parent involvement has been shown to be an important variable that
TRANSCRIPT
The State University of New YorkAt Potsdam
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATION
By
Ashley Ann Wanke
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of
EducationIn Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the DegreeMasters in education
Potsdam, New York14 – January, 2008
This thesis entitled
Parental Involvement in Children’s Education
By Ashley Ann WankeHas been approved for the Department of Education
_________________________________ ______________ Advisor Date
_________________________________ ______________ Department Chair Date
_________________________________ ______________ Director of Graduate Admissions Date
The final copy of the above mentioned thesis has been examined by the signatories and found to meet acceptable standards for scholarly work in the discipline in both form and content.
2
PERMISSION TO COPY
I grant The State University of New York College at Potsdam the non-exclusive right to use this work for the University’s own purposes and to make single copies of the work available to the public on a not-for-profit basis if copies are not otherwise available.
_____________Ashley Ann Wanke___________ ____01-14-2008____ Date
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Abstract
Parent involvement has been shown to be an important variable that positively influences children’s education. In spite of this, many parents do not appear to be getting involved in their children’s education. This lack of involvement may have a negative impact on student performance in and out of the classroom and ultimately effect their continuing educational development and success. Teachers need to play a major role in connecting classrooms, homes, and schools.
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CHAPTER ONE
Problem Statement
According to the research of Epstein (2001) children learn and develop through
three overlapping “spheres of influence:” family, school, and community. Students who
have support from their parents at home show better performance at school, while
students lacking support are struggling. Getting parents involved in the education of their
children appears to be a crucial factor for the continuing educational development and
success of children in school. Although numerous research studies have been done
concerning this issue in education, additional research is indicated.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this research project is to gather more information on parental
involvement in education. In doing so, the researcher hopes to learn and grow from the
information gathered by this study. By doing this research study, information concerning
teachers and their own practices in the classroom will be obtained. This information will
enable the teachers/researchers to observe the dynamics of their own classroom, while
investigating how to develop parental involvement in their students’ education.
Encouraging parents to get more involved by helping their children learn at home, will
also benefit the larger school community. By the end of this study, we hope to “enhance
the lives of children as well as the lives of professionals” (Mills, 2007, p. 10).
Research Question
The following research question will guide the study:
How can parents be involved in their child’s education?
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Rationale
Parental involvement may be an essential factor in the development of the
foundation in children’s education. In spite of this, many parents do not appear to be
getting involved in their children’s education. This lack of involvement may have a
negative impact on student performance in and out of the classroom and ultimately effect
their continuing educational development and success. Teachers need to play a major role
in connecting to the larger school community. This study will gather information about
effective parental involvement strategies and then use this information to develop an
action plan to utilize these strategies in classrooms, homes, and schools.
Definitions of Terms
1. Parental involvement- Parents help children meet the satisfactory level of
academic standards by interacting and being parts of their education. This can be
observed when parents assist with homework, when parents motivate and
encourage their children, when parents participate in school functions and when
parents interactively communicate with teachers.
2. Larger school community- includes interaction among students, teachers, and
parents
3. Developmental education- the academic and personal growth through teaching to
improve children’s skills in order to be successful
4. Student performance- what students achieve at school based on their behavior and
academics
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5. Active involvement- being involved with children in ways that include face to
face interactions such as tutoring, working on homework with children, and
reading with children
6. Passive involvement- being involved with children in inactive ways such as
providing a proper environment, providing school supplies for the child, and
making sure the child attends school
Assumptions
The following assumptions were made concerning teachers’ views of parental
involvement:
1. Teachers believe that students should be educated at home as well as at school.
2. Teachers need additional information on parental involvement.
3. Teachers believe that different home environments effect parental involvement.
4. Teachers believe that other educators will find this study important.
5. Teachers want to achieve their full potential as well as the potential of their
students.
6. Teachers need and want feedback about their performance as professionals.
7. Working together enriches professional development.
8. All teachers want to improve.
Limitations
The study will be limited by the following limitations:
1. The research is limited by the personal bias of the researchers.
2. Time will be limited to three months as this is a requirement for a college course.
3. Researchers in this study are not yet permanently certified as teachers.
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4. The knowledge, skills, and abilities of the researcher are limited.
Delimitations
This study will be further defined by the following delimitations:
1. Research will only focus on parents, teachers, administrators, and students
affiliated with K through 6th grade.
2. This research will only draw from teachers and administrators in the Massena
Central School District.
3. Research will only focus on two schools in Northern New York State.
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CHAPTER TWO
Problem Statement
Parent involvement has been shown to be an important variable that positively
influences children’s education. More and more schools are observing the importance of
parental involvement and are encouraging families to become more involved. Due to this
recent trend, it has become essential to understand what is meant by parent involvement
and in what ways it has an influence on children’s education. This review of the literature
will examine parental involvement from the following perspectives: effective forms of
parental involvement, positive effects of parental involvement, barriers, parents, parental
involvement programs, and common characteristics of parental involvement programs.
Effective forms of Parental Involvement
An effective form of involvement is presented by Epstein’s model. Epstein (2001)
discusses how children learn and develop through three overlapping “spheres of
influence:” family, school, and community. These three spheres must form partnerships
to best meet the needs of the child. Epstein defines six types of involvement based on the
relationships between the family, school, and community: parenting (skills),
communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with
the community. Epstein emphasizes that all of these six types of involvement need to be
included to have successful partnerships.
Another effective form of involvement presented by Hoover-Dempsey and
Sandler (1995) includes out of school or home-based partnerships as well as school-based
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activities with parents and children. They discuss that when parents get involved (going
to school events, helping with homework) children’s schooling is benefited. Benefits
include knowledge, skills, and confidence.
Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) (2006) believes that children must
have a range of learning environments around them, or complementary learning. Such
learning environments include family, early childhood programs, schools, out-of-school
time programs and activities, libraries, museums, and other community-based
institutions. HFRP believes that complementary learning will provide a linking of
consistent learning and development. This linkage is similar to that of Epstein’s (2001)
spheres of influence. HFRP linking of community and Epstein’s spheres of influence are
similar that they each incorporate community, school and family so that they all effect
one another.
In Cotton’s (2001) book, The Schooling Practices That Matter Most, there are
signs that the most effective forms of parental involvement are those where parents’ work
directly with their children. Programs that show the most effective results include
tutoring, working on homework with children, and reading with children. These active
forms of parental involvement have had a greater impact on achievement than passive
forms of involvement. Passive forms of parental involvement have still been shown to
improve children’s achievement, so they are better than no parental involvement at all.
