Parent Engagement Goes Mobile

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Parent Engagement Goes Mobile by Chris Shade and Emily Roden
2013 Statewide Parental Involvement Conference, December 6, 2013

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Regardless of race, sex, creed, and culture, as humans we’ve either had
or been a parent. Remarkably, despite the fact that over 107 billion
people have been born, we all do it differently.
Regardless of race, sex, creed, and culture, as humans we’ve either had
or been a parent. Remarkably, despite the fact that over 107 billion
people have been born, we all do it differently.
From Tiger moms…

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to Tiger dads…
to overprotective parents…
to helicopter parents.

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In our culture, we face a relentless media assault telling us we aren’t
enough. Buy this laundry soap and your kids will look perfect. Put your
child into this program or he will be left behind.

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“We live in a culture of scarcity in a “never ___ enough” world.
Never good enough
Never perfect enough
Never successful enough
Never smart enough
Never safe enough
Never extraordinary enough
Scarcity thrives in a culture where everyone is hyperaware of lack.” But
as author Brené Brown continues in her book, Daring Greatly,
“Who we are and how we engage with the world are much stronger
predictors of how our children will do than what we know about
parenting.” Brown does not claim to be a parenting expert; in fact, she
doubts there are any. But she offers wisdom in encouraging parents to
“parent from a place of “enough” rather than scarcity.”

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Simply stated, “You.are.enough.”
Begin at 4m 40s at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4SICJrxfSI (from The
Social Animal by David Brooks)
In the past decade, and especially in the past few years, a disparate
congregation of economist, educators, psychologists, and
neuroscientists have begun to produce evidence that calls into question
many of the assumptions behind the cognitive hypothesis (the belief
that success today depends primarily on cognitive skills – the kind of
intelligence that gets measure on IQ tests, including the abilities to
recognize letters and words, to calculate, to detect patterns – and the
best way to develop these skills is to practice them as much as possible,
beginning as early as possible). What matters most in a child’s
development, they say, is not how much information we can stuff into
her brain in the first few years. What matters, instead, is whether we are
able to help her develop a very different set of qualities, a list that
includes persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit, and
self-confidence. Economists refer to these as noncognitive skills,
psychologists call them personality traits, and the rest of us think of
them as character. xv HCS

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Until recently, though, there has never been a serious attempt to use
the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of childhood, to trace,
through experiment and analysis, how the experiences of our early years
connect to outcomes in adulthood. That is changing, with the efforts of
this new generation of researchers. The premise behind the work is
simple, if radical: We haven’t managed to solve these problems because
we’ve been looking for solutions in the wrong places. If we want to
improve the odds for children in general, and for poor children in
particular, we need to approach childhood anew, to start over with some
fundamental questions about how parents affect their children; how
human skills develop; how character is formed. xxiv HCS
Much of the new information about childhood and poverty uncovered
by psychologists and neuroscientist can be daunting to anyone trying to
improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. We now know that early
stress and adversity can literally get under a child’s skin, where it can
cause damage that lasts a lifetime. But there is also some positive news
in this research. It turns out that there is a particularly effective antidote
to the ill effects of early stress, and it comes not from pharmaceutical
companies or early-childhood educators but from parents. Parents and
other caregivers who are able to form close, nurturing relationships with
their children can foster resilience in them that protects them from
many of the worst effects of a harsh early environment. This message
can sound a both warm and fuzzy, but it is rooted in cold, hard science.
The effect of good parenting is not just emotional or psychological, the
neuroscientists say; it is biochemical. 27-28 HCS

