I'm new to advocacy. My child is in first grade. I'm in a gifted friendly state. A district that is high achieving. And an elementary school ranked in top five of our state. Of course we still have tons of opportunity with gifted education.

I'd like to be more involved. I'm curious how everyone became influential (or even participatory) in advocacy. Whether your influence is at the school level or state level (or in between). I am not well versed in how the public school bureaucracies work but would like to learn how to become more involved!

Thanks!

I'm also in a state with gifted-friendly legislation, and our school district is high-performing for the state... though in my case, that's like being the skinniest kid in fat camp.

We became advocates when our DD's school and district demonstrated that, despite the legislation and employing teachers with certifications for gifted education, they really had no idea what they were doing, and their bad ideas were affecting our DD in alarming ways.

That is a pretty compelling reason to get involved!!! Have you built relationships/connections beyond the school?

If I understand correctly, you're asking how to become an insider in your local bureaucracy, yes?

Well, two things to know--

1. They may not accept you because you're an outsider (if this is true), and

2. If you don't already have a clear agenda, and some reason for wanting to change things in a particular direction, be prepared for a LOT of nosy questions and suspicion. Rightly so, probably. Anyone who simply wants to be influential... probably deserves some of that scrutiny.


I serve on a couple of different county and state boards-- for other things, but similar structurally to the school way of doing things, and many of my colleagues/peers are teachers with an educator-mindset. My advice to you is to wait and keep your ears open-- learn the insider language and thinking that you'll need to have to "pass" as one of them. They won't trust you enough to let you in the door otherwise. Heck, our school has not trusted ME enough to let me in the door, and frankly... I pass as one of them. Educators are a highly insular lot, generally speaking, and many of them have negative experiences with people who have NEVER actually done their jobs trying to tell them HOW to do them... so they do tend to only want people with that background and experience in the door, because most other people are in it for... well, other reasons, and often are operating from a position of relative ignorance as well. Crusaders, basically.

They may not let you in anyway, if you seem to have ideas that are too radical, too alarming, etc. If you're too aggressive, too smart, or too willing to call things out that everyone else prefers to ignore... Honestly, your odds probably aren't very good unless you have a history of advocacy in similar systems. It takes a lot of persistence and a certain amount of political savvy to get insider status. It causes alarm when outsiders get into the lounge with them, and the gatekeeping is pretty significant as a result.

I guess my question for you is-- your child is in first grade, and presumably things are going reasonably well or you'd have asked for something more specific about advocacy. Why do you WANT in at this point? Is it so that you will have a handy way to "fix" things as they come up? To improve things in general? If so, how do you know what needs fixing? To maintain a position of authority in this (new to you) venue?

What is it that you see as being in desperate need of change-- and needing YOU in particular?

Being honest about your reasons might shed some light on the course of action. If your reasons are undefined, my recommendation is for you to do some research to find out what IS needed at a regional/state level, and to define what you think you have to contribute to solving that problem (or those problems). Your initial post leads me to think that one of two things is true locally; either you haven't had enough experience (yet) to know where the problems are locally, or there are not major issues locally.

My advocacy is focused on the school and district. I started by developing a positive relationship with teachers and administrators built on respect. I talk to teachers to understand their perspective and the pressures they're under. In the last year, I started having more in depth discussions with the director of special education services both about my kids' specific needs as well as my view of the needs of gifted ed as these children enter college. I back everything with data and evidence based practices.

It looks like some of my suggestions have been adopted whole sail into the next revision of gifted services.

Our school is ranked very high in the state, I have to say that it's a pretty low bar here, too. From what I've observed and learned through friends, I think our district is more focused on keeping high-achieving upper middle class kids from fleeing to private than it is on actually serving the gifted population. There are other districts nearby that do a much better job of serving the gifted. OK, there's one. That said, I still think our school is a viable choice given the cost savings and very little actual curriculum difference over private.

I became involved through the PTA. It may seem to some that bake sales are not the best way to directly influence educational practices, but over time it's given me access to teachers, to the administration and even to a school board member who is a former member of our PTA. Because of my work for the PTA I was invited to volunteer directly for the school, which has led to even more access and communication opportunities.

I'd like to get more involved at the district level, as we are in a very large district, and pretty much all policy is made on that level, and am still working on getting more access there.

I think there are many avenues that work, this just happens to be the route that opened up for me, so I'm following it.

Good luck to you!

Generally speaking, when there is a parental involvement program, what it really means is, "Just bring punch and treats for the party, we'll do the real thinking here."

We've sought others at the district level, but found out quickly that they wouldn't be of any help. The general trend we've discovered is that the less direct experience they have with my DD, and the less expertise they have in gifted education, the more resistant they are to reasonable and appropriate accommodations beyond the cookie-cutter solution. This means most resistance occurs at the principal level, which is the minimum level of support necessary to change DD's daily schedule, and only gets worse above.

I would say at this point we have zero influence, and are seen primarily as troublemakers. We only got DD the final accommodation we sought (whole grade acceleration) by finding the loophole and exploiting it.

And really, it says a lot about this district that they're so resistant to whole grade acceleration, and haven't done one in eons, when it's such a basic tool in the toolbox of gifted services. It's like saying you're going to open a restaurant with a particular specialty in baked goods, but you're not going to have an oven.

However, as DD progresses, she may become the shining example of how acceleration works, and we may find ourselves having some influence in the end.

Yeah-- on the pragmatic front-- to gain influence for real is a slow process that can't be rushed. The key is this:

Respect the time of the educators you encounter.

