ECH ED 4196

ECE 4196 The Learning Community: Family and Community Relationships (Writing Intensive) MWF 12:00 to 12:50 and 1:00 to 1:50 in Ritter Hall 301 Instructor Information Judy Flanigan 215.370.2570 judith.flanigan@temple.edu Office hours: 2:00-3:00 pm by prior arrangement Course Objectives The purpose of this course is to provide pre-service early childhood and elementary-grade teachers with critical information about (a) what school-family-community relationships are; (b) how they can promote childrens early academic and social development as well as other family and school outcomes; and (c) how teachers and other educators can build strong, healthy, professional, and mutually beneficial relationships with families and communities. An important theme in this course is that all children, families, schools, and communities are different. Consequently, students in this course will learn about this diversity, develop knowledge about general guidelines for good practice, and spend time tailoring these guidelines to specific situations that they have encountered or are likely to encounter in their careers as educators. In addition, as this is a writing intensive course, the course will help you (d) understand how to write cogently and effectively in the social sciences, as well as (e) increase your awareness of teacher-friendly and academic resources addressing school-family partnerships. Course Text Berger, E. H. & Riojas-Cortez, M. R. (2011). Parents as partners in education: Families and schools working together, eighth ed. Prentice Hall. ISBN: 9780137072071. Supplementary readings may be added during the course to suit the interests and needs of students in the course; any readings from other sources will be provided online through Blackboard at least one week before readings are due and you will be notified in class or by email that they are available.

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Course Guidelines 1. Students who exceed 2 absences will receive a lowered or failing grade, or at the instructors discretion, be advised to withdraw from the class. Attendance irregularities (arriving late or leaving early) will also result in a lowered final grade. Courses in ECE/ELEM ED are intended to develop professional understandings, habits and attitudes. Since attendance and punctuality are of critical importance in a professional person, the faculty of ECE/ELEM ED has a no cut policy. 2. Assignments are due at the end of class. No emailed assignments will be accepted. No late assignments accepted beyond 3 days. 3. Disability policy: Temple University provides reasonable accommodations to students in accordance with the ADA. At the beginning of each semester, any students with a disability should inform the professor if instructional accommodations or academic adjustments will be needed. For more information, please contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280. 4. Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities Policy (#03.70.02): Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has a policy on Student and Faculty and Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy #03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02 5. Temple University has guidelines for plagiarism. Please go to the university website:www.temple.edu/bulletin/Responsibilities_rights/responsibilities/responsibilities.shtm that discusses plagiarism. The following is an example of providing appropriate American Psychological Association (APA) citation when copying or borrowing significant amounts of someone elses work. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's labor, another person's ideas, another person's words, another person's assistance. Normally, all work done for courses -- papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations -- is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources -journals, books, or other media --, these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor's responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources -- suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language -- must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Undocumented use of materials from the World Wide Web is plagiarism. (Temple website, 2005). 2

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Course requirements/grading procedures Four Reading responses=5 points each/20 points total Case Study=10 points Parent Communication project=15 Final Paper=45 points Presentation of paper=10

Total points=100 Grades Grade of A = 94 to 100%; Grade of A- = 90 to 93 Grade of B+ = 87 to 89%; Grade of B = 84 to 86; Grade of B- = 80 to 83 Grade of C+ = 77 to 79%; Grade of C = 74 to 76; Grade of C- = 70 to 73 Grade of D+ = 67 to 69%; Grade of D = 64 to 66; Grade of D- = 60 to 63. Grade of F = Below 60% Grading and Attendance Students who exceed 2 absences will receive a lowered or failing grade, or at the instructors discretion, be advised to withdraw from the class. Attendance irregularities (arriving late or leaving early) will also result in a lowered final grade. Courses in ECE/ELEM ED are intended to develop professional understandings, habits and attitudes. Since attendance and punctuality are of critical importance in a professional person, the faculty of ECE/ELEM ED has a no cut policy. Assignments Reading Responses Because readings are very important but sometimes dense, we draw on collaboration and discussion between students to help us understand these texts and connect them to our own prior observations and experiences. To help students share their questions and ideas, four times throughout the term (particularly concentrated in the early part of the semester), each student will write a Reading Response in which you respond to an open-ended prompt about the weeks readings. Case Study In order to use this information in your life as a teacher, you must apply the theories we discuss in class to actual, real-world situations. To provide some practice with this realworld application, you will read a scenario about a child and family and write an analysis of what is happening in this scenario and what could be done to improve the situation. Parent Communication Project Because effective communication between teachers and parents is critical to building homeschool partnerships, you will have an opportunity to learn about and practice with Web 2.0 tools which enhance interactions and communication between home and school. 3

