It may be one of the least controversial statements in American education today: “Parent involvement can make a difference in a child’s education.” However, the question and conflict arises on how to define that involvement. Do all the PTA meetings, take-home flyers and Back to School nights actually generate increases in student achievement?
The Center for Public Education examined the research and found that creating a partnership between parents and schools focused on academics truly does have significant impact on student achievement. Through my own research on parental involvement in children’s education, I found that school age children spend approximately 70% of their waking hours (including weekends and holidays) outside of school. 86% of the general public believes that support from parents is the most important way to improve the schools. Lack of parental involvement is the biggest problem facing public schools. Decades of research show that when parents are involved students have:
1. Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates
2. Better school attendance
3. Increased motivation, better self-esteem
4. Lower rates of suspension
5. Decreased use of drugs and alcohol
6. Fewer instances of violent behavior
7. Lower dropout rate
The more parents participate in schooling, in a sustained way, at every level — in advocacy, decision-making and oversight roles, as fund-raisers and boosters, as volunteers and para-professionals, and as home teachers — the better for student achievement. The earlier in a child’s educational process parent involvement begins, the more beneficial and powerful the effects. The most effective forms of parent involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities at home.
Research has shown that typically, there are three major factors of parental involvement in the education of their children:
1. What parent’s value and deem necessary and permissible for them to do with and on behalf of their children
2. The extent to which parents believe that they can have a positive influence on their children’s education
3. Parents’ perceptions that their children and school want them to be involved
The strongest and most consistent predictors of parent involvement at school and at home are the specific school programs and staff practices that encourage parent involvement at school and guide parents in how to help their children at home. This is where the school social worker can step in and implement programs to further engage parents with emphasis on making their child’s success a team effort. Research has indicated that school initiated activities to help parents change the home environment can have a strong influence on children’s school performance by providing parents specific information on how to help and what to do.
School social workers have the ability to intervene on behalf of the teachers, administrators, students and their families in order to help create a more efficient gateway to learning by addressing barriers and providing alternatives. Various ways in which school social workers can assist include helping the family establish a daily family routine at home as well as encouraging parents to be firm with consequences and behavioral reinforcements, spend more time together as a family and increasing level of communication, set limits and modeling appropriate behavior and work ethic, model the value of learning, self-discipline, and hard work, set realistic expectations, recognize and encourage success; including special talents and maintain a warm and supportive home while communicating regularly with teachers.
Twenty-three percent of high school dropouts surveyed, cited lack of support and encouragement from their parents as the reason they quit school, the report by Harris Interactive, a research firm, and Everest College revealed. With nearly 1.3 million students leaving high school each year, the dropout crisis is “equivalent to a permanent recession,” and siphons close to a trillion dollars from the national economy, Tony Miller, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, said during a panel discussion in May.
To reverse the dropout trend, schools need to empower parents to support their student by forging relationships between families, the school, and community resources, Pat Davenport, CEO of Families and Schools Together Inc., a nonprofit agency, stated during a 2010 talk on parent involvement. When the school social workers and other staff give parents a voice on school initiatives and after-school programs, those participants can also help pull more reluctant parents into the support network, she noted. It’s important for the school social worker to also convey to parents that when they come to school regularly, it reinforces the view in the child’s mind that school and home are connected and that school is an integral part of the whole family’s life.
For the school social worker, building that rapport and maintaining those trusting relationships with students and their families is essential to helping form that open line of communication between home and school, further promoting student’s success. This also increases the chances that parents will be aware of what may be going on at school including bullying, sexual promiscuity, truancy, substance abuse, learning difficulties, peer conflict…etc.
“When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.” That’s the conclusion of a recent report from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. The report, a synthesis of research on parent involvement over the past decade, goes on to find that, regardless of family income or background, “students with involved parents are more likely to, earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs, be promoted, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school, and move on to post-secondary education.
Even though this is generally a topic that proves very frustrating for the school social worker and school staff alike, the reality is we truly don’t know why a parent may not attend a meeting or why this child’s report card wasn’t signed in a timely manner. There are several potential reasons why there have been failed attempts to engage more resistant families including lack of education, low access to resources, other challenging barriers that may prove to be priority, poor communication within the home, lack of time…etc. Our responsibility is not to pass judgment, but rather to serve as the liaison between home, school, and the community by asking the right questions and navigating through resources for families such as family counseling services, mental health supports, and other community support services to provide assistance. Most parents want to see their children succeed. Low parental involvement is generally not an indicator of low interest, but rather of community barriers that prevent schools from effectively engaging parents. It’s imperative to be mindful that it is possible to remove many of these barriers and engage families in meaningful ways. Helping to instill the value of education in these parents and encouraging them by expressing how valuable their input is to your school’s success is step one in making allies and asking questions. It is often hard for parents to explain why they are not more involved, but asking specific questions without coming across as judgmental, can help identify barriers to engagement. Meeting the family where they are is crucial to getting the information we need to promote positive change. One of these pertinent concerns includes the challenges they face daily,(parents often express concerns about finding jobs, feeding their families, and even washing laundry.) Another big one is whether or not they are active in any community events or organizations and if the school or district is proving to be a welcoming place for them. Neighborhood and community issues are also factors.
