As this education supports parents, it also helps children and provides parents with opportunities to participate in the education of their children. Successful parent workshops require careful planning and implementation. Schools should develop approaches to determining the interests of parents by engaging in broad-based needs assessment. Surveys - Questionnaires can be sent directly to all parents at the beginning of the school year. These survey tools provide parents with an opportunity to indicate areas in which they are interested in learning more and problems with which the school might provide assistance.
Questionnaires can suggest topic areas to parents or can ask parents to recommend areas of interest.
The information gleaned from these home visits may indicate more specific interests of parents. Parents can be polled at all-school meetings, parent conferences, and advisory council meetings. Parents who use a resource room and parent aides are a good source of information. Once parent needs have been identified, schools look for resources that can address these needs. If the school does not have the internal capabilities, it can seek external resources, such as individuals or agencies, that can help.