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Hope changes brain chemistry. 112
Hope is positive expectancy. It increases mood and persistence, which
increases results. Even if you do everything else right, if the student
doesn’t think you believe in him/her, you’ll lose ground. (51 in handout)
Provide hope and support. Any student who feels “less-than” cognitively
is likely not only to struggle academically, but also to be susceptible to
such secondary issues as acting out, getting bullied or becoming a bully,
having lower self-esteem, or having feelings of depression or
helplessness. Ensure that teachers build supportive relationships,
provide positive guidance, foster hope and optimism, and take time for
affirmation and celebration. 41
One possible and dire consequence of unrelenting hopelessness is
learned helplessness, which is not a genetic phenomenon but an
adaptive response to life conditions. Because of these persistent feelings
of inadequacy, individuals will remain passive even when they actually
have the power to change their circumstances. Hope and learned
optimism are crucial factors in turning low-SES students into high
achievers. 113
Research suggests that hopefulness can be taught…an engaged life—the
value of participation, not passivity; and a meaningful life—how to focus
on the things that matter most and get outside yourself with service
work and volunteering. Other strategies that build hope include:
• Using daily affirmations
• Asking to hear students’ hopes and offering reinforcement of those
hopes
• Telling students specifically why they can succeed

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• Providing needed academic resources (e.g. paper and pencils,
computer time)
• Helping students to set goals and build goal-getting skills
• Telling true stories of hope about people to whom students can relate
• Offering help, encouragement, and caring as often as needed
• Teaching students life skills in small daily chunks
• Avoiding complaining about students’ deficits (if they don’t have it,
teach it)
• Treating all the kids in your class as potentially gifted
• Building academic, emotional, and social assets in students. TWPM
116
Gary Evans, [a] Cornell scientist, found the higher the environmental –
risk score, the higher the allostatic- load score—unless a child’s mother
was particularly responsive to her child. If that was the case, the effect
of all of those environmental stressors, from overcrowding to poverty to
family turmoil, was almost entirely eliminated. If your mom was
particularly sensitive to your emotional state during a game of Jenga, in
other words, all the bad stuff you faced in life had little to no effect on
your allostatic load. (Note: Environmental risks include family turmoil
and chaos and crowding, etc. These have a big effect on children’s
cortisol levels. Allostatic load is the gradual process of the body’s stress-
management systems breaking down under strain [of stress].) When we
consider the impact of parenting on children, we tend to think that the
dramatic effects are going to appear at one end or the other of the
parenting-quality spectrum. A child who is physically abused is going to
fare far worse, we assume, than a child who is simply ignored or
discouraged. And the child of a supermom who gets lots of extra
tutoring and one-on-one support is going to do way better than an
average well-loved child. But what Blair’s and Evan’s research suggests is
that regular good parenting – being helpful and attentive during a game
of Jenga – can make a profound difference for a child’s future prospects.
33 HCS

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Emotional needs include attunement (parents' reactiveness to their
children's emotions); attachment (safe, trustworthy relationships which
builds faith in others); and emotional punctuation (to help the brain
identify what’s correct, positive and worth saving). TWPM
Kids from poverty get less attunement time. Attunement is the
establishment of a positive, reciprocal, relationship with the primary
caregiver. This quality time provides the basis for learning the non
hardwired socially appropriate emotions. TWPM
Emotional needs include attunement (parents' reactiveness to their
children's emotions); attachment (safe, trustworthy relationships which
builds faith in others); and emotional punctuation (to help the brain
identify what’s correct, positive and worth saving). TWPM

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Recent evidence (Harris, 2006) suggests that the complex web of social
relationships students experience—with peers, adults in the school, and
family members—exerts a much greater influence on their behavior
than researchers previously assumed. This process starts with students’
core relationships with parents or primary caregivers in their lives, which
form a personality that is either secure and attached or insecure and
unattached. Securely attached children typically behave better in school
(Blair et al., 2008) TWPM 14
Beginning at birth, the attachment formed between parent and child…
predicts the quality of future relationships with teachers and peers
(Szweczyk-Sokolowski, Bost, & Wainwright, 2005) and plays a leading
role in the development of such social functions as curiosity, arousal,
emotional regulation, independence, and social competence (Sroufe,
2005). TWPM 15

