Parental Involvement in Schools

Parental

Involvement

What Is Parental Involvement?

• Participation of parents in every facet of children's education & development (National PTA 2000)

• Definition amongst administration, staff, and parents vary.

Erika L Zamora

EDCO 592

Epstein's 6 Categories of Parental Involvement

Solutions

• Know your families and what their needs are and share information with staff
• Ensure that communications are via multiple methods
• Provide a welcoming school culture

Forms of Parental Involvement

References

• Colorado Department of Education. Strengthening Parent Involvement: A Toolkit.Colorado Department of Education. 15 Dec. 2005. <www.cde.state.co.us/FedPrograms/nclb/downloads/pi_toolkit.pdf>.
• Epstein, Joyce L. 2002. School, Family, and Community partnerships
• Mandara, J. (2006). The impact of family functioning on African American males’ academic achievement: A review and clarification of the empirical literature
• National PTA. (2000). Building successful partnerships
• Toldson, I. A. (2008). Breaking barriers: Plotting the path to academic success for school-age African American males.
• U.S. Dept of Ed. (2004). Parental Involvement

Parental Involvement takes on many forms

• Two-Way communication between parents & schools
• Supporting parents as children's primary educators & integral to their learning
• Encouraging parents to participate in volunteer work
• Sharing responsibility for decision making about children's education, health, & well-being
• National PTA 2000

Effects of Parenting Programs

Students: Awareness of family supervision, respect for parents, regular attendance,

awareness of importance of school

Parents: Self confidence about parenting, knowledge of child development, feeling of

support from school and other parents

Schools: Understanding of families' backgrounds, cultures, concerns, goals, needs, and

views of their children. Respect for families' strengths and efforts, understanding student

diversity

What Research Says

• Parental Involvement is associated with academic achievement (Mandara 2006; Toldson, 2008)
• Found to be a primary contributor to student success (Rumberger, 1995)
• Schools with higher percentages of students on free and reduced-price lunches face more challenges to building partnerships

Problems with PI

• Parents do not always know how to help their child academically
• Parents do not know how to be involved
• Parents not feeling welcomed
• Some teachers have certain stereotypes towards lower socioeconomic parents, single parents and at-risk families
• Communication Issues/Language barriers
• Transportation issues

PI Activities Ideas

School Culture

School Culture

Research suggest a strong link between school culture and parental involvement.

Elements of a family-friendly school culture:

• Caring and Welcoming staff
• Greeting parents & acknowledging their needs
• Making sure staff develops genuine, caring relationships with children and their families
• Realizing the role of administration- they set the tone of the school
• Ensuring there is someone that speaks to non-English speaking parents
• Recognizing that every parent, regardless of culture background or language spoken, wants to support their child's education
• Offering parents strategies & skills to become involved in school

Conclusion

• Learned the importance of parental involvement.

• With the help of books, articles. and surveys I was able to receive information and understand this topic.

• I learned how to use my information literacy skills to prepare me for further research that is to co

Parenting Programs

According to Oregon Dept. of Education, effective parenting programs include sessions that are:

• 1-2 hrs at night
• free of charge
• addresses behaviors & skills parents can use
• offer opportunities for parents to learn and practice new behaviors
• childcare
• food/snacks
• incentives (door prizes, raffles, etc.)

NCLB

No Child Left Behind Act states: "a local educational agency may receive funds under this part only if such agency implements programs, activities, and procedures for involvment of parents..."

Future Prospective

• In the future, I will be able to use this same techniques of finding information as I do other research in upcoming projects