Definition of Parent Involvement
Parent involvement is a broadly defined construct, which includes several different forms and types of participation in schools and education. This framework definition suggests that parents can support their children’s education by attending school functions, responding to school obligations, helping with school activities or classroom work and actively participating in the governance and decision making necessary for the planning, development, and providing an education for children. Parents can also be more involved in helping children with homework, providing encouragement, arranging study time and space and modeling desired behavior (Cotton & Wikelund, 1989).
Literature Review
There is a plethora of research literature, which indicates that parent involvement in the educative process positively affects the academic achievement of children. Glass (1994), points to the fact that most parent involvement research was inspired by the pitiable performance and high drop-out rate of inner-city students and centers on the preparation of teachers, school organization and curriculum content. Further, research on inner city children focused on early socialization, parental discipline, social, racial and class segregation within schools, teacher attitudes, family attitude, and parental supervision of homework (Glass.1994).
Epstein & Dauber (1993, 1991) provide the foremost framework for viewing parent involvement in schools. They identified five essential types of parent involvement: 1) basic obligation of parents for safe and positive home environment, 2) basic obligation of schools for the communication with parents about schooling and students’ progress; 3) involvement at school as volunteers; 4) involvement at home in learning activities; and 5) involvement in decision making as child advocate. This framework as been adopted in many parent involvement programs throughout the country and operates much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (John, Griffith, and Haynes, 1997).
The literature reviewed for this paper will be discussed under the following headings: 1) effectiveness of programs to involve parents, and 2) parent involvement in diverse populations, and 3) barriers to parental involvement.
Effectiveness of Parent and School Collaboration
Henderson (1986) suggests that when parents are involved in schools children do better academically and they attend better schools. (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001) adds that the significance of parents and schools collaboration are the necessary framework needed to establish an interdependent relationship while working towards the common goal of maximizing students’ success.
In order to boost parent-school collaboration (Henderson, 1986) offers seven principles, which serve as the framework for implementing the program. The principles are; 1) open and friendly school environment, 2) frequent communication with parents, 3) treat parents as collaborators in the educative process, 4) encourage parents to share their insights on and to share in the decision-making process, 5) schools have a responsibility to collaborate with all parents, including marginalized families, 6) the philosophy and practices of collaboration must be promoted by school administrators , and 7) volunteer participation from parents must be encouraged.
Collaboration between parents and schools was supported by (Kessler-Sklar, & Baker, 2000) in a survey of 200 superintendents in 15 states. The research sought to obtain information on the districts’ programs and policies to involve parents. The results of the survey indicated that more than 90% of the responding districts had policies in
place that addressed parent involvement and that the two most common policies were to communicate with parents about their children’s progress and to provide decision making opportunities for parents.
A study conducted by the National council of Jewish Women (1996) concluded that very few parent involvement programs accommodate parents whose children are older than elementary school ages. Parent involvement programs are usually aimed to change parents’ behavior and are not geared towards training teachers or changing the way schools and parents interact. If schools want parents to be involved in meaningful ways, efforts should be made to study and improve the intersection of school and home. The research conclusion points to one of the main reasons why parents are resentful of schools. That is, while they share the same mission of educating children, the vision to accomplish the task is not shared. Thus there exists tension between the roles of parents and schools, which leads to resentment on both sides.
The effective collaboration between parents and schools was highlighted by (Chavkin, Gonzalez, & Rader, 2002) study of a home school program instituted in a district near the Texas –Mexican border. The students were 95% Hispanic from homes of migrant workers. Teachers, parents, and students collaborated to choose a program tailored to their community’s needs and used it as a tool to lead school reform efforts.
The result was that students at all levels showed significant gains in reading, writing, and arithmetic in addition to increased attendance and decreased discipline problems. The result of this research study speaks volume about the importance of parents having a part in the decision-making of schools in addition to being volunteers or fundraisers.
Moses, Kamii, Swap & Howard (1989) using the Algebra Project, focused on a method for providing all children with access to college preparatory mathematics curriculum. A collaborative governance model was used which involved parents in activities that would support their children’s learning. The result was a significant improvement in students’ mathematics achievement. Gillum (1977) supports this finding based on his study of reading program in three elementary school districts. The result indicates that districts that involved parents in implementation decisions and home reinforcement strategies had significantly higher reading scores.