The book expresses another effect of parental involvement is shown when the
parent intervenes at an early age. The earlier in a child’s life that the parents become
involved, the greater the effects will be on the child’s educational process. The
effectiveness of this approach has been shown through various childhood education
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programs such as Head Start.
According to studies done by Reutzel and Cooter (1996) positive effects on
parental involvement were shown to increase when choices were provided to the parents.
The schools that offered a variety of ways for parents to get involved had an increased
effect on student achievement. Giving parents various methods or activities to involve
them in their children’s lives, increased the willingness and ability of parental
involvement. This increase in parental involvement has shown a consistent, positive
relationship in students’ achievement and development in school.
Positive Effects of Parental Involvement
Research has indicated that parental involvement improves components of
children’s education such as daily attendance, cognitive and social skills or achievement,
behavior and attitude, confidence, and motivation (e.g. Cotton & Wikelund, 2001;
Epstein, 2001; ITS, 2004, Sheldon, 2003).
Positive Effects on Attendance
Many studies of students at all grade levels show that students with high
attendance rates are less likely to drop out of school and are more likely to achieve at
high levels and graduate from high school on time. In other words, students learn more
and are more successful if they have good attendance. With attendance being so crucial
and such an important issue in education, it has become a major objective for schools. In
1996-97, the National Network of Partnership Schools invited various schools to
investigative a “Focus on Results” study. The aim was to learn whether and which family
and community involvement activities affect student attendance. Twelve elementary
schools were examined for this study. Each school was noted for their prior level of
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attendance then several family involvement activities were put into place. They resulted
in significantly increased rates of daily attendance, reduced chronic absenteeism, or both.
This investigative study proposes that schools can improve or uphold good attendance by
executing family and community involvement activities (Epstein, 2001).
Positive Effects on Behavior and Attitudes
In Cotton’s (2001) book there was information on The National Network of
Partnership Schools conducted another “Focus on Results” study to learn whether school,
family, and community partnerships improve student behavior and attitudes at school.
There were two rounds of data collection involving forty-seven schools. The schools
were from a variety of locations including urban, suburban, and rural areas. Seventy three
percent of the schools were elementary and 27% were middle and or high school. Before
the partnership program was put into place, information was collected from the schools.
The quality of their partnership programs, their use of family and community
involvement practices, and also occurrences of student discipline actions were examined
in depth. After great analysis from one year to the next with improved quality of their
partnership programs, the study demonstrated lower levels of students involved in school
discipline actions. More specifically, the schools that improved their partnership
programs had fewer students who were sent to the principal, received detention, and who
received in-school suspensions. This research and findings recommend that larger school
relationships help improve students’ behavior in school.
Positive Effects on Cognitive and Social Skills or Achievement
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Many studies highlight the point: parent participation in education is very closely
related to student achievement. A Stanford study found that using parents as tutors
brought significant and immediate changes in children's I.Q. scores. Other research
projects found that community involvement correlated strongly with school wide
achievement and that all forms of parent involvement helped student achievement. The
Home and School Institute (1985) concluded that parent tutoring brought considerable
improvements to a broad array of students.
Barriers
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status has been recognized as an influential factor concerning
parental involvement. “The Coleman (1966) report, which stated that the best predictor of
student achievement is the socioeconomic status of the parents, led to a flurry of
investigations on student achievement” (Bulach, et al., 1995) Muller(1991), in Schneider
and Coleman, (1993) stated that several researchers have found that parent qualities
typically associated with socioeconomic status are positively related to parental
involvement. For example, Lareau (1987) found that upper middle class parents were
typically engaged in school activities and influential in school decision, while working
class parents took on a more supportive role with respect to their involvement with their
children’s school.
As a result of his personal experiences, reading, and research, Motsinger (1990)
asserted that “the developers of Teacher Expectation Student Achievement (TESA)
workshops found that teachers do tend to give high achieving students more attention
than those who lag behind” (p.5). Underachieving children feel disliked by the instructor.
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Parents then feel, “it is because we are poor (p.5).” and resentment grows. According to
Brantliner and Guskin (1987), some low income parents feel schools discourage their
involvement and view them as the problem, and they believe that stereotypes of poor
parents as inadequate care givers and uninterested in their children’s education persist
among educators. Although low income families may feel unneeded or unable to be
involved with their children’s school, Henderson (1988) states that children of low
income families benefit the most when parents are involved in the schools and parents do
not have to be well educated to make a difference.
Cultural background
The cultural background affects the relationship between home and school. As
cited in Rudnitski (1992), Litwak and Meyer (1974) found that “parents from racial,
ethnic and cultural minorities, especially those of low socioeconomic status, tend to feel
less affinity for the school than those in the mainstream middle class” (p.15). This shows
that schools in the United States have different values than those of the family as well as
inability to communicate with culturally diverse families effectively.
Also in Rudnitski (1992), Liontos (1991) writes that
Low income, culturally different parents have traditionally been marginalized
through an inability to communicate with schools and through the inflexibility of
the school as an institution. This tradition has fostered the feelings of inadequacy,
failure, and poor self-worth which are cited as reasons for low participation of
parents from marginalized groups (p.15).
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It is proven in this research that these traditions of ineffective communication and
cultural differences are the factors that prevent parents from becoming involved in their
children’s education.
Language
A language barrier happens when a lack of English proficiency prevents
communication between immigrant families and the school system. Ascher’s (1988)
work discussed the language barrier that affects Asian/Pacific American parents. Since
English is not the native language of this group, parents think their language skills are so
poor that they cannot be useful as participants in assisting their child in school.
“Involving parents from any background is no easy task and in light of cultural and
language differences, linguistic minority parents present a special challenge”
(Constantino, et al., 1995, p.19). In a study by Zelazo (1995) it was found that more
English than Spanish speaking parents are involved at the school site as volunteers and in
attending school meetings. “Parents whose English proficiency is limited may find it
difficult or intimidating to communicate with school staff or to help in school activities
without bilingual support in the school or community” (Violand-Sanchez, 1993, p.20).
Lack of language skills became an intimidating factor when parents and schools could
not communicate effectively.
