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A newsletter for the Smaller Learning Communities Project
of the
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1. When families are
involved in their children’s school, they give the school and its teachers higher ratings.
True.
Not only do schools with high family involvement benefit from greater parent
satisfaction with the school, they also have improved teacher morale and more
community support (Henderson and Berla, 1994). Teachers in schools with high
family involvement show more positive attitudes towards families. These
positive attitudes of families and teachers are consistently related to
children’s academic success. The Prospects study shows a consistent
relationship between parents who rate their child’s school as high quality (in
terms of the extent to which learning is a priority, the child is challenged,
and the parents have a say in school policy) and that child’s success in school.
2. Parents of children
with disabilities are not as involved as other parents.
False.
In fact, parents of children with disabilities are more involved than other
parents. They show the highest attendance at parent-teacher conferences at
every grade level (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996). The
Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) supports greater family involvement by
ensuring that information provided by parents is considered in decision-making
about the child’s education and that parents participate in all decision-making
that may affect their child. The Title I law also requires family involvement,
through the family-school compact and through parent participation in
development of parent involvement policies and plans. All schools receiving
Title I funds must allocate at least one percent of that funding to support
family involvement (unless funding received is $5,000 or less).
3. Parents are not as
involved in their children’s education at the middle and high school levels as
in the elementary years.
True.
For grades 3-5, 73 percent of parents are involved at school. This falls to 63
percent for grades 6-8 and 53 percent for grades 9-12 (National Education Goals
Report, 1996). After elementary school, parents often take a more hands-off
approach to their children’s education, and secondary schools in general do not
offer as many opportunities for families to get involved as elementary schools.
Yet middle school is a critical period for course-taking and decision-making
about the future, as is high school. Secondary schools sometimes assume that
parents want to or, in some cases, ought to remove themselves from their
children’s education or decisions about school courses and programs.
4. The greatest
predictor of student achievement is family income.
False.
The greatest predictor of student achievement is family involvement in which
the family: (a) creates a home environment that encourages learning; (b)
expresses high expectations for their child’s achievement and future; and (c)
becomes involved in their child’s education at school and in the community
(Henderson and Berla 1994). Families, regardless of income level, can engage in
these kinds of activities, which make a real difference in a child’s academic
achievement and success in life.
·
“Families, schools, and community
organizations all contribute to student achievement; the best results come when
all three work together.” (Henderson & Berla 1994 as cited in New Skills
for New Schools 1997)
Family involvement is
mutually beneficial for students and schools. Research shows that students
benefit by higher grades, better attendance and homework completion, more
positive attitudes toward school, higher graduation rate and greater enrollment
in college.
Schools benefit by
improved teacher moral, higher ratings of teachers by parents, more support
from families, and better reputations in the community.
Thirty years of
research clearly show that family involvement in education is a win/win
situation for students and schools, and that:
Not only do teachers
believe that involvement of parents is crucial to their student’s success, the
vast majority of parents believe that their child’s success is directly related
to their active involvement in the child’s formal education.
(National PTA)
·
Students who have both parents or a
mother or a father who are highly involved in school activities are:
-more
likely to get mostly A’s,
-less
likely to be suspended or expelled, and
-less
likely to have to repeat a grade than students who have neither parent
involved.
Thus, high involvement
by the father or mother can make a positive difference to children’s learning
across the grades K-12. (NCES 1997)
Nearly 75 percent of
students think that it’s a good idea for parents to be involved in their
children’s schools. 63 percent of students believe that it’s important for
parents to be involved in education in both the school and the home, while 85
percent of students feel that their parents are helpful when they ask for help
with their schoolwork. (Louis Harris 1997)
·
Ninety-seven percent of students who get
mostly A’s and B’s in their classes are encouraged by their parents to do well
in school.
Teachers also feel that
family involvement is key to students’ academic
success. According to teachers, the “single most important thing public schools
need to help students learn” is involved parents. (Public Agenda 1996)
·
Nevertheless, research shows that there
is a fall-off in parental participation at the middle and high school levels.
While 89 percent of
parents say that the school treats them as important partners in encouraging
children to learn, majority of parents also want help so they can be more
active partners. 77 percent of parents report that they want to learn more
about how to be involved in their children’s learning. 72 percent of parents
say that they want to be more involved at their child’s school. (GTE 1997)
·
Strategies that strengthen family
involvement in education must take into account barriers that confront
families, schools, and communities.
(Funkhouser and Gonzalez 1997)
-
Finding time for teachers
Hiring parent coordinators with Title 1 funds to organize outreach and inform
staff of family needs.
-
Resources to support school outreach to families
Using voice mail and information hotlines to make communication more efficient.
-
Helping parents overcome time and resource constraints
Early notice, transportation, and child care for
parent meetings and giving information to parents who cannot attend.
