UW-Madison alum Edwards authors, ‘New Ways to Engage Parents’


UW-Madison alumna Patricia Edwards is the author of a new book titled, “New Ways to Engage Parents: Strategies and Tools for Teachers and Leaders, K-12.”

Edwards received her Ph.D. from the School of Education’s No. 1-ranked Department of Curriculum and Instruction in 1979.

According to materials previewing the book: “Just as populations change, ideas about how to encourage and work with parents also need to evolve. This practical resource by bestselling author Patricia Edwards provides school leaders and classroom teachers with new and creative ways in which to welcome, encourage, and involve parents.

“Enacting these types of practices requires a special kind of commitment from teachers and school leaders, which often coincides with a particular kind of mindset about families and one’s responsibility to engage them. Educators often develop this mindset as they deepen their understanding of families, literacy/language, culture/race/class, and themselves. Edwards pulls these understandings together and presents them in a straightforward, concise, and easy-to-use guide that is perfect for professional learning communities and teacher preparation courses. ‘New Ways to Engage Parents’ is essential reading for all educators who care deeply about engaging a wide range of parents in today’s schools.”

Edwards is a professor with the Department of Teacher Education in Michigan State University’s College of Education.

UW-Madison’s Catherine Compton-Lilly, a faculty member with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, penned the foreword for Edwards’ book.

“While decidedly among the most important literacy scholars of our era, Pat Edwards locates progress on the ground — in the work of educators and in the operation of schools,” writes Compton-Lilly. “Specifically, Edwards invites educators to consider the data that matters to children and communities. It is about people’s lives and the lessons that people can teach us about their worlds and about education. It is my hope that this book inspires teachers to seek ways to make schools more equitable and caring spaces for all children.”

To learn more about Edwards’ research and book, check out this story in the Spring/Summer 2016 edition of the New Educator, a magazine produced by Michigan State University’s College of Education.

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