Technique (QFT)

The QFT provides a rigorous process that helps all people develop their ability to ask their own questions. The technique has been effectively used in a variety of fields and communities and with adults across a range of educational levels. A full description of how it is used by teachers with students in the classroom can be found in our book Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions (Rothstein & Santana, 2011). On the website of the Right Question Institute, you can also access many more examples of how teachers across the world implement the QFT with great success.

The full QFT process includes five general steps. In those five steps, parents (1) produce their own questions, (2) work with and improve their own questions, (3) prioritize their questions, (4) strategize on next steps and how to use the questions, and (5) reflect on what they have learned by working with their questions.

It is not necessary to always use all five steps together, for there are situations where one or several of the steps are more important to use than others. In the case studies included in this book, you will see this flexibility and how educators use the QFT differently depending on the setting, their goals, and the people with whom they are working.

Preparing to Use the QFT and Facilitate the Process with Parents

The QFT is a simple process, but using it well requires some preparation and implementation is enhanced by specific best practices that ensure its maximum benefit when working with colleagues and parents. We will provide specific examples of how to do this, but before we do that, here are the basic steps in your use of the QFT.

In Step 1, you present four rules for producing questions, and parents then discuss the challenges they might face in following them. Then they start asking questions about a Question Focus you have created. In Step 2, parents categorize their questions as open- or closed-ended, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both kinds of questions, and practice changing questions from one type to the other. In Step 3, you provide prioritization instructions that will guide how parents work with their questions and prioritize them. In Step 4, parents strategize about how they plan to use their questions as they discuss their "next steps." In Step 5, parents reflect on what they have learned by working with their own questions and how they can use what they learned.

Step 1: Produce Your Own Questions

Determine a Question Focus

A Question Focus is a catalyst for parents' questions. Designing the Question Focus (QFocus) begins with the purpose and end goal in mind; do you want to use a Question Focus to start the question-asking process about a specific issue, to set an agenda, to problem solve, or for another purpose? You can design a QFocus with any kind of goal in mind, but you should try to keep it as simple as possible, and you should assess it—test it out—to see if it is compelling enough to stimulate multiple lines of questioning.

The QFocus can be drawn from actual situations parents are facing—a child not making expected progress, a child being referred for a special education evaluation, a child at risk of being held back, or broader topics such as academic standards, safety, the school environment, or changes at the school. The QFocus should be designed with enough "hooks" to grab parents' attention or create a sense of urgency, such as "Your child is being referred for an evaluation" or "There will be changes made on how a student's progress will be measured at your child's school."

It is important when designing a Question Focus to consider how to take a topic that might be too broad and sharpen it; for example, going from "new school policies" to "New school policies on grading will be created this year." The latter is more likely to stimulate a flow of questions.

You will see just how this plays out in Chapter 2 when a teacher considers how best to use the QFT with a student's mother in order to engage her as a partner in solving a problem. In that scenario, the child has suddenly stopped doing his homework even though he had always turned it in on time. The teacher reaches out to the boy's mother to set up a meeting and plans to use the QFT to engage her as a partner in problem solving. The teacher got to work thinking about some Question Focus examples. She knew that she had to come up with multiple options rather than just the first one that came to mind.

After she came up with several, she reviewed them. The first one, "S is not doing his homework," might immediately put the mother on the defensive, as if it were the mother's fault that her son was not doing his homework. She looked at another: "Something seems to have changed about S." This one might also strike fear in the heart of the mother, sounding all too worrisome. Then she thought about another factual statement: "Three times in the past two weeks S did not turn in his homework." This one might work, without giving the impression that S never does his homework. She compared it to another one, "S seems to be having trouble doing his homework."

The QFocus highlighting how many times in the last two weeks the homework wasn't done could definitely start some questioning. She decided, however, to go with the simpler one, which was more observational in tone. The word seems left some wiggle room for interpretation and discussion and was less harsh than declaring a problem. Its tone also seemed to invite the mother into the thinking process in order to help the teacher figure out how best to help the student.

There is an art to designing the Question Focus. Teachers report that although it is a different way of working—it's a small shift in practice from asking questions of students or parents—it grows on them as they see how it stimulates new thinking and more engagement. It also gets easier to design an effective Question Focus the more you practice.

An exploration of the QFocus and a step-by-step process on how to design it can be found in Appendix B.

Discuss the Rules for Producing Questions

There are four rules for producing questions. When you present them to parents, request that they think about and discuss what might be difficult about following them.

1. Ask as many questions as you can.
2. Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer the questions.
3. Write down every question exactly as stated.
4. Change any statements into questions.

