PARENT INVOLVEMENT
AND OTHER FAMILY LITERACY
PRACTICES
Part 3
Kathy R. Fox
Elementary, Middle and Literacy Education
WATSON SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNCW
MAY 17, 2011
AGENDA
3:45-3:55 Welcome and renew
3:55-4:10 Recapping Parent Involvement using
Epstein’s model
4:10-4:30 Discussion Board notes
Project Fresa
Community Map evidence
4:30-4:5 Planning for Empowerment:
Task analysis
4:50-5:00 Sharing plans…taking steps
Introductions and School Role Call
Recapping who is here and who
participated in the discussion board
Redefining Parent Involvement
• Historical views of parent involvement
• Current research says…
• Regional perspectives
• Economic perspectives
• Social and Cultural Capitol
Hierarchy of Parent Involvement
Joyce Epstein, 1989
Type 5 Involvement
(parent involvement in government and advocacy)
Type 4 Involvement
(parent involvement in learning activities at home)
Type 3 Involvement
(parent involvement at schools)
Type 2 Involvement
(basic obligations of the school)
Type 1 Involvement
(basic obligations of parents)
Hierarchy of Parent Involvement
Joyce Epstein, 1989
Type 1 Involvement (basic obligations of parents) refers to the responsibilities of
families to ensure the children’s health and safety; to the parenting and childrearing skills needed to prepare children for school; to the continual need to
supervise, discipline and guide children at each level and to build positive home
conditions to support school learning.
Type 2 Involvement (basic obligations of the school) refers to the communications
from school to home about school programs and children’s progress.
Type 3 Involvement (parent involvement at schools) refers to parent volunteers who
assist teachers, administrators, and children in classrooms or in other areas of the
school.
Type 4 Involvement (parent involvement in learning activities at home) refers to
parent-initiated activities or child-initiated requests for help, and ideas or
instructions from teachers to monitor or assist their children at home on learning
activities that are coordinated with the children’s class work.
Type 5 Involvement (parent involvement in government and advocacy) refers to
parents taking decision-making roles in the PTA/PTO, advisory councils or other
committees or groups at the school, district or state level. It also refers to parent
and community activists in independent advocacy groups that monitor the schools
and work for school improvement
Guidelines for Parent Involvement:
What Experience Tells Us Works
• Funds of Knowledge: Louis Moll, Norma
Gonzalez, James Greenberg, and Carlos Velez
Retrieved May 2, 2011 from
http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/FullText/Lui
s_Moll_Hidden_Family_Resourc es.pdf
• Proyecto Fresa Project. Literacy, Technology,
and Diversity: Teaching for Success in
Changing Times. Jim Cummins, Kristine
Brown, and Dennis Sayers (2007)
More Funds of Knowledge
A More Positive Approach
Moll contends
• existing classroom practices underestimate
and constrain what [minority/disenfranchised]
children are able to display intellectually.
• The secret to literacy instruction is for schools
to investigate and tap into the "hidden" home
and community resources of their students.
A Task Analysis: How do we make it
happen?
Community Mapping Evidence regarding Libraries
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Describing the problem.
How can parents become involved?
What are stereotypical problems?
Who (according to Epstein) can become involved?
What needs to be done to recruit parents?
Who can recruit?
Who are the gate keepers? What are their conditions?
What are the possible outcomes?
Questions/Comments/Setting up
Discussion Board
Discussion Board is an optional opportunity for us to brainstorm and problem
solve together. Using the Funds of Knowledge approach, we can take the
stance that once parents are empowered to come into our schools as
knowers they will stay in our schools as visible participants. Therefore, what
can we (teachers, school personnel) do to “tap” the unseen knowledge base
of our parent communities?
Our final session will incorporate ideas from the Discussion Board to set up
action plans. Participants should see this session as a work session…bring
your calendars! Bring your ideas! Bring your positive attitudes about children
and families in our communities!
Your Funds of Knowledge from the
Discussion Board
• We have a lot of parents with agricultural skills
at my school. I think that a survey at the
beginning of the year is a great way to figure
out what these skills and hobbies. We also
have a school garden and ask parents to come
in and share their skills. I would like to have a
monthly or bimonthly parent skill day where
parents come in and teach students how to do
something that they enjoy.
Your Funds of Knowledge from the
Discussion Board
The wonderfully unique thing that I celebrate about New Hanover High
School is it's "diverse diversity"! Our student demographics run the gamut
from urban/rural, wealthy/impoverished, highly educated parents/high
school dropout parents, varied racial and native nationalities are represented
at NHHS, and so on.
As you can guess, we have a very strong PTSA, but its makeup is very onesided in that it comprises a majority of our wealthy/upper middle, white
students and parents, and very little to [dare I say with a student body of
almost 1,700 students] no minority or rural representation.
I get excited when I think of the many ways to pull from the cultural and
vocational expertise of all of our parents! For instance ... afro gospel music,
growing and canning strawberries and blueberries, explanation of native
Lumbie Tribal dress, pottery, Mexican, African, & Asian cuisine, hair braiding,
and the Gullah-Geechee Culture to name a few.
Thank you for getting my wheels spinning!
Your Funds of Knowledge:Planning
I read some great ideas for school events in responses to
this inquiry. However, I think the most important question
is how does a school go about obtaining the talents of
their parents? I do not think going about it traditionally,
through surveys and other "take home written
responses," will be effective for Level 1 parents. However,
I have found that there are always several level 2 or 3
parents who have good reputations/relationships in their
community and are able to motivate the more reluctant
parents. So, I'm thinking that finding and tapping into the
key families from each community you serve is a great
first step in this process.
Your Funds of Knowledge: Planning
Evidence of Success
• Hilda’s story from Moll’s work
• My school and parent-led baile
folklorico
• My experience with Mother’s Day at
the high school level
• Japan and the town centennial
Citations
• Cummins, J., Brown, K. & Sayers, D. (2007). Literacy, Technology and
Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing Times.
• Epstein, J., Becker, H., and Hollifield, J. (Eds.) (1983). Study of Teacher
Practices of Parent Involvement: Results From Surveys of Teachers and
Parents. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social
Organization of Schools
• Ho, H., Fox, K. & Gonzalez, M. Making Schools Family-Friendly. Chapter 5.
Editor Dianna Hiatt-Michaels. Pepperdine University. Spring 2007.
• Ho, H., Gonzalez, M. & Fox, K. Providing Culturally-Sensitive Parent
Education Programs. Chapter 6. Editor Dianna Hiatt-Michaels. Pepperdine
University. Spring 2007.
• Moll, L.,Gonzalez, N., Greenberg, J. & Velez, C. Funds of Knowledge.
Retrieved May 2, 2011 from
http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/FullText/Luis_Moll_Hidden_F
amily_Resources.pdf