Parent literacy
Students cannot expect parental support in their home schooling when their
parents are not literate. As stated by Liu (1996), “Students’ academic performance at
school is closely related to the family literacy environment and their parents’ educational
levels” (p.20). Children need families that can provide literacy rich environments that
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often foster readers in the school (Edwards, 1995). Unfortunately, not all students can
have literacy rich environment at home because many parents did not receive an adequate
education and therefore are unable to provide academic support for their children. This
issue is severe with many parents whose English proficiency and education level is low
(Liu, 1996). Parents who dropped out of school needed to support the family or care for
siblings. Limited schooling impaired parental help on homework beyond the primary
level. A compound problem exists when the dominant language in the home conflicts
with assignments in English (Finders and Lewis, 1994). If parents are not literate, they
cannot assist their children with school work at home.
Family structure
These days, the changing structure of the family affects parental involvement and
student achievement. According to Lee (1991) the structure of the American family has
undergone significant changes over the past thirty years, and as a result of this, it is clear
that many children experience multiple family compositions resulting from the transitory
nature of the modern family. Students who have complete families may have problems
that effect parental involvement, but according to Motsinger (1990), “having two parents
will give a student a 200% better chance at success in school.” This does not mean that
students who do not have two parents cannot succeed, but they have a more difficult time
or have to struggle harder to succeed.
Working parents
I found that working parents can still participate in parental involvement
programs, but it is harder than those who do not have a job. Unfortunately, many parents
hold down two or three jobs in order to cope with economic realities, and quite frequently
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work schedules prevent these parents from attending meetings and other events at the
school (Onikama, 1998). According to King(1990), “in the United States, more than half
of the women with children under six years of age are in the labor force” (Onikama,
1998, p.21). How can educators effectively involve working parents in children’s
education, especially in families where both parents are working, is a major issue today.
As stated by Onikama (1998), working class parents want their children to do well, but
tend to give educational responsibility to the teacher.
Teacher attitudes
Teacher attitudes can be one of the barriers in parental involvement. According to
the State of Iowa Department of Education (1996), “School staff interest may vary in
terms of commitment to family involvement, and may generate mixed messages to
parents” (Onikama, 1998, p.2). Many schools believe that classroom learning is best left
to the professors. They also argue that involving parents is a time consuming “luxury”
that places yet another burden on already overworked teachers and principals
(Henderson, 1988). These worries make parents feel that the teachers don’t want them
around, which drops off the level of parental involvement.
Parents
When discussing parental involvement, the most commonly appearing-word will
be “parents”. Before introducing parental participation strategies, it is necessary to define
the meaning of “parents”. As Lockette (1999) mentions, “When we use the term
‘parents’ involvement, we need to remember that ‘parent’ can also mean other adults who
play an important role in a child’s life” (p.1). Lunts (2003) includes parents, guardians,
stepparents, siblings, members of extended family, and any other adults who might carry
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the primary responsibilities for a child’s health, development and education into the
meaning of “parents”.
In the article by Bal and Goc (1999), they indicate that:
Numerous methods to increase parent involvement have been suggested.
Such strategies include increasing communication between teacher and
parents, involving parents with limited English proficiency, providing
information regarding how parents can enhance learning at home, and
encouraging parental academic engagement at home (p. 17).
In spite of this fact, many teachers still show their concerns about the lack of
parental involvement at schools and its negative effects on students’ academic
performances on grades. Parents are also dissatisfied that they are not well informed
about their students’ behaviors or test grades conducted in the classroom and admit that
they are not actively involved in these school activities and it affects on their own
students’ performance. Knowing about the most state-of-the-art strategies of parental
involvement and taking them into practical actions are essential not only for parents and
their students but also for everybody who is involved in education such as teachers,
educators, practitioners, and community.
Parental Involvement Programs
Preschool Programs
Rioux and Berla (1993) indicate in their book, Innovations in Parent and Family
Involvement, that:
In the nearly thirty years since Head Start’s beginnings, the
unparalleled establishment and expansion of new programs for
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very young children underscores how much it has become fixed in
the public mind that young children – all young children – must
have the services and support they need if they are to develop fully
(p. 11).
Different kinds of preschool programs are created and developed: “Head Start”,
“Parents as Teachers”, “Even Start Program”, “Family Education Program”, and “Home
Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters”. Major components for these programs
are “Home Visit”, “Parent Classes including GED”, “Family enrichment activities” and
“Early Childhood Education”. Each program has slightly different goals and systems
based on its community’s needs and the level of living conditions, but there are two
common goals for the preschool programs. One of the most popular and well-known
program is the Head Start. Rioux and Berla (1993) mentions in the book that “The goals
of the Head Start Program are to provide comprehensive educational services for
preschool-age children and their families and to improve the nutrition and physical and
mental health of the children and their families” (p.17). Besides focusing on children’s
education and development, another common characteristic of the preschool programs is
that “Parenting” and “Employability”. In the “Even Start Program”, it well explains
about “Parenting” as below:
Once a week, an Even Start Family Mentor visits the home in order to
assist the parents in learning how to provide educational experiences for
their preschool-age children. The visit begins with a general conversation
about what is going on in the home with the family. A story is read by the
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mentor or parents to the children. Language lessons are designed for the
educational needs of each family (p.34).
Through the “GED Program”, “ESL (English as a Second Language), and “Plan
Now Families”, parents are able to receive various sources of help depending on their
needs. The book indicates that “Volunteers trained by the Larimer County Adult Literacy
Coalition conduct classes to prepare parents who have not graduated from high school for
the GED test.” Hispanic families get ESL classes and the schools have a chance to help
parents who are working in low-income jobs look for a better job after completing
necessary job trainings.
In spite of these advantages, most programs are suffering from the lack of budget
and participation from the majority of the low-income families. “Lack of transportation”,
“limited media opportunities” are prevalent barriers for these programs.
Programs in Elementary schools
The elementary schools are the place where the most active parent-teacher
involvements take place. Rioux and Berla (1993) say that “It is hoped that the training
for more parent involvement at the elementary school level will carry over into middle
school and high school where parent participation tends to decline” (p. 81). Parents as
Educational Partners, Parent Institute for Quality Education, and Parents, Teachers &
Children Working Together are the part of those examples and Parent Coordinator,
Parent Meeting, and Parent Volunteers are played roles as one of the major components”
(p. 62 - 65).
One of the successful programs is the Family-School Meetings and the book puts
different types of problems by indicating the positive effect of the program as:
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The Family-School Workshops are also considered an effective way of
dealing with problems individual students may be having. At the
beginning, there was opposition from both teachers and parents to having
students present at the meetings. Both groups were accustomed to talking
about the child’s problems without his/her presence. As parents and
teachers see the positive outcomes of this process, as they see that the
child’ problem is alleviated, they become supportive of the process”
(Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.88).