NEVER ask for something that costs money or time unless you have something of equal value (preferably MORE value) to exchange for it.

Be the first person with your hand up when anyone asks for volunteers-- and don't just volunteer for the photo-op and "fun" gigs, volunteer for the behind-the-scenes unpleasant or dirty jobs, too. That communicates that you're not showboating or ego-stroking, but looking to actually be HELPFUL.

So only rich parents or parents who don't work full time should ask for anything? It's wrong for parents to ask the school to pay for an online course when their child has exhausted the in-person offerings? As a practical matter, I would be willing to pay, since we are well off. But what if we weren't?

Inflation-adjusted spending per student has risen substantially over the decades. When I went to public school a few junior high school students were bused to high school for a morning math class. Our current school, on a larger budget, offers nothing like this. Schools have been doing less (at least in some respects) with more money, and parents should not be ashamed to ask them to do more with more, although given the structure of government monopoly schools, they are unlikely to be successful.

This is the public servant approach.

As you are dealing with entities whose reason for existing is serving the public, you, as the public, the sovereign entity in this case, are merely requesting that your subordinate execute your will.

It may work better if you request that they swear fealty to you first in order to properly reaffirm their subordinate position within the political hierarchy.

The schools my kids have attended have always welcomed a lot of parental help & input and parents do a lot more than just bring treats to a class party. The PTA has made some big changes and does a lot more than just bring treats. In my district we have School Site Council which is a committee of teachers, parents and in the older grades students who made actual decisions about future direction & budget of curriculum for a school.

What I have personally done is to volunteer in the classroom (until jr high) and find ways to help at the school after that. One year I tutored 8th graders struggling in Algebra. The closes I got to avocation, was to run for School Site Council one year. I've joined the PTA and while I've never been overtly active in the running of it, I've helped in various projects other than fundraising. And I've supported a friend who was on the local school board for 6+ years.

All this volunteering time really made it much easier when it was time to advocate for my kids needs. I knew the teachers, principal and other parents and in the early elementary grades what was really going on in the classroom.

I recommend volunteering at the school and with the PTA. The amount of involvement possible really varies from school to school. Getting to know the other parents at the school and the teachers is a huge help. This way you won't be one of the outsiders.

Of course not; however, if you can't mitigate the fiscal impact, can you or your child do something in exchange for the inconvenience/expense? THAT is the kind of quid pro quo that school staffers REALLY understand.

It might not be time or money, but it usually needs to be something that the school, principal, or teacher needs or something that would make their lives easier somehow...but does not step on their toes in terms of autonomy or authority.

Those kinds of things tend to be highly idiosyncratic and often require very creative thinking.

Honestly, most of this is about being a team player, and then being in the right place at the right time.

On PTA service: I've found it to be very effective to work in the trenches on a school issue that affects the whole community and one that I'm passionate about. In my case, that's walking to school. I've used my expertise to analyze Safe Routes data to make specific recommendations to the PTA and for ways in which walking could safely be encouraged. This brought me into regular contact with the principal in a manner that was 100% aimed at the safety and well being of the entire school community. It means that when I meet with him about my complicated kids and the gifted program in general, he comes into the room with the mindset of meeting with someone who is a positive team player. He knows that I think more broadly than just my own kids. It has opened so many doors.

DW and I would have been open to working with the PTA, but in our first contact with them, this happened:

PTA: "Come join the PTA! If you join and pay your dues today, you get a free t-shirt!"

Me: "Great. What is it you guys do?"

PTA: "Ummm... you get a free t-shirt!"

I was thinking one place to start is at the National Association for Gifted Children and identify your state organization:
http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=609&gbs

I have a strong sense that my state's organization played a strong role in getting the state to where it is now. Seems like a good level. It also may mean you can do circular pushes: like ask someone in the organization to send information on a certain topic to a school. Our district has parent university courses including topics like meeting the emotional needs of gifted kids.

Would you tell us more about the parent university courses? For example, what university are they through? Who sponsors them? Are there reading materials or links which can be shared?

I should've put quotes around that. It is a program that the district titles as "Parent University." Ones I've been to have been one to two hour slide show type discussions. During the one on emotional needs of gifted, they actually referred to (and had samples of) some of the literature from like SENG. The sessions are hosted at different various schools in the district.

Here's the link to it: http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/parents/ParentUniv/Pages/default.aspx
But I'm not finding the current course list from the link; odd.

They also allow organizations and others to propose courses.

I would have gone running as well. I hate these kind of "free" t-shirts, particularly as I probably would never wear it.

Sadly not all PTA's are equal. The PTA at all my kids schools are very involved and do a lot for the students & teachers. They really work as a partnership with the administration & faculty. But I know this isn't always the case.

Our PTA is a political action arm for the school. Apparently, I mean. It's possible that it is the other way around, actually...

It's a little unclear what the relationship actually is, but I found it extraordinarily distasteful, myself-- it reminded me very much of middle school gossip and backbiting, frankly.
Or maybe of the Colbert Report. They weren't too happy when I responded by laughing at some things that were clearly a joke, though, I must say.

I was also persona non grata with them primarily because I do not share a political affiliation, faith, or much of anything else with the major movers and shakers in the PTA. They were quick to let me know that GroupThink dictated that I could either shut up while nodding vigorously and enthusiastically shouting "YES!!" at pep rallies-- er, strategy meetings-- or I could slink away where I wouldn't bother them anymore.

I don't assume that all PTA's are of that ilk, but it pays to be aware of the political underpinnings of the parent cohort if you're with a charter school, for sure.