BUILDING UPON AND STRENGTHENING FAMILY
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT SCIENCE LEARNING
CORY A. BUXTON
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Thursday, July 26, 12
CHAT WITH A NEIGHBOR ABOUT
THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS….
✦Brainstorm a list of all the ways that parents/families
are involved in your school.
✦Which of these attract the most involvement? Why?
✦Which of these attract the least involvement? Why?
✦In what ways does your school engage/ reach out to
your students’ communities?
✦What do you predict are some of the major research-
based findings on parental involvement?
Thursday, July 26, 12
MODELS OF FAMILY
ENGAGEMENT
Thursday, July 26, 12
JOYCE EPSTEIN’S MODEL
“OVERLAPPING SPHERES OF INFLUENCE”
✦Parenting: Provide families with parenting training
✦Communication: Provide school information to
parents
✦School involvement: Support parental volunteering
✦Home learning: Support parents providing
homework assistance
✦Decision making: Parent advisory groups
✦Community collaboration: Help parents gain
access to community-based organizations
Thursday, July 26, 12
ALBERTO RODRIGUEZ’S MODEL
THE ROLE OF AGENCY
✦Parents’ agency: What are parents already
doing to support their children’s education?
✦Students’ agency: What decisions are students
already making about their education?
✦Parental expectations/aspirations: How do
parents make their expectations/aspirations known
to students and with what affect?
Thursday, July 26, 12
ALEJANDRO PORTES’ STUDIES OF
2ND GENERATION IMMIGRANTS
3 common features of parents of successful
students:
✦Authoritative Parenting and Selective
Acculturation – What are students
encouraged to embrace and to reject?
✦Outside Help – School and community
resources that target individuals & small groups
✦Cultural Capital – Intellectual and emotional
resilience that students draw from their history
Thursday, July 26, 12
QUESTIONS & THOUGHTS
SO FAR?
✦What questions or
comments do you have
about these models?
✦Which of these ideas
resonates most with your
experiences?
✦What, if anything, is missing
from these models?
Thursday, July 26, 12
STEPS TO COLLEGE:
INITIAL PROJECT GOALS
✦Educate Latino/a middle
school students and their
families about career
opportunities in sciencerelated fields of study
✦Engage Latino/a middle
school students, their families
and their teachers together in
high quality, inquiry-based
science activities
Thursday, July 26, 12
PARTICIPANTS
✦Began with 7th and 8th graders in 1 school
✦Number of participants and grade levels have
expanded each year
✦Evolved to include high school students &
teachers and community colleges
✦Evolved to include Latino college students
from both documented and undocumented
backgrounds
Thursday, July 26, 12
WORKSHOP FORMAT
Parents, teachers & students
rotate through stations:
✦authentic science research &
careers
✦model school science inquiry
✦group discussions on schooling,
language and power
✦Ends with shared meal
Each group has something to
contribute and something to learn
Thursday, July 26, 12
EVOLVING DISCOURSE
✦Increased talk about
obstacles to academic
success, and resources for
supporting students’ academic
aspirations.
✦Increased science talk from
parents & students
✦Building trust and
relationships among all
participants is key
Thursday, July 26, 12
SAMPLE SCIENCE ACTIVITY :
BIRD FEEDING HABITS
✦In groups of 2-3 read over the
semillas para aves activity
✦Discuss what you see as the
science learning goals of the
activity.
✦Discuss what you see as the
language learning goals of the
activity.
Thursday, July 26, 12
PARENT-CHILD INTERVIEWS
At the end of each year of
participation parents and
students interview each other
about:
✦ things they have learning
during the workshops
✦ their future educational
aspirations
✦ challenges and support
structures that are relevant to
those aspirations
Thursday, July 26, 12
PARENT-CHILD INTERVIEW
FINDINGS
✦ Students claim that they have an increased interest in
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science, both in and out of school
Parents claim that they have an increased interest in how
science affects their lives
Both students and parents are able to:
name a wider variety of careers that involve science
describe people and programs that provide academic
support for Latino students
describe high school experiences that are advantageous
for college admissions
express greater self-awareness of challenges and resources
related to their continuing education
Thursday, July 26, 12
STRENGTHENING FAMILY RESOURCES
TO SUPPORT SCIENCE LEARNING
Some lessons learned:
✦Focus on systematic & ongoing communication,
relationship-building and knowledge sharing
✦Think broadly about participants: relatives,
teachers, other school personnel, university faculty
& students, etc.
✦ Explore issues of science, language, access to
resources (school & community) in connection to
family aspirations
Thursday, July 26, 12
QUESTIONS AND
DISCUSSION
✦What general questions or
comments do you have?
✦What specific steps could
your school take to build
upon and strengthen family
resources?
✦What support and resources
would you need to do this?
✦What would the potential
value be?
Thursday, July 26, 12
REFERENCES
• Epstein, J. L. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing
educators and improving schools. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Portes, A., Fernandez, P. & Haller, W. (2008). The Adaptation of the
immigrant second generation in America:Theoretical overview and recent
evidence. The Center for Migration and Development Working Paper
#08-02, Princeton University.
• Rodriguez, A., Zozakiewicz, C., & Yerrick, R. (2008). Students acting as
change agents in culturally diverse schools. In The multiple faces of
agency: Innovative strategies for effecting change in urban school contexts
(pp. 47-72). Rotterdam: Sense Publishing.
Thursday, July 26, 12