Organizing family to family events are key parts of an effective parent-involvement program in the schools. Socioeconomic status can also influence the parents’ ability to become more involved in their children’s education. Data indicates that parent involvement can vary by poverty concentration and minority enrollment in the school. The 2000 NAEP survey found that 73 percent of white 4th graders were in schools in which lack of parent involvement was deemed not to be a problem, or to be only a minor problem. The same could be said for only 38 percent of African-American 4th graders, however, and 48 percent of Hispanic 4th graders. Efforts to recruit poor or non-English-speaking parents can include a bilingual hotline, transportation to the school for the parent, translation services, or child care. Among low-income students, defined as those eligible for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program, 42 percent of 4th graders were in schools where lack of parent involvement was not a problem or was only a minor problem. Of their more affluent peers, 72 percent were in such schools. Many teachers and school administrators remain unaware of some of the struggles that families are faced with that may be preventing them from becoming more involved in their child’s education. It is important for school social workers to take the lead in educating teachers and administrators on the struggles affecting many students and their families, preventing them from immersing themselves in their student’s education. In particular, lower income families are often marginalized from everyday school life by poverty, racism, language and cultural differences. Family involvement in education is influenced by culture, income, language, and the adults’ perceptions of school and family responsibilities.
According to the National Network of Partnership Schools, for parent involvement to flourish, it must be meaningfully integrated into a school’s programs and community.
The network developed a framework of six types of parent involvement that schools can use to guide their efforts. The school social workers and other school staff can:
• Communicate with families about school programs and student progress and needs;
• Work to improve recruitment, training, and schedules to involve families as volunteers in school activities;
• Encourage families to be involved in learning activities at home;
• Include parents as participants in important school decision
The school social worker may also coordinate with businesses and agencies to provide resources and services for families, students, and the community.
As social workers for the schools, gathering feedback and discussing solutions with these parents can help the district generate further questions, conversations, and surveys to extend to all families. The more information the schools have, the more strategic they can be in providing families direct assistance through resources, education, and employment. Thinking outside the box can benefit school social workers in these efforts. Some unique ideas include:
Creatively Publicizing Information: If your families do not often read the newspaper, have access to the Internet, or read materials that come home, consider advertising school events in other venues. In addition to using traditional methods of communication, the district can place flyers at the local restaurant and in the community grocery stores. We should also notify families of upcoming events through text messages, automated phone calls, and public service announcements on local radio stations.
Becoming a Vehicle for the Community: When concerns about crime in the community increase, this could be an opportunity to leverage not only address the issue of crime, but to also engage families in sessions on achievement, community services, and school volunteerism. There are many ways to foster parental engagement, especially successful through events like these and by providing our families with basic resources. Schools can also waive fees for certain things based on community need. The school social worker may also encourage the district to provide bus passes for students and parents to ride to school together, or provide bus passes or cabs for parents to attend school events, allowing parents to wash clothing with supplies provided by the school and offering employment when possible to families within the community, collaborating with community agencies such as the YMCA, neighborhood watch, local library, and recreation center—and offer to host events sponsored by these groups can prove helpful. Partnering with a local thrift store or food pantry to supply families with clothing and regular access to groceries is something that many districts do across the country. It is also important to prioritize funding for these initiatives in the school operating budget, and also through donations and grants.
The possibilities are for increasing parental involvement are endless. Recent research indicates that family resistance to school involvement can indeed be reversed. This can be accomplished when school staff actively develop an understanding of children’s cultural backgrounds, and when they make sustained and creative efforts to collaborate with families. The key to high parental involvement is removing barriers by building genuine relationships that result in a culture of understanding, support, and collaboration. Supporting our families is instrumental in supporting our schools and our students.
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Parent-Involvement
http://michigan.gov/documents/Final_Parent_Involvement_Fact_Sheet_14732_7.pdf
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/parent-involvement
http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/babies-lack-of-parental-support-drive-high-dropout-rates/
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/engagingandre-engagingstudents.pdf
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Parent-Involvement
http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=parental-involvement-in-schools
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