CYFS director Susan Sheridan has authored a newly published practice guide designed to help teachers and school professionals engage parents in partnerships that support children’s learning.
Available from Pacific Northwest Publishers, “The Tough Kid: Teachers and Parents as Partners” takes its name from a family-school intervention approach developed and extensively researched by Sheridan.
Formerly known as Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, the Teachers and Parents as Partners approach cultivates collaborations to reinforce children’s strengths, identify their needs, and implement evidence-based strategies to address those needs at school and home.
“I wanted to provide an easy-to-read, practical resource for educators that demystifies the ‘how’ behind strong, positive, trusting relationships with families,” Sheridan said. “I hope it will allow educators to see that creating meaningful connections with parents and family members is very feasible and effective. Most of all, I want school professionals to see families as partners that bring important resources to the table.”
Sheridan said the new guide distills 25 years of research-based lessons for practitioners working with the parents of struggling students.
“We’ve learned so much over the years about effective strategies for engaging families and building the capacity of both parents and teachers when it comes to collaborating and problem-solving,” said Sheridan. “We’ve also learned what can work – and methods that are unlikely to be effective – in real classrooms and homes. We took those lessons to heart when we created the tools and techniques for partnering that are found in this book.”
The practice guide represents Sheridan’s third contribution to the “Tough Kid” series. She also authored “The Tough Kid Social Skills Book” and “Social Skills for the Tough Kid: Tips and Tools for Parents.”
More information on “The Tough Kid: Teachers and Parents as Partners” can be found on the Pacific Northwest Publishers website.