-
Training to inform and involve parents
Support children’s learning at home via parent workshops or home visits
-
Family resource centers in schools
In centers parents can read or borrow books on
parenting, meet informally with teachers, attend small workshops, and learn of
local jobs, services, and programs.
Information
and training for school staff
On making home visits and positive phone calls,
appreciating diversity and family strengths, skills for parent-teacher
conferences, and helping families become stronger learning environments.
-
Designing parent involvement around family needs
Schools can conduct needs assessments through parent surveys, focus groups,
town meetings, and neighborhood walks to gather ideas.
-
Parents as partners in school-wide restructuring
Parents on school decision-making committees, site-based management councils,
and planning groups.
-
New uses of school space
Welcome signs and volunteers to guide entering parents, parent centers.
-
Unusual school-family activities
Parents join teachers on school planning retreats; student health and
counseling services provided in the school
-
Reaching parents with little formal education
Calling parents about student progress instead of
sending written information.
-
Breaking the language barrier
Translation services may include bilingual parent liaisons and parent
volunteers, and conducting meetings and sending materials home in several
languages.
-
Promoting cultural understanding
Home-school liaisons who understand the background of parents; discussing and
building on the strengths of other cultures.
-
School-community partnerships that marshal added resources. Local businesses,
agencies and colleges can help provide family services such as educational
programs, social services, health care, and transportation to school events.
-
District and state level support for school-family partnerships
Education agencies can assist with policies, funding, training, and family
services.
(Funkhouser
and Gonzales 1997)
How can schools take
the lead to promote family involvement in education? One way is to look within
the school. The National PTA Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs,
developed by Joyce Epstein, have identified six types of parent involvement.
These are:
·
Another way to promote family involvement
in education is through shared responsibility.
The success of the
family-school-community partnership embedded in “A Compact for Learning”
develops around a five-step process:
This document adapted from “Partners for Learning:
Preparing Teachers to Involve Families” prepared by
American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)
Web address: www.aacte.org
American Association
of School Administrators (AASA)
Web address: www.aasa.org
American Federation of
Teachers (AFT)
Web address: www.AFT.ORG
Council of Chief State
School Officers (CCSSO)
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20001
Web address: www.ccsso.org
National Association
of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
1904 Association Drive
Web address: http://www.nassp.org/s_nassp/index.asp
National Coalition for
Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 310
Washington, D.C. 20036
Web address: www.ncpie.org
National Education
Association (NEA)
1201 16th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Web address: www.nea.org
National Middle School
Association (NMSA)
2600 Corporate Exchange Drive, Suite 370
Columbus, OH 43231
Web address: www.nmsa.org
National Parent
Teacher Association (NPTA)
330 N. Wabash Avenue, Suite 2100
Chicago, IL 60611-3690
Web address: http://www.pta.org/homepage.html
Partnership for Family
Involvement in Education
U.S. Department of Education
600 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-3510
Web address: www.ed.gov/PFIE
Teachers College,
Columbia University
525 West 120th Street, Box 132
Web address: www.tc.columbia.edu
U.S. Department of
Education
600 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Phone: 1-800-USA-LEARN
Web address: www.ed.gov
de Kanter, A.,
Ginsburg, A., Pederson, J., Peterson, T.K., and Rich, D. (1997). A Compact
for Learning. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Farkas, S., Johnson,
J., Friedman, W., and Bers, A. (1996). Given the Circumstances: Teachers
Talk About Public Education Today. New York, NY: Public Agenda
Funkhouser, J.E. and
Gonzales, M.R. (1997). Family Involvement in Children’s Education,
Successful Local Approaches. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
Harris, Louis. (1997).
The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1998, Building
Family-School Partnerships: Views of Teachers and Students. New York, NY:
Louis Harris and Associates, Inc.
Henderson, A.T., &
Berla, N. (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to
student achievement. Washington, DC: National Committee for Citizens in
Education.
National PTA. (1997). National
Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs. Chicago, IL: author.
National PTA. (1993). National
Parent Teacher Association, Third National Education Survey. Chicago, IL:
author
National Education
Goals Panel. (1996). National Education Goals Report. Washington, D.C.:
author
Nord, C.W., Brimhall,
D., and West, Jerry. (1997). Fathers’ Involvement in Their Children’s
Schools. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics.
Shartrand, A.M.,
Weiss, H.B., Kreider, H.M., and Lopez, M.E. (1997). New Skills for New
Schools: Preparing Teachers in Family Involvement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Family Research Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
U.S. Department of
Education. (1994). Strong Families, Strong Schools: Building Community
Partnerships for Learning. Washington, D.C.: author
U.S. Department of
Education, Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, and the GTE
Foundation based on data from the National Opinion Research Center at the
University of Chicago. (1998). Family Involvement in Education: A Snapshot
of Out-of-School Time. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.