Title: Instructor Introduction
Course: Dev_TOPKIT_SAMPLE_COURSE_Bauer_S_67

EEX4751 - Parent Involvement in Education
Danielle Franco

Instructor Introduction

Welcome to Parent Involvement in the Schools! My name is Dr. Danielle Franco and I will be your online guide to parent involvement.

What I have found during my time is that the reason for the course is obvious – but the experience and content of the course is unexpected.

First, let me say that I wish the course was called “Family Involvement in the Schools” rather than only referring to parental involvement. Yes, we all have families, and we all have our own set of familial experiences. However, the way in which families love, educate and participate in their lives differs from family unit to family unit. Culture, education, structure, income level and employment are just a few of the factors that contribute to the type and level of involvement in school decision making. Conversely, the expectations and environment established by the teacher will also impact the level of involvement by families.

Next, let me tell you a little about myself.

Teaching - I am an adjunct instructor at UCF. Typically, I teach graduate or undergraduate classes for the early childhood and special education programs. I’ve taught face-to-face, online and mixed mode classes. Regardless of the format, my personal philosophy is to provide more that just theory. I want aspiring educators to also take that theory and put it into practice. It is a personal goal to ensure that material presented and activities assigned relate to day-to-day teaching… the things you will need to know when you begin your internship and professional work.

Education – My degrees and experiences are varied, but lend themselves nicely to the courses I facilitate at UCF. My undergraduate and graduate work was in the area of Communicative Disorders, which means I am a Speech Language Pathologist. My higher degrees are in the area of Educational Leadership. All of my degrees were earned through programs at UCF.

Employment – While working as a SLP, I provided small group therapy, diagnostics and classroom instruction to children with special needs in Orange County Public Schools. During my time in OCPS, I also worked as a Staffing Coordinator, which means I supported parents, educators and evaluators through the processes for evaluation and service delivery for special education. For the past five years, I’ve worked with a FLDOE grant project called the Technical Assistance and Training System (TATS – www.tats.ucf.edu ). Currently, I support 11 school districts in the Central Florida area in the provision of services for young children with special needs. This technical assistance can be in the form of resource acquisition, interagency procedures, and professional development, etc….

Home life – I am both a wife and a mother. My husband is a teacher in OCPS and works with children with ASD that have significant deficits. My son is in elementary school. These experiences and wife and mother have added to my own personal insights into parenting and involvement in the schools.

I look forward to an unconventional journey into the lives of families. This course is designed not only to understand family involvement but also to help you, as an aspiring educator, reflect on your own expectations and methods to involve families.

Dr. Franco

This page was last updated on May 2, 2011 3:57 PM
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