When schools and parents share the same mission and vision of how to accomplish mutually decided goals in support of children, the entire process of education benefits. As stakeholders in the educational process parents share in the success or failure of their children which helps to motivate them to work towards avoiding failure and return success. Mapp (1997) reports that when parents are respectfully involved in the education of children they are empowered by the fact that their opinions, concerns, and feelings are respected. School administrators and teachers must realize that parent school collaboration embraces a philosophy where power is shared and everyone understands that the responsibility for the educational development of children is an enterprise among parents, school and parents (Wang, Oates & Weishew, 1997; Smrehkar et al, 2001, Lopez, 2001).
Parental Involvement in Culturally Diverse Populations
Research also indicates that parent involvement positively affects students’ academic achievement in culturally diverse populations. Additionally, families of all cultural backgrounds, education, and income levels can, and often do have a positive influence on their children’s academic success (Ho Sui-Chu & Willms (1996). However, (Martinez and Velasquez, 2000) present that efforts to involve parents in their children’s education, must take into account issues of social inequalities, educational ideologies, educational structures and interpersonal interactions. These influences help to shape the educational outcomes of children. Additionally, involvement strategies should include a curriculum that reflects the culture, values, interests, experiences, and concerns of these families.
Researchers (Espinosa, 1995; Lopez 2001; Scribner, Young, and Pedroza, 1999) in a study of Hispanic schools along the Texas /Mexico border found that staff members created a welcoming environment for parents by building on their cultural values and facilitated structural accommodations that encouraged parental involvement. As a result the performance rating of the students in these schools was the highest in the state. It is clear from this finding that schools, when dealing with minority groups, need to develop attitudes, policies and procedures that reflect and are sensitive to the needs of the community they serve. Educators need to identify new ways of including families while respecting and validating the differences in culture of the home and students.
There needs to be an understanding of the factors that may contribute the lack of involvement of minority parents. Equating unfamiliarity with curriculum and school procedures with a lack of caring about their children’s education is an assumption that school staff should ignore (Caplan, Hall, Lubin and Fleming, 1997).
Desimone (1997) examined the effects of students’ race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status on parent involvement. Using data from the national educational longitudinal study of 1988, the researcher found that there were statistically significant and substantively meaningful differences in the relationship between student achievement according to the student’s race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Desimone, (1997) concluded that the effectiveness of parent involvement practices differs according to race, ethnicity and family income, and educators and policy makers must consider these differences if parent involvement is to help schools respond effectively to growing disparities in income and education in the nation.
Within diverse communities parents have different perceptions of and expectations of the benefits of academic achievement. These differences dictate the degree to which parents involve themselves in school activities. Many of these parents are involved in their children’s educational lives, although they do not participate in their children’s schooling in traditional ways (Espinosa, 1995; Lopez 2001; Scribner, Young, and Pedroza, 1999). In their study of 41 low incomes African American children and their parents (Halle, Kurtz, and Mahoney, 1997) found that parental expectations for the future success of their children and perception of their academic skills were positively correlated with their children’s academic achievement.
Barriers to Parent Involvement in Schools
The literature on parent involvement not only offers insights into its positive effects on the academic achievement of students but it also highlights barriers that prevent parents, particularly marginalized parents from participation in the educational process. Ariza (2002) argues that parents from non- mainstream cultures may have many valid reasons for not participating in the educational environment and these do not necessarily indicate a lack of interest in their children’s education.
The results of a survey conducted between 1981 and 1996 indicated that teachers at all grade levels signaled their interest in having more and better interaction between school; and home. Additionally, teachers mentioned that the lack of support from parents as the biggest problem and they assume that parents are apathetic and lack interest in the education of their children (Turner 2000). However, researchers (Leitch & Tangri, 1988; U.S. Department of Education, 1994; Yap & Enoki, 1994) suggest that factors such as cultural misunderstanding, school bureaucracy, time, and health contribute substantially to the lack of parental involvement.
In addition to these factors (Nichols- Solomon, 2001) offers that pervasive in many schools is a culture of fear and a culture of blame which prohibits collaboration and working across issues of race, class, and culture. African Americans and Latino parents are often seen as limited by their socioeconomic status and are blamed by the news media and other well meaning individuals for their position in society. Higher social class position provides parents with more resources to intervene in schooling. Such resources which is usually acquired through education, type of work experience, and social connection works to connect parents with social institutions.
Other contributing factors to the lack of parent involvement includes; changing demographic which limits the available time of both parents and teachers, school norms that reflect hierarchy over reciprocity, lack of adequate resources, and a lack of knowledge about how schools work(Swap,1993). Parents are also intimidated by the language of education which prevents communication between them and teachers. Transportation, safety, and childcare issues and their own negative experience school experiences are among the other issues thwarting the involvement of parents in schools (Moles, 1993 & Aronson, 1996).
