Collaborating+With+Parents+and+Communities+Research


 * It Takes a North Carolina Parent - Transforming Education Under the No Child Left Behind Act**
 * by Appleseed**

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submitted by Lisa Hatfield

This North Carolina based study is an excellent article for educators and families alike. This parent involvement project by the Appleseed research group was funded by a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. The mission of the project was to provide recommendations on how family involvement can help fill the gap for achieving school and student success in the wake of NCLB. The group organizes the article based on four general findings:

Finding #1: Low Socioeconomic Status, Limited English Proficiency, and varying cultural expectations are among the significant obstacles; Finding #2: Parents typically do not receive enough information about their student's progress nor about parent involvement policy; Finding #3: NCLB is rarely explained to parents in simple straight forward terms; Finding #4: Parents report feeling alienated and feel they have little influence in important educational decisions that effect their child.

The research group provides recommendations for each of their findings as listed below. Recommendation #1: State and Federal Governments, along with School Districts, must financially support and implement outreach initiatives to engage parents. Recommendation #2: Schools, states and community organization need to adopt a more proactive posture and more creative outreach in parent communication. Recommendation #3:Educators must disseminate NCLB results in a clear and timely way, provide parents with child specific progress and tell parents how to take action in response. Recommendation #4: Schools need to cultivate a warm, welcoming and collaborative environment where parents feel confident in their ability to approach teachers and administrators, especially in the upper grades.

In addition the article provides a "Toolkit for Districts and Schools" as well as suggested practices for positive family involvement, and a checklist of federal requirements for parent involvement in schools.

By Kristin Turney and Grace Kao University of Phoenix**
 * Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrant Parents Disadvantaged?

The United States has more immigrants than any nation in the world. Approximately one in four children has at least one immigrant parent. Research has shown that children of immigrants benefit from parental involvement. Parental involvement in education is linked to success in schools. The benefits of parental involvement include: 1) Socializes children. Parents who are involved are sending a message to their children that education is important. 2) Social control. Involved parents get to know the teachers and administrators at the school. These people may discuss how their child is doing with an involved parent.3) Involved parents are in a better position to intervene when their children are struggling. Data has been used from recent studies of Kindergarten show that while immigrant parents are much less likely than native born parents to volunteer at their children’s school, they are just as likely to attend parent teacher conferences. While this factor may hold true, there are still many barriers to immigrant parent involvement. 1) One factor to consider is that immigrant parents may not now that they are expected to be involved at school. 2) Time spent in the United States associated with the ability to speak English also affected parental involvement. 3) Many parents feel unwelcome in the schools; therefore they are not involved. Parental involvement is important to children’s academic success, but not all parents are prepared to become involved in the schools. Many economic and social barriers keep parents from becoming more involved in their children’s education. Children will benefit if schools will take the time to encourage immigrant parents to feel welcome by decreasing the language barrier and any other barriers that they may face.

Turney, Kristin, and Grace Kao.. "Barriers to School Involvement: Are Immigrant Parents Disadvantaged?." Journal of Educational Research 102.4 (May 2009): 257-271. Teacher Reference Center. EBSCO.Appalachian State University Library, Boone, NC. 11 Mar. 2009 <[]>.

Submitted by Peggy Wellmon


 * Reilly, E. (2008). Parental involvement through better communication. Middle School Journal, 39(3), 40-47.**

This article was written for an audience which is geared more towards middle school. However, the information provided was appropriate for teachers at any level that wish to involve their students’ parents more often and move effectively. Reilly, a former middle school teacher, writes of an experiment conducted in a particular middle school. The goal of the experiment was to increase communication between teachers and parents in the school and to “help parents understand our commitment to excellence for their children.” Teachers were encouraged to contact parents before something negative happened with their child. If that was not possible and the first point of contact was regarding a negative issue, teachers were encouraged to react calmly and encourage parents to keep the lines of communication open. The author points out that parental involvement often decreases as children get older. Part of the reason for this is that parents feel they are not knowledgeable enough to assist their children with their increasingly difficult work. Reilly goes on to quote J. L. Epstein by saying that rather than parents needing to be “experts” on what their children are studying, they only need to “provide a place and time for children to study, they need to monitor progress on homework, and they need to develop a basic understanding of where their child should be at each grade level.”

Reilly points out some of the biggest benefits of parental involvement. First, she says the greatest benefit is in the way that it enhances student performance. Second, school programs are generally enhanced as well as the positive climate of the school. Third, encouraging parental involvement gives teachers a way to “become more familiar with their students’ backgrounds” and “help teachers learn about the challenges students may face at home.” Additionally, when teacher contact with parents increased, complaints about teachers decreased.

What are some ways to encourage parental involvement? Contributed by Leslie Johnson, 3/29/09
 * Frequent, positive contact with parents.
 * Open lines of communication with parents.
 * Inviting and encouraging parents to come into your classroom
 * Parents could be invited to come speak to the class about real-world applications of what is being learned in the classroom
 * Parents could help with tutoring
 * Parents could come speak about community issues
 * Meetings could be held in the community which would be accessible to all parents.
 * Providing parents/families with up-to-date information about their child’s classroom obligations and assignments through newsletters, class websites, emails, monthly/weekly calendars, etc.
 * Sending home progress reports between report cards to allow parents to see how their child is doing before it is too late to do anything about it.

Machen, S. M., Wilson, J. D., Notar, C.E., (2005) Parental Involvement in the Classroom. Journal of Instructional Pshycology, 32 (1), 13-16.**
 * Parental Involvement in the Classroom

This article discusses parental involvement and the importance of parental involvement in the classroom. The article also talks about how parental involvement can open up more doors for students, allowing them to be more likely to succeed. Reasons why we need more parental involvement: · High standards · Accountability · Testing Movement

There are many ways in which schools can help to gain parental involvement: · Have programs that involve parents in the classroom I.e. workshops and volunteer time · Providing childcare for parents, so that parents can have involvement in the classroom -Whether it is for volunteer time or parent teacher conferences · Providing transportation for parents who are not able to drive to the school or for parents that do not have a way to get to the school · Allow for communication time with parents, teachers, and students

As you can see parental involvement is very important. Parental involvement can help students succeed, as well as, push students to strive harder for excellence. Effective parental involvement is a very positive experience for students, teachers, and parents.

Submitted by Casey Davis 