One of the distinguished features of the Elementary Programs is that Parents’
roles are emphasized in many aspects. As briefly mentioned in the book, Parent
Coordinator is mainly “One of the supports for the parents: orienting new parents to the
school, assisting parents with a concern or complaint to resolve the situation, and placing
all volunteers” (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.96). Parents are also encouraged to be involved
in making decisions or organizing and monitoring school systems though the chances of
various workshops and committees. Committees include “Fund Raising, Hiring,
Curriculum, Program Evaluation, Building and Grounds, Bilingual, School Literary
Magazine, Arts Collaborative, and Race and Class” (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p. 94).
Another aspect of elementary programs is to focus on immigrants and parents
who did not get proper education to help their children’s works with the proficiency level
of English. For example, the Families Together program in Oakland, California provides
many programs for immigrants and refugees. They support them with ESL Classes,
Primary Language and Literacy Support, and special services such as translation,
providing interpreters between families and schools, and referrals for legal help and
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social and mental health services.
The last aspect of parent involvement programs is that the more parents are
involved, the better performance students show at schools and the better relationships
between teachers and parents. In FOCUS -Focusing our community and uniting for
success in Wapato, WA, outcomes and evaluations are made by saying that:
Changes in teachers’ attitudes and behavior have been noticed. Staff
members are more cordial – they assist, welcome, or smile at parents who
are in the school. The bilingual teachers who do the presentation in
Spanish at the FOCUS meetings have developed some very good
relationships with the Hispanic parents (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.152).
In one of Rioux and Berla’s research programs, Sterne Brunson School
Development Program, he/she says that:
Teachers’ attitudes are changing toward more acceptance of parents’
strengths and weaknesses. Many teachers go to their students’ homes to
find out why a child is not in school. Parents feel more at ease in the
school; they no longer feel inferior to the teachers, who are open and
responsive to them. Parents attend and speak at school board meetings
more frequently than in the past. Improvement in students test scores and
in social behavior has bee evident partly as a result of this program (p.
128).
However, still many programs experience insufficient funds, so most of them
depend on replying on funds from local businesses and organizations.
PTA – National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs
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According to the PTA (Patent-Teacher Association) website (www.pta.org), they
introduce themselves as the “Best Resource for the Parents” as below:
As the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the nation, National
Parent Teacher Association (PTA) reminds our country of its obligations
to children and provides parents and families with a powerful voice to
speak on behalf of every child while providing the best tools for parents to
help their children be successful students (The National PTA
www.pta.org. (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.pta.org/about_pta.html).
The PTA provides nine diverse programs to the schools and parents through the
national-wide, state-wide or local associations and organizations as below:
1) PTA Goes to Work - provides youths with chances of experiencing “valuable
resources for employment, training, and career information”.
2) Building Successful Partnerships – is one of the PTA’s parent involvement
programs and its purpose is to provide schools and parents with updated
information about child’s development and education. The trained presenters
deliver speeches or presentations around the nation throughout the year and since
2000, over 800 presenters completed this program though the PTA.
3) Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence Certification – is a program for schools
to be certified in parent involvement programs “based on the National Standards
for Parent/Family Involvement programs”. If other schools are interested in
benchmarking this program, it is helpful for them to use these outcomes to
enhance their programs.
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4) Reflections – PTA’s Official website explains about “Reflections” that:
The annual arts program allows more than 700,000 children and youth to
express themselves through musical composition, photography, visual arts,
and literature. For many school districts with limited funding, this
program provides great value to the students and school community at no
cost to the district”
(http://www.pta.org/local_leadership_subprogram_1116958614281.html).
5) Phoebe Apperson Hearst-National PTA excellence in Education – the purpose of
this program is to encourage local PTAs to award its efforts and ongoing
contributions in parent-teacher involvement programs.
6) Back-To-School – offers students and parents to be familiar with changes in
school systems and be ready for the next school academic year.
7) After School – enriches students to make-up their academic weaknesses or
overcome difficulties through resources and extra helps from teachers and
educators.
8) Teacher Appreciation Week – is for encouraging teachers who are the main
resource for students’ success and for having a chance of appreciating their efforts
and contributions in every spring.
9) School/Community Workshops – covers various topics such as bullying, drug
abuse, child’s nutrition and prevention of school violence to help parents and
communities be aware of its dangers and solutions.
The National PTA programs are made based on “The National Standards for
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Parent/Family Involvement Programs”. Six standards are 1) Communicating, 2)
Parenting, 3) Student Learning, 4) Volunteering, 5) Decision Making and Advocacy, and
6) Collaborating with Community. Lockett (1999) summarizes these six standards as
below:
1) Communicating – Lockette (1999) mentions in her article that “Communication
between home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful. Communication
is the foundation of a solid partnership. When people communicate effectively,
positive relationships develop and greater progress can be made”.
Communication occurs between “parents and teachers”, “parents and school
administrators”, and “parents and community” through conferences, workshops,
and “Back-to-School Night” (p. 4).
2) Parenting – in Lunt’s article, She (2003) gives very clear definition of parenting
by saying that:
This category includes the basic responsibilities of families – such as
providing housing, health care, nutrition, clothing, and safety, and creating
home conditions that support children’s learning (e.g., purchasing
necessary books and other school supply, providing a place to study, etc.).
Parenting also implies that parents are warm and responsive to their
children, communicate with them and support their development (p. 2).
3) Student Learning – “Many parents want to help their children with homework and
school projects, but they just don’t know what is most helpful or appropriate”
(Lockett, 1999, p. 4). Therefore, teachers and schools help parents know how to
25
“foster learning at home”, “monitor homework and progress”, and “give feedback
to teachers” (p. 4).
4) Volunteering – volunteering can be the most effective and convenient way for
parents to be involved in school participation. Many schools and teachers want
parents to be actively involved with school events and this is more stressed in the
elementary school levels. In the book, Innovations in Parent and Family
Involvement, Rioux and Berla (1993) indicates that:
In the addition to traditional activities such as providing support services
for various school events, tutoring, and assisting in the classroom, parents
are actively involved in decision making, serving on school committees,
and being consulted regularly on all aspects of school governance (p. 70).
5) School Decision Making and Advocacy - Lockett (1999) emphasizes the
important of parents participation in decision-making and support for school
governance by saying that:
Parents should be partners in collaborative decision-making processes on
all issues affecting students – from school curriculum and course
selection, to discipline policies and overall school reform goals. The most
important factor in effective decision making is building a foundation of
trust and respect between educators and parents (p. 5).
