Dealing with Difficult Parents (School Leader Edition): How to Model, Coach, and Support Your Teachers

This school leader’s edition of Dealing with Difficult Parents is designed to help you with the specific challenges you face as a school leader when dealing with parents.

The companion teacher’s edition shows your teachers and other educators how they can communicate with parents more effectively. But with this administrator’s version, you’ll learn how you, as a leader, can--and must--support and coach teachers along the way.

You’ll uncover how to:

• make sure your teachers understand the families they’re dealing with,
• help your teachers communicate effectively with parents by being positive and proactive, so problems don’t escalate to the main office,
• establish expectations for dealing with parents, so teachers understand how to be appropriate even when a parent is not,
• deal with challenging situations when the teacher is difficult or the teacher is in the wrong,
• ensure your teachers feel supported by you when they’re dealing with difficult parents, and
• help teachers become more confident and empowered in challenging situations.

With these practical books, you’ll be able to get parents on your side so they can become a positive force in your school’s success.

Todd Whitaker (@toddwhitaker) is a leading presenter in the field of education and has written 65 books, including the bestseller What Great Teachers Do Differently. He is a former teacher, coach, principal, and professor of educational leadership.

Douglas J. Fiore is Dean of the College of Education at University of Central Missouri and is author of numerous books, including the popular textbook School-Community Relations, Sixth Edition.