Throughout your textbook (pp. 22, 66, 67), biases are discussed as potentially serving as a hindrance to family engagement and open communication. For this assignment, you will write a paper examining your personal biases and evaluating your school's policies and communication practices relative to biases that could negatively affect family engagement.  

1. Review the information found in the textbook related to biases.  It is scattered throughout, but particular emphasis can be found in Chapters 2 and 4.

2. Log into the NAEYC website and locate the NAEYC Position Statement, Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment (2016).

Find the principals that refer to biases.  P.1.1 is a perfect one to begin with.

3. Write a three-page paper that includes the following sections.

b. Page one – Cover page

c. Page two – Introduction to a discussion on how personal biases can hinder open communication and family engagement. You must reference NAECY and the textbook in this discussion. 

d. Page three – Discussion on implicit and explicit biases. Examine your personal biases, the ones you are aware of and the others that you may not think about that often. To help you in this exercise, think about the times a parent comes into your classroom and you think certain things about that parent, but you wouldn't dare say those thoughts out loud. Your personal biases may be related to a variety of things such as parenting, cultures, races, dress, gender identification, body size, skin color, economic status, etc. Examine your personal biases and how they shape your behavior and interactions with families and co-workers. 

e. Page four – Examine your school's communications and practices that might be interacting with your family engagement opportunities at the school. Identify three to five examples of where the school's communications need to change because they currently include implied biases or even unintentional biases. Page four should also include a conclusion to your paper.

f.  Page five – Reference page (your textbook and NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct)

h. Write your paper using a basic APA 7th edition format. (cover page, three pages for the body, reference page, double space, 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1 in margins on all sides)