For example, Advocate Training Program offers a chance for parents to know
about proper ways to understand school policies and how to advocate school systems and
disciplines.
26
6) Collaborating with Community - Lockett (1999) says that “Community resources
are used to strengthen schools, family, and student learning” (p. 6). However,
many parents do not know how to efficiently use these sources; schools should
provide opportunities for them through workshops or fairs. Inviting businessmen
or seniors who are skillful in certain areas or taking students to the real job field
and giving experiences of work are good examples of collaborating with
community.
Connecting Family and School by Using Telecommunication Technologies
Lunts (2003) insists that “Web technology has much more potential to establish
better family-school interactions” (p. 7). Since internet is getting the most convenient
and best way to communicate and interact with others, modern schools cannot avoid
adopting this technologies and try to create more effective ways to reach out parents and
communities. According to Lunts’ article (2003), “Hot lines and help-lines, Automated
calling systems, Voice mail and voice messaging systems (VMS), E-mail, and Cable
channels and teleconferencing” (p. 3) are these examples.
These technologies have many advantages. First, technology can be more
convenient than other traditional ways, such as Home Visits and Parent Conferences to
involve parents in school. Internet or e-mails are common ways to communicate and
parents are also familiar with the use of these technologies. It does not require much
effort to use technology, therefore, even busy parents can easily participate in school
surveys or on-line conferences. Secondly, these technologies are easy to operate, so most
parents, including seniors, are able to use these systems easily. Schools first should
instruct directions and instructions to parents, but once these systems are set up, teachers
27
and parents can freely communicate without the usual concerns about scheduling. This
efficiency helps both schools and parents save expenses as well as time in the long term
and help develop a better relationship between schools and parents. Bauch (n.d) indicates
that “Among the advantages of VMS is that they are able to provide almost universal
(available to most families) and frequent communication between schools and families,
two ideal qualities of family-school connections” (p. 3).
However, in spite of the fact that schools and parents are well aware of its
efficiency and necessity of using modern technologies, still many concerns remain. First,
the first disadvantages (with the exception of teleconferencing technology), is that
telecommunication technologies cannot support the richness of face-to-face interaction
(Bauch, 2000). Limited languages can be a problem in most international cities. If a
classroom is extremely multicultural, a teacher may not be able to provide messages in all
languages spoken by families (McAfee, 1997). Expenses are a big barrier for most
school districts. Even though e-mails and internet are prevalent, installing and
maintaining these systems or databases need a lot of costs. Moreover, in case of the on-
line conferencing or cable channels, as Lunts (2003) indicates, this type of
communication is not widespread.
Common Characteristics
As common characteristics of parental involvement programs, Rioux and Berla
(1993) come up with ideas such as Charismatic Leader, External Model, and Funding.
Especially, in case of a leader, Rioux and Berla (1993) say that “These charismatic
leaders energize others and form staffs who want to be trained, work hard, and serve
families” (p. 330). Secondly, “developing parents’ educational, employment, language,
28
and social skills” (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p. 333) should be emphasized. Rioux and
Berla give us a clear example by saying that:
The child’s view of himself/herself is greatly influenced by the things that
are going well or poorly in his home. If his parents are unemployed,
underemployed, poorly educated, and socially isolated, the self-esteem,
motivation, and optimism of the student about school and the future are
affected (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.333).
Most programs emphasize the importance of early childhood by believing that
“quality efforts at an early age will yield the largest gains in the future” (p. 334).
Therefore, many programs are designed to focus on improving interactions between
young children and their parents. Educating parents and involving them in the schools
are one of the common characteristics of parental involvement programs. Besides
providing ESL classes or GED classes who need further education, teaching parents
about the qualities of being good parents and helping them to be more involved at schools
are very important factors of having successful programs. It also implies the parents’
more active participations in governing schools, rather than school-dominant decision
making processes.
Summary
Many researchers have identified effective parental involvement
programs: Epstein (2001) defines six types of involvement that are effective forms of
connecting the larger school community: parenting (skills), communicating, volunteering,
learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Hoover-
Dempsey and Sandler (1995) include out of school or home-based partnerships as well as
29
school-based activities with parents and children. Harvard Family Research Project
(HFRP) believes that effective parental involvement includes children having a range of
learning environments around them, or complementary learning. Cotton’s (2001) book,
The Schooling Practices That Matter Most, suggest the direct help from parents is a
major benefit over passive learning.
The research reviewed for this study has indicated that parental involvement
improves components of children’s education such as daily attendance, cognitive and
social skills or achievement, behavior and attitude, confidence, and motivation. Many
studies have been conducted that illustrate this information such as a study done by
Reutzel and Cooter (1996) and “Focus on Results” done by the National Network of
Partnership Schools (1996).
As barriers that block parental involvement, there are several aspects of obstacles:
the socioeconomic status has been recognized as an influential factor concerning parental
involvement. The cultural background also affects the relationship between home and
school. As cited in Rudnitski (1992), Litwak and Meyer (1974) found that “parents from
racial, ethnic and cultural minorities, especially those of low socioeconomic status, tend
to feel less affinity for the school than those in the mainstream middle class” (p.15).
Parents’ lack of English proficiency prevents communication between immigrant families
and the school system. Parents’ academic level affects students’ school performance and
family structure like working parents play a role as struggles that today’s parental
involvement has. Besides parents’ problems, teacher inactive attitude also drop off the
level of parental involvement.
30
Understanding parental involvement can reach further to the broad range of
parents and teachers. They are not only restricted in biological parents and home-room
teachers, but also a group of people involved in a child’s education and development can
be understood in parent-teachers involvement programs.
Parental involvement programs are getting developed in more productive and
parents’ friendly ways. Still programs mainly focus on the child’s early education, but
many different approaches are used to reach up to middle, high school, and even district-
wide communities. Many schools are trying to put efforts in developing relationships
between parents and schools by using electronic methods such as e-mails, voice mail
systems, and on-line conferences.
Most parent involvement programs have common characteristics such as
enthusiastic leaders, educating and involving parents in the schools with necessary
support for them, and paying attention to the early age children. It still has a long way to
go, but as many scholars indicate, the more the schools have parents involved, the better
children we have in the future.