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Partnership Proposal As you become an expert in family, school, and community partnership issues, it is important that you think deeply about the complex factors that come together in these interactions. This paper will span the worlds of scholars and practitioners, as you write a proposal to argue for a particular kind of family service, school-based activity, or community partnership. You will write the paper in stages, which include extensive opportunities for revision. Logistical Details Submitting Assignments Please submit hard copies of the assignments to the instructor on the due date. Penalty for Lateness Late assignments will be docked 10% per day; no assignments accepted after 3 days. Note that Saturday and Sunday each count as one day. Contacting the Instructor Please feel free to contact me personally. Email is best; during traditional business hours, you can generally expect a response within 24 hours. However, please be advised that I do not always check email after 5 pm and on weekends. .

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SYLLABUS BY WEEK Week of Jan 20 Jan 27 Feb 3 Feb 10 Feb 17 Feb 24 Mar 10 Mar 17 Mar 24 Mar 31 Apr 7 Apr14 Apr 21 Apr28/ May 5 Topic W:Introduction to ECE 4196 M: NAEYC Code of Ethics W: Discussion of ethical cases M: Observations/parenting W: Diversity: a childs perspective M: Theories of SFCP: Hoover-Dempsey W: Theories of SFCP: Epstein M: Communication W: Communication M: SFCP program proposal W: Writing Center Presentation Spring break M: Learning at Home W: Transitions M: PA Learning Standards-PreK and K W: SFCP and children with special needs M: Strengthening families/mandated reporting W: Searching educational databases M: Current research in SFCP W: Article review M: PA Learning Standards-1st & 2nd W: Advocating for children and families Sign up for individual meetings with instructor on Mon/Wed M: Images of Families in Childrens books W: peer review of papers M-W-F: Proposal Presentations Reading Due NAEYC link on Bb Chap 1 Chap 2 Chap 4 Chap 5 Chap 6 Chap 7 Chap 10 Chap 11 Chap 3 On highlighted days, class will meet in Ritter Hall computer lab on 3rd Floor F: Professionalism F: Reading Response 1 is due; family theory F: Reading Response 2 is due through link on Blackboard F: Reading Response 3 is due; application of theory F: Case Study is due F: presentation of communication projects F: Developing a Problem statement and program ideadraft due next Monday F:Theoretical analysisdraft due next Monday F: Synthesizing researchdraft due next Wednesday F: Program developmentdraft due next Monday F: First draft of proposal is due; presentation of articles F: holiday Chap 12 F: review of a peers first draft is due (Reading response 4) through link on Blackboard F: paper due on Bb on Monday, May 5th by noon .

