How do I get a good turnout at parent education nights?
What works for your school?
Getting parents to come to events at your school or center can be a real challenge. What are your tips for getting a good turn out?
How do you promote your event?
What services do you offer to make it easier for parents to come?
What was the best turn out you've gotten, and what do you think made it so successful?
At a conference I recently visited we spoke about how to engage parents and increase turnout for parent nights.
The main points included what ping mentioned; include kids that the parents can talk to. Another method would be to "hijack" other meetings where parents show up to see their kids (dance practice, soccer, swimming etc.). Parents are already there, so offer coffee and cake to a group. Engage in interesting conversation, offer solutions and listen to their concerns. At the end of practice you might have started something good, so the word will spread to other parents and you'll have the opportunity to arrange a more formal meeting with a higher outcome.
Have meetings in the community or at church. Bring in a speaker or the cybercrime division of your state (in my case, the TBI offered free presentations to our school). Ask the person to present during the day to your teachers to see if it would be appropriate for parents. Before inviting a third part you might want to check if your points/attitudes are being addressed and that the presentation will not be of "alarmist" nature (i.e. unplug the Internet and hide your kids in the closet and they'll stay safe).
Bottom line is: If you do not show that you are engaged, then why should the parents.
I also think it's important that once a meeting takes place, form an active discussion between you and the parents and refrain from solely having a passive PowerPoint being the main part of the meeting. Make it interesting and remember, both you and the parents are there to learn. We are helping each other.
Offering food or daycare always helps! Another idea is to give away something in a raffle--an incentive, like a good book for parents, a high-quality movie, or USB drive, for instance.
That’s a great idea, Ping. Depending on the age group, you could have students do a demonstration of how they use a site like Facebook or YouTube.
If you have the students perform, the parents will come.
One suggest is to make sure the parent education events are hosted both at night and in the morning.
Another great way to get a good turnout is to have the principal send home a letter encouraging parents to attend the event.