31
CHAPTER THREE
Problem Statement
According to the research of Epstein (2001) children learn and develop through
three overlapping “spheres of influence:” family, school, and community. Students who
have support from their parents at home show better performance at school, while
students lacking support are struggling. Getting parents involved in the education of their
children appears to be a crucial factor for the continuing educational development and
success of children in school. Although numerous research studies have been done
concerning this issue in education, additional research is indicated.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this research project is to gather more information on parental
involvement in education. In doing so, the researcher hope to learn and grow from the
information gathered by this study. By doing this researcher study, information
concerning teachers and their own practices in the classroom will be obtained. This
information will enable the teachers/researchers to observe the dynamics of their own
classroom, while investigating how to develop parental involvement in their students’
education. Encouraging parents to get more involved by helping their children learn at
home, will also benefit the larger school community. By the end of this study, I hope to
“enhance the lives of children as well as the lives of professionals” (Mills, 2007, p. 10).
Research Question
The following research question will guide the study:
32
How can parents be involved in their child’s education?
Participants
For the purpose of this study, the participants will be administrators and
elementary education teachers in grades K, 3rd, and 5th. The participants will be both
males and females from schools in Northern New York State and will only draw from
Madison and Nightengale Elementary Schools in the Massena Central District. This
district is in a rural area consisting mostly of dairy farmers or Alcoa/GM workers.
Criteria for selection of participants
Participants will be selected based on the following criteria:
1. The teachers will have knowledge and skills in the elementary educational field in
a Northern NY State public school.
2. The principals will have knowledge and skills in the elementary administration
field in a Northern NY State public school.
3. Ultimately, willingness to participate in this study will be the determining factor.
Methodology
This study will use Teacher Action Research methodology as defined by Mills
(2003). Mills defines Action Research as:
Any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principals,
school counselors, or other stakeholders in the teaching/learning environment to
gather information about how their particular schools operate, how they teach,
and how well their students learn. This information is gathered with the goals of
gaining insight, developing reflective practice, effecting positive changes in the
school environment (and on educational practices in general), and improving
33
student outcomes and the lives of those involved. Action research is done by
teachers for themselves; it is not imposed on them by someone else (p. 5).
Rationale for the methodology
Mill’s Action Research takes on a four step process:
1. Identify an area of focus
2. Collect data
3. Analyze and interpret data
4. Develop an action plan (p. 5)
Action research is the research design of choice for many educational researchers
for the following reasons: Every teacher has the desire to learn and improve, action
research provides growth opportunities, it develops and encourages teachers to be
continuous learners, and helps them learn from their experiences. Action research
“enhances the lives of children as well as the lives of professionals” (Mills, 2007, p. 10).
Procedure used for data gathering and analysis
Researcher will use the following means of data collection:
Enquiring- This is data collected from asking questions. This will be done using
questionnaires with teachers and administrators. These will be done at the end of the
2006-2007 academic year and into the summer of 2007. The questionnaires will
consist of 5 in-depth questions focusing on the following categories; how parents are
involved, how parents could be further involved, effective and failed strategies to
involve parents, and personal beliefs.
34
Timeline
The timeline for this study will be conducted in four phases.
Phase I
Develop a problem statement, purpose, question, rationale, assumptions,
definitions of terms, limitations, and delimitations.
Phase II
Review the literature as it relates to 3 areas of parental involvement: Positive
effects, barriers, and strategies.
Phase III
Collection and analysis of data.
Phase IV
Evaluate completed data and develop an action plan. Look for trends that emerge
among the various forms of data.
Data management procedures
The Researcher will collect data by:
• Distributing questionnaires to teachers
• Distributing questionnaires to administrators
• Combine, organize, and examine data collected from the questionnaires
Data analysis
The two forms of analysis that will be used are inductive analysis and constant
comparative analysis.
Inductive analysis:
Sorting and analyzing data into categories and themes
35
Constant comparatives:
Comparing the data across all data sources and looking for similarities and
dissimilarities
Trustworthiness and credibility of analysis
Credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability will be used to ensure
trustworthiness.
Credibility-researcher is able to get rid of distortions and explain complexities by
acquiring various responses from teachers and administrators
Transferability-the research is based on context bound
Dependability-researcher uses overlap methods to secure the stability of the data
Confirmability-the research is objective by cross-checking to find comparisons
with other data
Data management and validity
It is important in any research project to maintain the integrity, reliability, and
trustworthiness of the study. In this study the following procedures were utilized to
ensure the integrity, reliability, and trustworthiness.
1. Triangulation- This study uses multiple sources of data to cross-check the data.
This eliminates relying on any single source of data.
2. Peer review- A peer review was done to help reflect my own interpretations and
situations during this process.
3. Member check- Member checks were performed to test this research with its
participants.
36
4. Duration of data collection- The data collection for this study will take place over
multiple months.
Role of researcher
The researcher is the researcher instrument and will be limited by personal bias.
The role of the researcher for this study is to collect and analyze data associated with
administrators and teachers of grades K, 3rd, and 5th. The researcher will then develop an
action plan using reliability, trustworthiness, and credibility.
Reliability
The reliability of this research refers to consistency. This research will be
consistent in that the data will be measured over the time specified and that the data
measures what I want it to. Triangulation assures the reliability in qualitative studies.
Triangulation means that data is collected from multiple sources with a minimum
requirement of at least three. This research will have five different sources of data which
will ensure reliability.
Confounding issues
Confounding issues of this research refers to anything that occurred
unexpectedly that impacted the study in some way. The confounding issues that could
not have been planned for are as follows:
Obtaining a letter of approval from the superintendent- I mailed the
superintendent a copy of the informed consent and a letter explaining the study. I
asked for his approval to continue with the research study. After a few weeks and
still no reply, I sent an email attaching a copy of the informed consent and a letter
explaining the study asking for his approval. After about a week, I stopped into
37
his office and spoke with his secretary, leaving the same information with her that
was mailed and emailed previously. Again, I waited a few weeks without a
response. I stopped into the office on various occasions to check on the status of
the approval letter without any luck. Finally, months after the initial letter was
sent, the superintendent approved my research study.
Lack of teachers in school- Approval from the superintendent pushed the study
farther into the summer than anticipated. By this time, teachers were no longer in
school to meet with them.
Delay of teacher responses- Approval from the superintendent pushed the study
farther into the summer than anticipated. I was not able to meet with teachers in
school so I resorted to emailing them the consent form and questionnaire. Many
teachers who responded apologized for their delay in getting back to me,
explaining that they do not check their school email every day during the summer
or that they were gone on vacation.