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Assignment Sheet: Reading Responses How will this task help you learn? Because the readings for this course are very important but sometimes dense, we will use collaboration and discussion between students to help us understand. Having students reflect on the readings helps each of us to gain a deeper understanding of the work, which in turn enriches our conversations in class. These assignments also provide a low-stakes opportunity for you to receive feedback on your writing, which is especially valuable given that this is a writing intensive course. How often will you do this? Three times each student will be responsible for writing a thoughtful response to one of several prompts. Prompts will be open-ended questions provided by instructor. What kinds of prompts will you respond to? For example, we will read a chapter about the changing demographics of families in the United States. A prompt might ask: Chapter 2 argues that the diversity of families in the United States is increasing. Evaluate this assertion, thinking about some of the following questions. What exactly is diversity among families; put another way, including but not limited to the issues of ethnicity and language addressed in the chapter, how might the families you work with be similar to or different from one another? How do you think diversity among families will matter for you as a teacher? To what degree do you feel prepared to handle these trends, and what would you like to know more about in order to be a better teacher? What should these responses look like? There are no right or wrong answers to these prompts. Instead, there are lots of great ways to address each one. However, good responses address one question or issue in a thorough way, marshaling evidence in order to make a certain point or take-home message. In addition, good responses synthesize evidence from multiple sources (e.g., book chapters, real life). In other words, they show that you have thought carefully about an issue and make clear to your reader what, in the end, you actually think. Responses to the prompts should be 5 paragraphs/2 pages in length. How and when do we submit these responses? They will be at-home assignments due on dates listed on the syllabus. The final assignment will be a review of a peers proposal. How will these be graded? Each discussion question will be worth 5 points, graded from 0 to 5. Below, benchmarks describe what distinguishes responses with grades of 1, 3, and 5 points; those meriting scores of 2 and 4 fall between these guidelines. A score of 0 will be given to responses that are not submitted on time. Late assignments cannot be made up.

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Benchmarks for grading 1 point: Response alludes to reading only vaguely; provides no specific details Argument or thesis is not written clearly and is difficult to follow Errors in grammar, syntax, spelling, or punctuation are substantial, making response difficult to understand 3 points Response draws on reading but largely reiterates what the text(s) said; no synthesis or analysis, no complex point to the passage Argument or thesis is written a relatively clear manner, although some reorganization or reworking of the answer could make the response better Some errors in grammar, syntax, spelling, or punctuation 5 points Response refers to reading while also drawing inferences, synthesizing or analyzing; goes beyond the text and demonstrates the authors mastery of the ideas Argument or thesis is clear and easy to follow No errors in grammar, syntax, spelling, or punctuation

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Case Study 1 Case study will be posted on Blackboard a week before the due date. To write your analysis, please follow the guidance provided in class.

Evaluation Rubric Theory 5 points - Clarity and accuracy of application..3 points - Suggestion 1 clarity and accuracy ... 1 points - Suggestion 2 clarity and accuracy ..1 points Your plan .......5 points - What you will do.3 point - Why you have chosen this path2 points GRAND TOTAL =10 points

Partnership Proposal What is the purpose of this assignment? This assignment has two purposes: first, to help you become an expert about one aspect of family, school, and community partnerships that interests you; and second, to help you synthesize research and practitioner-friendly literatures in order to persuade educators, families, or other community stakeholders. In service of these goals, you will consider a realworld problem and think of a way that a family outreach program or partnership with the community could make a positive difference. Imagining that you are actually trying to bring your idea to life, you will then write a proposal that argues for why a school or school district, community foundation, family board, or other group should help with or support your project. Your proposal will ultimately be about 8 - 10 double-spaced pages long, and you will have multiple opportunities to rethink and revise over the course of the semester. Who is the audience for this paper? Because you are imagining that you are actually convincing others to support your idea, your audience should be someone in the real world who could help your project come to fruition. There are lots of appropriate choices for any idea. For example, if you were arguing for the value of starting a tutoring program in your school, you might pitch your idea to (a) the school principal; (b) the district school board; (c) the PTA, who could provide the volunteers, (d) a local business, who could provide volunteers; or some combination of these folks. Your 8