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To grow up emotionally healthy, children need
• A strong, reliable primary caregiver who provides consistent and
unconditional love, guidance, and support.
• Safe, predictable, stable environments.
• Ten to 20 hours each week of harmonious, reciprocal interactions.
This process, known as attunement…helps them develop a wider
range of healthy emotions including gratitude, forgiveness, and
empathy.
• Enrichment through personalized, increasingly complex activities.
TWPM 15
Deficits in these areas inhibit the production of new brain cells, alter the
path of maturation, and rework the healthy neural circuitry in children’s
brains, thereby undermining emotional and social development and
predisposing them to emotional dysfunction. TWPM 16
Our United Way of Denton County Community Needs Assessment
indicated that one in three students in the Denton County community
are at-risk of dropping out of school. Additionally, there are 8,217
Denton County children living in poverty, with 37% of these children
under the age of five. Research shows that when these children enter
school, they are behind in basic but critical skills, such as reading, math
and vocabulary.
To ensure that our children are prepared for school, United Way of
Denton County, Denton Independent School District, and the City of
Denton have created a “Pre-K Coalition”. Our first effort is a community-
wide implementation of the ReadyRosie project. ReadyRosie is an
innovative, locally developed, online school readiness resource that
sends a daily email to parents, caregivers, and teachers with a short
video of an interactive activity that can be done with young children to
encourage learning foundational skills. These skills include problem
solving and math, foundations of literacy, essential life skills, and
vocabulary. Our hope is to provide ReadyRosie access to the parents or
caregivers of our children in need. Funding for the resource is secured,
but we need community help to connect parents, grandparents and
caregivers of children under the age of five to this amazing resource.

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The first phase of this effort is to connect with families near these five
elementary schools: Borman Elementary, Ginnings Elementary, Hodge
Elementary, Lee Elementary and Rivera Elementary. However, we are
committed to reaching all families with young children across the
Denton ISD.
United Way of Denton County, Denton Independent School District and
the City of Denton together are asking you to support this effort with
volunteer resources.
This program is designed to teach adults how to affectively engage their
children in learning in every environment.
“Denton already has some great pre-K initiatives to help, but thousands
of our most at-risk children are not being reached by traditional
methods and programs,” said Roden.
Kids “download” the negatives of chaos, disharmony, poor relationships,
foul language, poor manners, and weak vocabulary just as quickly and
just as automatically as they would any positive or enrichment input.
From ages 0-5, the world is downloaded into the brain. Highly immature
frontal lobes are unable to delete or reframe any negative input.
Those first few years are critically important in the development of a
child’s brain. But the most significant skills he is acquiring during those
years aren’t ones that can be taught with flashcards. The most profound
discovery this new generation of neuroscientists has made is the
powerful connection between the infant brain chemistry and adult
psychology. Lying deep beneath those noble, complex human qualities
we call character, these scientists have found, is the mundane,
mechanical interaction of specific chemicals in the brains and bodies of
developing infants. These scientists have demonstrated that the most
reliable way to produce an adult who is brave and curious and kind and
prudent is to ensure that when he is an infant, his hypothalamic-
pituitary-adrenal axis functions well. And how do you do that? It’s not
magic. First, as much as possible, you protect him from serious trauma
and chronic stress; then, even more important, you provide him with a
secure, nurturing relationship with at least one parent and ideally two.
That’s not the whole secret, but it is a big, big part of it. TWPM 181

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So what’s a guy to do?
Sometimes, as parents we just need an idea. A prompt. And that’s what
I really like about Ready Rosie.
Each day, parents receive a two minute video of activities using simple
household objects such as rocks and coins. In other videos, it has
activities with food such as counting sugar packets or gummy bears.
Others take place reading in the floor at the local used bookstore or
searching for sounds at the store. And it’s real parents teaching real
children in real places like a restaurant, the city bus, the grocery store,
the doctor’s office, the playground, etc. Places where authentic learning
occurs. Since there’s not a parenting how-to manual, sometimes it’s nice
just to see how others are doing it.