Emailing issues- A couple of the teachers who responded did not attach the
questionnaire properly. I emailed the teachers back explaining that I did not
receive their questionnaire as an attachment. Luckily, one teacher resent the email
and I was able to gain access to their questionnaire but unfortunately, another
teacher never sent the questionnaire again.
Confusion due to timing- Since my email was sent during the summer one teacher
thought the study was to take place the following year, not the year that just
finished.
38
Presentation of data
Background information:
This is data collected from asking questions. Questionnaires were done by
three teachers, one each from grades K, 3rd, and 5th and by two administrators.
These questionnaires were completed at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year
and into the summer of 2007. The questionnaires consist of 5 in-depth questions
focusing on the following categories; how parents are involved, how parents
could be further involved, effective and failed strategies to involve parents, and
personal beliefs.
Questionnaire results:
See Appendix A
Analysis
After reviewing the questionnaires, it seems that the teachers and administrators
have an extensive list of sixteen different effective strategies that they have implemented.
This shows that they are trying, through various means, to include parents in their child’s
education both at school and home. Many of the strategies are common such as sending
notes home while other strategies are unique such as invitations created by the student.
On the other hand, the teachers and administrators also addressed strategies that
have failed. This list is not very extensive, with only four indicated. If sixteen strategies
have been effective and only four ineffective it seems as though parental involvement
should be fairly high. From reading the questionnaires, this is not the case. Question #2
provided an extensive list of ways parents could be more involved. This leads me to
39
believe that teachers and administrators may lack in self evaluation. Sometimes it is
easier to see or recognize the positives.
Summary
The evaluation of the questionnaires focused on five main elements: how parents
are involved, how parents could be more involved, effective strategies, ineffective
strategies, and personal beliefs as to why parents are not involved. The questionnaire
addressed theoretically-supported issues because I wanted to know if, in reality,
participants had similar beliefs and effectiveness in influencing the involvement of
parents. I used open-ended questions to provide rich, qualitative information about these
issues.
The questionnaire was used as a tool for me to gather information. With
participants being asked to evaluate specific involvement strategies based on the
effectiveness of each, I hope that it helps them to modify, and if necessary, replace with
an effective alternative.
40
CHAPTER 4
Problem of the Study
Getting parents involved in the education of their children appears to be a crucial
factor for the continuing educational development and success of children in school.
Teacher invitations are a powerful way to gain parent participation in their children’s
learning. Although most schools are required to involve parents, teachers often lack
critical knowledge and skills necessary to building effective partnerships with parents.
Although numerous research studies have been done concerning this issue in education,
an additional study is indicated.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to gather more information on parental involvement
in education. In doing so, the researcher hopes to learn and grow from the information
gathered by this study. By doing this research study, information concerning teachers
and their own practices in the classroom will be obtained. This information will enable
the teachers/researcher to observe the dynamics of their own classroom, while
investigating how to develop parental involvement in their students’ education.
Encouraging parents to get more involved by helping their children learn at home, will
also benefit the larger school community. By the end of this study, I hope to “enhance
the lives of children as well as the lives of professionals” (Mills, 2007, p. 10).
Research Question
The following research question will guide the study:
41
How can parents be involved in their child’s education?
Summary of the Study
The sample of participants included 5 volunteers consisting of three classroom
teachers and two principals. The surveys were designed to gather information on: 1) ways
that parents are involved, 2) ways that parents could be further involved, 3) effective
strategies used to involve parents, 4) ineffective strategies used to involve parents, and
5) personal beliefs concerning why parents are not involved. Inductive analysis of data
revealed major themes correlating with these five survey questions.
Constant comparatives of data revealed similarities and dissimilarities including:
1) commonly used involvement strategies (talking with parents during car duty or in the
morning, sending home weekly/monthly newsletters, holding conferences), 2) training
topics (activities to promote parental support of student academic development at home,
best ways to communicate with parents), and 3) beliefs about parents and students (some
parents might not know how to help their children academically, students who receive
extra practice at home make greater gains than those who don’t).
Data Management procedure
The Researcher collected data by:
• Distributing questionnaires to teachers:
-in the Massena Central School District
-in grades K, 3rd, and 5th
-at Madison and Nightengale Elementary
• Distributing questionnaires to administrators
-in the Massena Central School District
42
-at Madison and Nightengale Elementary
• Combine, organize, and examine data collected from the questionnaires
-see data analysis below
Data Analysis
The two forms of analysis that were used are inductive analysis and constant
comparative analysis.
Inductive analysis:
Sorting and analyzing data into categories and themes such as:
-ways that parents are involved
-ways parents could be further involved
-effective strategies used to involve parents
-ineffective strategies used to involve parents
-personal beliefs
Constant comparatives:
Comparing the data across all data sources and looking for similarities and
dissimilarities such as:
-commonly used involvement strategies (talking with parents during car duty/
in the morning, sending home weekly/monthly newsletters, conferences)
-training topics (activities to promote parental support of student academic
development at home, best ways to communicate with parents)
-beliefs about parents and students (some parents may not know how to help
their child academically, students who receive extra practice at home make
greater gains than those who don’t)
43
Discussion of the Research Question
The following research question helped to guide the study: How can parents be
involved in their child’s education?
For many years research has shown a positive relationship between parental
involvement in children’s education and children’s academic, behavioral, social, and
emotional outcomes. With these various benefits of family involvement, it
is important to understand why parents are or are not involved and
how educators and communities can encourage and support parents’
productive involvement in their children’s education. The questionnaire
helped me study this research question that has lead to various
findings and future instructional practices.
Discussion of the Findings
Parental involvement varies greatly from family to family due to many different
reasons. From the questionnaires I was able to assess various forms of involvement or
lack of. I have found many similarities and dissimilarities. Most teachers who stated that
they send home information on reading/math skills found a correlation with homework
being completed. This shows that many parents want and need information on what their
children are learning so they can better help them.
I also noticed many common uses of involvement strategies such as talking with
parents, sending home weekly/monthly newsletters, and holding conferences. These are
usually mandatory strategies that parents face at every grade level. Something more
needs to be done to make the parents feel special or appreciated.
44
Many questionnaires stated that parents weren’t involved because they are not
knowledgeable on how to help their children. Although when teachers held tutoring or
workshops, parents did not attend. From a parent’s perspective, going to a workshop
about interacting with their children regarding learning may make them feel ignorant.
Teachers must find a way to make workshop or tutoring parent friendly and not
degrading.
