An ASCD Study Guide for Partnering with Parents to Ask the Right Questions: A Powerful Strategy for Strengthening School-Family Partnerships

Question Focus: There is a resource for making the development of strong school-family partnerships easier.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. What are the aims of this book?
3. Why does RQI emphasize providing a strategy and not a program?
4. What did you learn about the source and development of the Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy (RQI strategy)?
5. What do you understand now about the purpose of the strategy and the goal of this publication?

Chapter 1. The Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy

Question Focus: The Right Question Strategy

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. What forms the foundation of the Right Question Strategy?
3. What is the value of the strategy's components for parents?

The Question Formulation Technique (QFT)

1. Why would it be valuable for parents to
   
   • Discuss the rules for producing questions?
   • Produce their own questions?
   • Identify closed- and open-ended questions?
   • Practice changing questions from one type to another?
   • Prioritize their questions?
   • Name next steps or how to use the questions?
   • Reflect on what they have learned?
2. What should be kept in mind when designing a Question Focus?
3. Which thinking abilities are developed through the Question Formulation Technique?

Framework for Accountable Decision Making

1. How parents will benefit from
   
   • Having the ability to identify decisions?
   • Learning about key points to look for in any decision: reasons, process, and role?
   • Asking questions about the reason for a decision.
   • Asking questions about the process for making a decision.
   • Asking questions about the role they can play in a decision-making process.
2. Which democratic decision-making principles are represented in the components of the framework?

Support, Monitor, and Advocate: A Model for Parent Participation

1. Why is it useful for parents to know about the three key roles they can play: support, monitor, and advocate?
2. Why is it important for parents to recognize how they are currently playing these roles and how they can do more?
3. Why is it important for parents to have a model that defines the three roles they can play?

Chapter 2. Partnership Through Teacher-Initiated Change

Question Focus: Teachers can easily integrate a simple process into their work that builds partnerships with parents.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. Which of these strategies have you used with parents?
   
   

   __ shared your contact information	__ sent reminders
   __ provided updates	__ sent letters or special notes
   __ followed up on requests for information	__ checked in
   __ invited parents to meetings	__ gave advice on how to help at home
   __ gave parents a list of questions to ask	__ other:

   
   
3. What differences do you see between using the Question Formulation Technique and the strategies listed above?
4. What do you understand about designing a Question Focus to engage individual parents to ask questions?
5. How did the teacher facilitate the process for the parent to produce and improve questions? What did she refrain from doing?
6. What value do you see in engaging parents to ask questions around the issue of homework?
7. What are some other issues affecting children that teachers can use to build parents' question-asking skills?
8. How are the ideas shared in this chapter relevant to your work?

Chapter 3. Partnership Through School-Initiated Change

Question Focus: Integrating the Right Question Strategy into existing school activities to engage parents in problem solving.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. Which components of the RQI strategy were used in this chapter to work with groups of parents?
3. What do you understand now about designing a Question Focus to engage parents in problem solving?
4. What are your observations about how the process was facilitated and the roles staff played? (Pay attention to the introduction of the three roles—support, monitor, and advocate—and how parents asked questions using the Question Formulation Technique.)
5. What did facilitators and group scribes refrain from doing during the facilitation of the process?
6. What are some benefits of integrating the Right Question Strategy into existing school activities?
7. How did the open house serve as a starting point for building partnerships?
8. What are some other examples of school activities where the strategy can be integrated to build partnerships?

Chapter 4. An IEP Partnership Through Parent Liaison-Initiated Change

Question Focus: Building parents skills to participate more effectively in decisions affecting their children.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. Which components of the RQI strategy were used in this chapter?
3. Why is it important for parents to ask questions at IEP meetings about decisions and to know about the three different roles they can play?
4. In what way does using the Right Question Strategy differ from how parents usually prepare for IEPs?
5. How did the parent liaison facilitate the different components of the strategy?
6. What strategies did she use to engage the parent to think about the three roles and learn about decisions?
7. How did learning the strategy prepare the parent to partner?
8. What difference could learning the strategy make for the parent, child, and school?
9. What did you learn in this chapter that can you apply to your work?

Chapter 5. Partnership to Increase Equity Through District-Initiated Change

Question Focus: Schools can engage parents and the community to increase equitable outcomes.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. What components of the Right Question Strategy were used to work with parents in the case study?
3. In what capacity did school staff engage parents? What role were parents expected to play in the decision-making process?
4. What was the plan for using the questions that parents produced?
5. The parents produced questions, prioritized them, and identified questions about reasons, process, and role. How was the Framework for Accountable Decision Making used?
6. What changes in practice did school staff make when facilitating the strategy?
7. How did parents react to the process they experienced? What were some of their reflections?
8. What are some advantages of partnering with parents when changes are made at school?
9. What are some other examples of school changes to which the strategy used in this chapter could be applied?

Chapter 6. ELL Parents and Parent-Initiated Change

Question Focus: The role of community organizations in equipping ELL parents to partner with their children's schools.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. What are some examples of traditional approaches to working with ELL families?
3. What role can community-based human service agencies play in building parents' skills for partnering?
4. Why can they serve as a resource to reach and engage parents?
5. Which components of the Right Question Strategy are used in the example in this chapter?
6. Who introduces parents to the strategy?
7. How did E prepare the initial group of parents to serve as a resource in the facilitation of a community meeting? What did he recommend as the most important points to keep in mind during the facilitation of the process?
8. What did parents realize about the decision-making process?
9. What was the purpose of introducing parents to the Framework for Accountable Decision Making?
10. What happened during the meeting? What were the outcomes?
11. What ideas from this chapter can you apply to your work?

Conclusion

Question Focus: One year after we began to use the Right Question School-Family Partnership Strategy.

1. Make a list of questions about this topic. Do not judge or try to answer your questions. Write down the questions exactly as they come to mind. (3 minutes)
2. Choose three questions you would like to get answered in this chapter.

Reflection

1. Did you find answers to your questions?
2. What is the significance of the stories presented in the case studies in this chapter?
3. What kind of transformation and outcomes occur when the Right Question Strategy is put into action?
4. What is demonstrated through the case studies in this chapter?
5. What is the connection among building skills, equity, and democracy?
6. What do you know now that you didn't know when you began reading this book?
7. How are the ideas and strategies shared in this book relevant for your work?

Partnering with Parents to Ask the Right Questions: A Powerful Strategy for Strengthening School-Family Partnerships was written by Luz Santana, Dan Rothstein, and Agnes Bain. This 233-page, 7" x 9" book (Stock #117011; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2267-3) is available from ASCD for $21.95 (ASCD member) or $29.95 (nonmember). Copyright © 2016 by Right Question Institute. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.