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This is in part why Ready Rosie was created. Founder, educator, and
parent Emily Roden said in an article in the Denton Record Chronicle
that she struggled to come up with ideas for teaching her two children
and thought a quick video everyday would be an easy way to solve the
dilemma. And it is not overly complex. Videos are sent by email to a
smartphone, home computer, or the public library computer. The video
activities come in both English and Spanish. For those interested, each
segment also includes an “expert” video explaining the “why” behind
the activity
Young adults continue to lead the adoption curve in online video
viewing. Nine in 10 Internet users ages 18-29 use video-sharing sites, up
from 72% one year ago. On a typical day in 2009, 36% of young adult
Internet users watched video on these sites, compared with just 30% in
2008. Online adults ages 30-49 also showed big gains over the past year;
67% now use video-sharing sites, up from 57% in 2008.
(http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/110640/everybody-
likes-to-watch-90-of-young-adults-use.html#ixzz29ibXjLnS)
Over 90% of parents of 0-6 year old children across economic levels are
online at least once a day, based on a ResearchNow study on internet
usage across the state of Texas (ResearchNow, 2012).
www.readyrosie.com is available in English…

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and in Spanish.
292
50
121
Ready Rosie provides “user” reports.
www.facebook.com/readyrosie

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To ensure that our children are prepared for school, Denton
Independent School District, United Way of Denton County, and the City
of Denton have created a “Pre-K Coalition”. Our first effort is the
implementation of Ready Rosie, which is an innovative, online school
readiness resource that sends a daily email to parents, caregivers, and
teachers with a short video of an interactive activity that can be done
with young children to encourage learning foundational skills. These
skills include problem solving and math, foundations of literacy,
essential life skills, and vocabulary. The program is designed to teach
adults how to affectively engage their children in learning in every
environment.
The first phase of this effort is to connect with families near five
elementary schools: Borman Elementary, Ginnings Elementary, Hodge
Elementary, Lee Elementary and Rivera Elementary.
The United Way of Denton County Community Needs Assessment
indicated that one in three students in the Denton County community
are at-risk of dropping out of school. Additionally, there are 8,217
Denton County children living in poverty, with 37% of these children
under the age of five. Research shows that when these children enter
school, they are behind in basic but critical skills, such as reading, math
and vocabulary. Access to quality pre-school education has been proven
to have long term effects on students including increased graduation
rates, and decreases in behavior problems, crime, and delinquency.
To ensure that our children are prepared for school, United Way of
Denton County, the Denton Independent School District, and the City of
Denton have created Denton County's first Pre-K Coalition and are
implementing projects and programs to address our community’s needs.
The goals of the Coalition's community partners are to increase
kindergarten readiness, provide equal access to parent resources, and to
promote lifelong learning and success.
Members of the coalition include
Denton ISD
United Way
City of Denton (including the mayor and city council members)
Parents
Denton Public Library
University of North Texas
Denton ISD Parks and Recreation
Denton County Housing
City of Denton Community Development Center
UNT Global Leadership Class
DAAEYC/UNT
The Big Event - UNT

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Upward Bound at UNT
Workforce Solution
The Village Church
Serve Denton
Cook Children’s Hospital
Communities in Schools
First United Methodist Church
First Baptist Church
Interfaith Ministries
Children’s Advocacy Center
Denton County Housing
Southeast Denton News
W.I.C.
Target
North Central Texas College
Court Appointed Special Advocates
First State Bank
Various child care centers
Etc.
School Zone Teams are made up of community volunteers led by United
Way. Well over 100 volunteers from community organizations are now
participating.
Denton ISD Team strategizes to enroll current young students. Eight
departments have joined together in this effort.

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Maps of the school boundaries, apartment complexes, and agencies
were provided so volunteers could target the neighborhoods identified
by the five elementary schools that the Pre-K Coalition selected. As an
example, Lee Elementary School's Spanish-speaking parents, supported
by the organization Concilio, hit the streets in their neighborhood to
spread the word about Ready Rosie.
The local universities provide a Family Fun Day signing families up for Ready
Rosie.
Posters were hung in each campus that receives Title I and the two
district schools for young children as well as across the city. Students
wore “stickers” home to alert parents of the opportunity to enroll.

