Posted on Monday, December 11, 2006
Dr. Charlene Klassen-Endrizzi, Westminster College professor of education, and Mercer literacy coach Laura Harper recently presented their research on home-school partnerships at the Keystone State Reading Association Conference.
"Our presentation, Finding the Missing Piece: Welcoming Families into our Classrooms', drew upon our work with families and teachers at Musser Elementary School in Sharon, during the 2005-06 school year. One of the school's building goals last year was to invite parents to become more active learning partners. Laura provided examples of how she and fellow teachers worked to interact more frequently with parents via surveys, Reader's Theatre, and parent literacy workshops. This inquiry shows the importance of helping parents understand literacy learning at school and the need for teachers to value each student's funds of knowledge from home," Klassen-Endrizzi said.
Harper earned a master's degree from Westminster College in 2005 and serves as literacy coach at Mercer Area Elementary School.
Klassen-Endrizzi, in addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate literacy courses at Westminster, serves as the coordinator of the Reading Specialist Graduate Program. She earned her undergraduate degree and master's from Fresno Pacific College and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.
Contact Klassen-Endrizzi at (724) 946-7189 or e-mail endrizck@westminster.edu for more information.