As shown in Figure 1.1, these rules go much further than simply asking, "Do you have any questions?' or saying, "Ask some questions." Instead, the rules provide a clear structure that shows how parents can generate their own questions. It took us close to eight years to come up with these four rules. Now, if you've quickly done the math, you know that comes out to half a rule per year. We actually spent a good amount of time over all those years trying to figure out which of the 100 or so possible suggestions about how to ask your own questions could be eliminated. We tried to answer this question: What is the absolute minimum number of rules needed in order to make it easier for all people to ask their own questions?

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Figure 1.1 Contexts for Creating a Question Focus

Your student …

• Is not turning in homework.
• Is doing OK but could work harder.
• Seems bored.
• Is very strong in some areas, but weak in others.
• Will need to attend summer school.
• Needs additional help.
• Is having some behavior problems.
• Is falling behind classmates.
• Is struggling in _______________ (e.g., math, science, reading, writing).

General Education Topics

• Report cards
• Curriculum
• Changes in schedule
• School policies (attendance, discipline, class assignments, homework)
• Testing
• Parent-teacher partnership

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Einstein said, "Make things as simple as possible and no simpler." The wisdom of that observation is relevant here. We would be delighted if there were a need for only one rule, specifically the first one: Ask as many questions as you can. However, we have learned through much trial and error that without the other three rules, the first one alone is not sufficient to get everyone asking their own questions. The other three rules create a safe space and a disciplined "no judgment" zone that encourages people to think and question freely without fear of being considered to have asked a "stupid question." The four rules together create the safe environment within which even reticent parents can begin to identify what they don't know or what they want to know.

Produce the Questions

Following the rules, parents produce all kinds of questions without discussing, judging, or trying to answer them. They are also encouraged to number their questions in sequential order, which will make it easier to work on the next parts of the process.

Step 2: Improve Your Questions

Categorize the Questions

You will share with parents this simple definition of closed- and open-ended questions: Closed-ended questions can be answered with one word (e.g., yes or no). Open-ended questions require an explanation or more information. Parents then review their list of questions and categorize each one as closed or open.

This may appear to be a simple task, but it can be challenging at times and it can stimulate a lot of new thinking about questions and their structure.

Discuss the Value of Each Question Category

Parents are asked to name the advantages and disadvantages of asking each type of question. They learn that each type is useful based on purpose. This message may be contrary to the commonly held idea that some questions—the open-ended ones—are better than others.

Practice Changing Questions from One Category to the Other

Parents then practice changing questions from closed to open and from open to closed and gain a deeper understanding of question formulation. This exercise in categorizing and then changing their questions brings an important new awareness for parents. They often comment that they not only learned about the different kinds of questions and how to change them but also discovered through the process that "how you ask a question can get you different kinds of information."

Step 3: Prioritize Your Questions

Prioritization helps parents assess their own questions and prepares them for strategizing on their next steps. The discussion that occurs while prioritizing allows them to think more deeply about their questions.

Select Priority Questions Based on Prioritization Instructions

Parents choose three priority questions based on the prioritization instructions you will provide. Instructions will vary depending on specific goals, purposes, next steps, and many other factors. The design of the prioritization instructions should be part of a process for preparing to use the QFT. Examples include the following:

• Which three questions do you want to get answered first?
• Which three questions are the most important to you?
• Which three questions will help you address the problem immediately?
• Which three questions will help you figure out your next steps?

Step 4: Discuss and Strategize on Next Steps

Parents now are ready to work on their next steps, what they will do with their priority questions, and the insights they have gained through working with all of their questions. Next steps might be to gather new information, plan to meet with people who can or should be asked the questions, engage more parents and educators in thinking about the questions, or develop an action plan based on the questions. There are many avenues to explore, and selecting one will depend on the specific needs and purposes of each situation.

Step 5: Reflect on What Has Been Learned

Taking a moment for reflection may seem unnecessary at this point or, at best, a luxury that time does not allow. Parents have already done much of the intellectual labor, produced their own questions, refined their questions, prioritized them, and strategized on how to use them as they weigh next steps. They have done a lot. Why, then, is it important to now add a few minutes for them to ref...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction. Making Meaningful School-Family Partnerships Easier
• Chapter 1. The Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy
• Chapter 2. Partnership Through Teacher-Initiated Change
• Chapter 3. Partnership Through School-Initiated Change
• Chapter 4. An IEP Partnership Through Parent Liaison–Initiated Change
• Chapter 5. Partnership to Increase Equity Through District-Initiated Change
• Chapter 6. ELL Parents and Parent-Initiated Change
• Conclusion
• Appendix A. Resources for Further Reading
• Appendix B. Materials for Facilitating the Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy
• References
• Study Guide
• Related ASCD Resources
• About the Authors
• Copyright