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www.dentonisd.org features Ready Rosie on the district website.
www.dentonisd.org/readyrosie
How does the district pay for Ready Rosie?

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Ready Rosie is a program paid by Denton ISD
through its Title I, Part A funds for parents of
current and potential Denton ISD students at no
charge. The program is designed to serve
students from birth to age six. Funding meets
the requirement to address the needs of
preschool children through section II.D. of the
Title I, Part A “Assurances Relating to the Title I
Program Plan” guidance and the needs of
parental involvement through section VI.A. of
the Title I, Part A “Assurances Relating to
Parental Involvement” guidance.
Ready Rosie is a program paid by Denton ISD through its Title I, Part A
funds for parents of current and potential Denton ISD students at no
charge. The program is designed to serve students from birth to age six.
Funding meets the requirement to address the needs of preschool
children through section II.D. of the Title I, Part A “Assurances Relating
to the Title I Program Plan” guidance and the needs of parental
involvement through section VI.A. of the Title I, Part A “Assurances
Relating to Parental Involvement” guidance.
II. Assurances Relating to the Title I Program Plan
The LEA assures the following:
D. The LEA will coordinate and integrate Title I, Part A, services with
other educational services at the LEA or individual campus level, such as
Even Start, Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, and other
preschool programs, including plans for the transition of participants in
such programs to local elementary school programs and services for
children with limited English proficiency; children with disabilities;
migratory children; neglected or delinquent youth; Indian children
served under of Title VII, Part A; homeless children; and immigrant
children in order to increase program effectiveness, eliminate
duplication, and reduce fragmentation of the instructional program. [P.L.
107–110, Section 1112(b)(1)(E)]”
II. Assurances Relating to the Title I Program Plan
D. The LEA will coordinate and integrate Title I, Part A, services with
other educational services at the LEA or individual campus level, such as
Even Start, Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, and other
preschool programs, including plans for the transition of participants in
such programs to local elementary school programs and services for
children with limited English proficiency; children with disabilities;
migratory children; neglected or delinquent youth; Indian children
served under of Title VII, Part A; homeless children; and immigrant
children in order to increase program effectiveness, eliminate
duplication, and reduce fragmentation of the instructional program. [P.L.
107–110, Section 1112(b)(1)(E)]”
VI. Assurances Relating to Parental Involvement.
A. If the LEA’s Title I, Part A, entitlement is more than $500,000, the LEA
shall reserve at least 1% of its Title I, Part A, entitlement for parental
involvement activities, including promoting family literacy and parenting
skills.
J. To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a
partnership among the campus involved, parents, and the community to
improve student academic achievement, each campus and the LEA will
do the following:
ii. Provide materials and training, such as literacy training and using technology, to
help parents work with their children to improve their achievement, as
appropriate, to foster parental involvement
iv. to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent
involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading
First, Even Start, the Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the
Parents as Teachers Program, and public preschool and other programs, and
conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and
support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children
VI. Assurances Relating to Parental Involvement.
A. If the LEA’s Title I, Part A, entitlement is more than $500,000, the LEA
shall reserve at least 1% of its Title I, Part A, entitlement for parental
involvement activities, including promoting family literacy and parenting
skills.
J. To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a
partnership among the campus involved, parents, and the community to
improve student academic achievement, each campus and the LEA will
do the following:
ii. Provide materials and training, such as literacy training and using
technology, to help parents work with their children to improve their
achievement, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement
iv. to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate
parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading
First, Early Reading First, Even Start, the Home Instruction Programs for
Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, and public
preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as
parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more
fully participating in the education of their children.

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cshade@dentonisd.org  www.dentonisd.org/federalprograms
eroden@readyrosie.com  www.readyrosie.com
Chris Shade, Director of School Improvement [Innovation] and Support
cshade@dentonisd.org
Emily Roden, Ready Rosie
eroden@readyrosie.com

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