Theory
Parent involvement in the educative process positively affects the academic achievement of children. Therefore, schools need to develop programs to involve parents in the decision making process of schooling
Curriculum Connection
Tyler’s (1949) work is fundamental to the lasting impression of curriculum theory and practice in the United States. His work on curriculum theory is guided by four principal questions: 1) what educational purposes should the schools seek to attain?
2) What educational experiences can be provided to that is likely to attain these purposes? 3) How can these educational experiences be effectively organized? 4) How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? (Tyler 1949:1). What Tyler is proposing here is that essential to the development of any curriculum is the assessment of the needs of the people served. This speaks to the importance of including parents in the decision making process of schooling of which curriculum choice is an important element.
Schubert (1986) argues that Parents come to the schooling process with different expectations, educational backgrounds, and socioeconomic class among other things. Consequently, not only should parents be involved in the curriculum decision making of schools but their involvement should be based on their expertise. On the matter of school curriculum, parents are the most actively concerned and because of their vested interest they actively seek involvement through formal and informal means. It is vitally important for curriculum developers and individuals who act as surrogate consumers to have insights about the effects of non-school entities on the education of children. Without this information efforts at designing curriculum would be futile (Schubert, 1981).
A study funded by the national Center for Research in Mathematical Science Education, which began the School Level Study of Mathematics Reform, provides an example of the positive effect of parental involvement in curriculum reform. 20 of 48 schools involved in some form of school level mathematical reform were chosen to be involved in this study. The schools represented a variety of demographic backgrounds and locations. Observational site visits and interviews with teachers about their classroom practice and preparation were conducted. Also, principals and groups of parents were interviewed. The result indicated that parents became more involved in their children’s mathematics education after their understanding of the changes happening in school mathematic curriculum increased. The research further indicates that parents do not wish to be in control of schools but they want to be involved in the decisions that affect the lives and education of their children (Peressini, 1997).
In attempting to answer the question of who makes or should be involved in curriculum making decisions (Klein1991) proposes a framework that includes participants at seven levels responsible for making decisions about curriculum. The levels are; academic, societal, formal, instructional, institutional, operational, and experiential. Theses levels are defined in terms of their closeness to the learner.
Parents are involved at the second highest level of closeness to the learner, the societal level. At this level are the individuals and groups who have a vested interest in what students learn. Through their contact with the local schools and contact with the Parent Teacher association, parents have the ability to affect school curriculum (Klein, 1991). Klein’s (1991) framework supports (Tyler’s, 1949) rationale for curriculum design. And it also articulates the importance of parental involvement in curriculum decision-making. Because parents have a close relationship with the learner it is essential that they be involved in ascertaining the needs of the learner in order to develop learning experiences to meet the defined objective of schooling.
The increased efforts to involve parents in the education of their children do not necessarily lead to positive academic outcomes, especially in culturally diverse populations. There is a need for the development of greater understanding of how culture influences child rearing, socialization practices, communication styles and attitude towards formal education in order to reach parents in these communities (Espinosa, 1995). In order for marginalized families to survive in the American educational system culturally relevant pedagogical practices and policies must be employed Three culturally relevant pedagogy must be present in the instruction and curriculum development in culturally diverse communities. They are; 1) Culturally relevant pedagogy enhances academic achievement; 2) Culturally relevant pedagogy supports and cultivates cultural competence; and culturally relevant pedagogy encourages sociopolitical critique (Billings, 1995).
The work of curriculum development and choice is very important. As such there are many stakeholders who have an interest in the curriculum content of schools. The question of who makes curriculum decisions has been dealt with in many different ways. In some cases States have taken control over the development and choosing of curriculum. The answer to this question is that all stakeholders should have a say in the curriculum development process.
Summary and Conclusion
The literature reviewed overwhelmingly concludes that the involvement of parents in the education of children significantly and positively affects their academic achievement. However, the degree to which children’s academic achievement increase is related to the nature and type of parent involvement. Research as shown that parent involvement in the decision making process, specifically curriculum development and choice more significantly affects the achievement of students when compared to other forms of parent involvement such as -________-.
Therefore schools need to create an atmosphere teachers, administrators and parents can function as equal partners in the education of children. Work needs to be done at the district and school levels to develop and implement program to educate parents about their involvement in schools and to provide guidance in how to help their children at home.
To answer the questions put forth by Tyler (1945) schools reevaluate their vision and mission
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