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instructor and peers will help you think about who the most suitable audience would be for your idea. Critically, though, you are NOT writing to a college professor. This means that you should avoid jargon (i.e., scaffolding, decoding, numeracy) as much as possible, or if you have to use it, define it clearly for your reader. The point of this assignment is to help you take what you know and translate it to the real world. Given your audience, the paper should not be longer than 10 double-spaced pages. After all, your reader will probably look through your proposal before making dinner or putting their kids to bed. Thus, your proposal needs to be clear, concise, and compelling. What are the multiple parts of this assignment? There are four parts to this assignment, but they are all interconnected. In particular, they all serve to convince the reader that (a) the problem you are discussing is important, (b) your idea for how to solve the problem using family, school, or community partnerships is based upon solid research, and (c) that your idea could actually work in the real world. Below, each step of the paper is described for you. I. Problem Statement (1 page) First, explain the problem that needs to be solved. Select a problem that interests you or write about something that you have witnessed or heard about in your own life. Please consult with instructor before beginning your proposal. Whatever you select should be of interest to you, as you will be spending considerable time learning about this content. It would also be ideal if this were an issue you might actually face down the road when you are teaching, so that you could build meaningful expertise for the future. II. Theoretical Analysis (about 1 page) In this section, tell us how the two of the theorists weve discussed in class would explain this problem. What do they think is going on with families and educators? What would they say should be done? To accomplish this task, you will need to draw on the course readings and lectures. This activity is, at its heart, similar to your case study. III. Synthesis of Research and Practitioner-friendly Literatures (about 2-3 pages) Next, tell us what the research says about how your family, school, and/or community partnership idea could help solve this problem. You must cite and refer to least three academic research sources and three teacher-friendly sources , to convince your reader that in this age of evidence-based practices you know what you are talking about. Specifically, what does the research say about any or all of the following: - the issues that lie at the heart of your problem? - the techniques that other people have tried to solve your problem? - the practices that actually work? - the open questions that remain? For this piece of the project, you will need to use search engines such as PsychInfo and ERIC, focusing on peer-reviewed works, to find your evidence. You might also check the 9

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websites of teacher-friendly publications such as Phi Delta Kappan, Young Children, Reading Teacher, and School Community Journal. Finally, check out the What Works Clearinghouse on the ed.gov website. We will discuss this topic in class so that you have a better sense of how to use these search engines and resources. Be advised that websites such as ask.com and Wikipedia are not appropriate for this project. Once you have found some helpful resources, dont just cite them in the paper. Tell the reader a little bit about what they say. Provide a brief (just a few sentences) summary of what you have learned from them in your text, so that the reader gets the gist of these works. IV. Proposed Program, Activity, or Partnership (about 3-4 pages) Now that you have set the stage by telling us what the problem is and providing some reasonable approaches to solving it, outline exactly what your program or activity would do. The sky is the limit; you could propose a tutoring program, a partnership with a local museum, a community service activity whatever you think best provides a good way to solve the problem you have described. To focus your writing, choose just one program/activity. Carefully define and explain what your program will do, including how often things will happen and who will do these things. As you are building this idea, remember that someone will be learning in this program or activity, whether its families, children, teachers, community members, or another person entirely. Thus, dont forget about those Temple standards; they work just as well for building a unit plan as they do (for example) for thinking through what will make an effective series of parent workshops. There are lots of ways to present this information well, but remember that your reader is not as expert in this area as you are. So, think about what the reader knows and carefully scaffold their understanding as you describe your idea. You do not need to outline how much everything would cost (although in the real world, that will be important). You just need to practice explaining things clearly. V. Overall Flow, Alignment, and Style Although these pieces of the proposal are addressed separately in this assignment sheet to help you organize your thinking, they are all interconnected in the paper. This means that your theoretical and research information (parts II and III) should be closely related to the problem that you choose, and they should lead the way for the project you propose (part IV). If the research says to do one thing and you propose something totally different, your reader will probably not be convinced. Each piece should lead to the same conclusion. And when your reader is finished with your proposal, they should say, What a great idea! This project is the obvious solution to this problem. Lets make this happen. In addition, throughout the paper, use appropriate grammar, syntax, and spelling, and APA style. How are the due dates arranged? Even before we begin officially working on the proposal, youll be building the writing skills and content knowledge that youll need. However, as indicated in the Syllabus by Week section, you will turn in pieces of this project throughout the entire course and then revise those pieces over time. Please note that all documents should be submitted to the instructor on the day that they are due. The instructor will sometimes ask you to bring a copy to class so that you can receive feedback from your peers. 10

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How Will This Assignment Be Graded? The rubric below shows how points will be allotted for each aspect of the Partnership Proposal. Note that each section will be evaluated based upon (a) the content you present and (b) the clarity and flow of the writing with which you present your content. I. Problem statement10 points II. Theoretical analysis.10 points III. Synthesis of the literature......15 points IV. Proposed program or activity10 points Total = 45 points

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