Implications for Future Instructional Practices (Curriculum Development)
My study sparked many great instructional practices and beliefs concerning
parental involvement. The use of the effective strategies will help build positive relations
between home and school. Other suggestions for future instructional practices are:
1. Invite a guest or mystery reader to read a story
2. Create and use a website
3. Send thank you cards for any volunteering or help that a parent provides
4. Send a behavior folder home including positive and negative
5. Host a parent night before the school- wide open house is scheduled-provide
food/drinks, introduce yourself, provide information about classroom policies,
procedures, and contact information
6. Home visits
7. Send home a weekly or monthly newsletter with homework information, reminders,
notes, etc.
8. Host a “Math Night” to provide parents an opportunity to ask questions- this is more
parent friendly than calling it a workshop or tutoring
45
9. Send positive notes home with students- even problem kids have good points and
educators need to find them and celebrate them
10. Invite parents to be the audience for students’ presentations of written reports
11. Student led conferences- parents are more apt to attend if their child is leading it
12. Provide activities for students to take home that engage parents and students in
interactive, educational projects
Research Recommendations
I recommend that schools develop intense training sessions that take place over a
course of about six months. With these training sessions, requirements such as the parent
involvement log and the parent invitation log could be experimented with. Teachers
would be able to share ideas and get a better feel for what is occurring in their classroom
and school. Both qualitative and quantitative assessments should be used to evaluate the
training session structure, content, and effects.
Training sessions could be conducted for teachers, designed to develop a program
that supports and enhances teachers’ ability to work effectively with parents. The training
session could include: 1) time for teachers to share, discuss, and reflect on their behaviors
regarding parental involvement, 2) introduction of a new or successful parental
involvement strategy, and 3) development of a plan for implementing the strategy.
Teachers could then record their own activities in a log book to review at a later session
date. The content of the training session could include topics such as:
-Why should I involve parents? What difference does it make?
- Strategies for involving parents
- Tips for partnership conferences
46
- Parent and teacher discussions
- Involving parents at home with homework and projects
A teacher invitation log is a method that could be used to assess the frequency and
range of teachers’ invitations to involve parents. The log could be used as a measure of
ones self to help teachers see how often and what forms of invitations they are using.
This could open teachers’ eyes to strategies that are and are not working, as well as the
number of invitations and the number of different types of invitations.
A parental involvement log is another method that could help teachers measure
the number and how often parents get involved. This would strictly measure involvement
practices that are observable by the teacher, not parents’ home involvement. Examples
could include returned phone calls or written messages by the parent. Using a class list to
note every time a parent gets involved would show the teacher what areas parents are
interacting with and what areas need more involvement.
In order for teachers and administrators to increase parental involvement in their
classrooms and schools, they must be knowledgeable on what is presently occurring.
Sometimes involvement of parents is taking place and teachers overlook it. Other times,
teachers may not be putting themselves out and inviting parents or they simply are not
using successful involvement methods. I believe that training sessions, teacher invitation
logs, and parental involvement logs are all methods that could enhance teachers’ ability
to work with parents as well as increase parental involvement.
Summary
This study has gathered information on parental involvement in education helping
me, the researcher, learn and grow. I was able to investigate teachers own practices in the
47
classroom, analyze the data into themes and then look for similarities and dissimilarities.
I used this information to develop future instructional practices, which may help build
positive relations between home and school. Of course it is easier said than done but
teachers need to make an attempt and try some of the instructional practices that are
suggested. Some suggestions, such as home visits, may not fit every teacher’s character
or style. This is fine; there are many other practices that can be incorporated. Also, if an
involvement strategy does not correlate with your style, try it anyway. Going outside of
your equilibrium and feeling cognitive dissonance can sometimes open your mind to new
avenues.
I also provided research recommendations for the schools to try as a whole. The
training sessions seem like a lot of work but it will be worth the effort if it inspires
teachers to look at their own involvement strategies and enhance their ability to work
effectively with parents. The more parents that are involved in their children’s school, the
better children we have in the future.
48
Appendix A
Questionnaire Results
1) How are parents involved in their children’s education in your school?
-calling the teacher
- fundraising events
-looking for weekly letters to sign and return
- correct all failed papers and get signed by parent
-coming to the school to volunteer
-chaperoning or attending parties/concerts/parades/festivals/assemblies
-bringing in supplies or snacks
-attending conferences
-supervising and checking homework
-attending curriculum night and PTA
2) How could parents be further involved in their children’s education?
-asking the teacher for and doing activities at home
- family bingo night (game for grades K-2)
- classroom story time
- hoops for facts (game for grades 3-4)
-learning new methods for teaching math and literacy skills
-helping with homework
-responding to phone calls home
49
- returning notes or forms
- more attendance at PTA, conferences, open house, or registration
- “Three for Me”-a school-wide program asking parents to volunteer three
hours to child’s school
- Consistent form of discipline when homework is not done
3) Effective strategies that you have implemented in your classroom to increase
parental involvement in children’s education.
- have the student create and take home an individual invitation to our class
- call the parent and personalize your invitation to them. Let them know how
much you’re looking forward to meeting with them.
- send home a letter at the beginning of the school year to welcome them
- create and send home a classroom newsletter each week
- send home “literacy bags” with books and a feedback
- call each parent at least once a month with problem and positive feedback
- provide parents with information about how and when to contact you
- ask parents how they would like to be involved
- provide easy two-way communication between the classroom and home
- send a personal thank you note after an event attended by parents
- talk to parents in the hallways at school
- talk to parents during car duty
- talk with parents during registration and open house
- start a conversation with a parent with a positive comment about the child
- establish positive relationships with parents at the beginning of the year
50
- have parent-teacher conferences
-invite parents to PTA meetings
4) Strategies that have failed to involve parents.
- offering trainings and workshops for parents
- sending home guided reading books
- not acquiring positive parent-teacher relations
- assuming parent has skills to be involved at level you are expecting
5) Beliefs as to why parents are not involved in their children’s education.
- the parent is intimidated by the school setting due to low level of education
and/or a poor socioeconomic background
- the parent had bad experiences in school
- the parent’s work schedule does not permit at-school participation
- the parent doesn’t have transportation
- the parent is busy with pace/stress of every day life
- the parent doesn’t have a phone
- the parent doesn’t know what to do at home with the child
- the parent has limited skills or doesn’t feel competent
- the parent doesn’t want to bother because she doesn’t really care about her
child’s schooling
- the parent’s participation isn’t mandatory
- the parent thinks that it is the school’s responsibility to educate the child
- the parent was never asked
- the parent and teacher have not created a positive relationship
51
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