HOME/SCHOOL
CONNECTION:
HELPING FAMILIES
SUPPORT THEIR
CHILDREN’S SCHOOL
SUCCESS
Kimberly Allen, Ph.D.
North Carolina State University
Cooperative Extension
TODAY’S TALK
Where
we have been
Where we are
Benefits of home/school
connection
Barriers to family involvement
How to reach families
Life ain’t like
what it used
to be!
What
happened?
MY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED…
 In




small groups, answer these questions:
How have families changed?
How has education changed?
What about community change?
What do you know about the role of
parents in the educational process?
WHAT WAS SCHOOL LIKE WHEN
YOU WERE YOUNG?
Subjects Taught?
Norms and practices?
Out of school activities?
COMPARE THAT WITH
TODAY’S EDUCATIONAL
PROCESS
21ST CENTURY LEARNING
THE TRANSITION FROM
MAKING THINGS
TO KNOWING THINGS
HOW INVOLVED WERE YOUR
PARENTS IN YOUR EDUCATION?
HOW INVOLVED ARE TODAY’S
PARENTS?
A WORLD OF DISCONNECTS
 Disconnections


Little mealtime and playtime together
Techno-interference
 Disconnects


at the Family level
at the School level
Student engagement
Class size, Accountability standards
 Disconnects
at the Community level
Transience, knowing your neighbor?
 Economic survival
 Community involvement, mentors, role models

DID YOU KNOW
1 in 3 students who start high
school in North Carolina does not
graduate. Less than 60% of our
African American students and
52% of Hispanic students
graduate.
~ Action for Children, 2008
IT CAN GET BETTER IF WE
 Build
on individual, family and
community strengths
 Help parents actively engage in their
child’s education
 Create a comprehensive education
that provides skill training AND
connects with pupil’s stakeholders
Community
Policies supporting
developmental and
risk-level tailored
interventions
Neighborhood
attachment and
organization
Family and
peers
Family cohesion
Individual
Family
involvement
Laws and
norms
Relationships
between systems
Student-teacher relationships,
supportive youth-adult
relationships (e.g. 4-H)
Temperament, age,
developmental level,
intelligence, perceived
academic competency
Peer risky
behaviors
Schools and
supportive
agencies
CRITICAL ELEMENTS IN OUTREACH
FOR SUSTAINABLE PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Family involvement
Active teacher outreach
Parent involvement
School-family partnerships
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION
HELPS CHILDREN
 Earn
higher grades and test scores
 Be promoted, pass their classes, and earn
credits
 Attend school regularly
 Have better social skills and improved
behavior
 Graduate and go on to postsecondary
school
AND…
 Family
participation in education is twice
as predictive of students’ academic success
as family socioeconomic status.
 Some of the more intensive programs had
effects that were 10 times greater than
other factors
 In fact, the more
involvement,
the better
(Walberg, 1984)
MAJOR FACTORS OF PARENT
INVOLVEMENT
 1.
Parents’ beliefs about
what is important,
necessary and permissible
 2. The extent to which
parents believe that they
can have a positive
influence on their
children’s education
 3. Parents’ perceptions that
their children and school
want them to be involved
WHY AREN’T PARENTS
MORE INVOLVED?
BARRIERS TO PARENTAL
INVOLVEMENT
Time
 Knowledge
 School policies
 Negative Past
Experiences
 Lack of Communication
 Lack of Training

Language/Literacy
Barriers Faced
By Parents
Credit to Behnke, A.,
North Carolina
State University
Unfamiliar
and intimidating
systems
Attitudes of
Personnel
Life factors
Past Educational
Experiences
Work
schedules
Child care
Transportation
Lack of Information
ACTIVITY:

Take 5 minutes and discuss this question with
your neighbor:
What do parents need in order to better connect
with their child’s school?
What can we do to help the parents we serve?
WORKING WITH PARENTS IS HOW
YOU CAN HELP!
ECA members can help parents actively engaged
in their education by
 Educating parents on the benefits of
parent/school connection and
 Helping parents develop
skills & strategies for
being more involved.

SIX TYPES OF FAMILY
INVOLVEMENT
 PARENTING
 COMMUNICATING
 VOLUNTEERING
 LEARNING
AT HOME
 DECISION MAKING
 COLLABORATING WITH THE
COMMUNITY
• (EPSTEIN, 1997)
RESEARCH ON PARENTING
ATTITUDES AND
ACTIONS
 Quality
of parent–youth relationships
matters—the more connected a child feels
to their parent, the better chance of school
success
 Monitoring youth behaviors positively
influences adolescent achievement
 A parent attending school functions tends
to yield higher academic success
PARENT/SCHOOL
COMMUNICATION
 On-going,
two-way communication
with school and parents:
Builds positive relationships between
children and their teachers,
 Leads to greater parent involvement,
 Promotes school readiness.

HELP PARENTS KNOW
HOW TO COMMUNICATE
WITH SCHOOLS
1. Parent/teacher
conference
2. Call/e-mail/text
3. Schedule a meeting
4. Volunteer
5. Lunch with student
DID YOU KNOW
 When
adolescents perceive that their
parents have high educational goals
for them, they:
 have more interest in school,
 greater academic self-regulation,
 higher motivation and goal
pursuits
VOLUNTEERING
 In
or out of school volunteering
fosters educational success
 Encourage parents to find a way to
contribute to school
 Three for Me: Three hours of
volunteer time each year

A PTA program that helps parents find different
ways to volunteer in the home, in the school and in
the community, all of which support student
learning.
LET PARENTS KNOW HOW TO HELP
FROM HOME
 Send
positive messages about
school
 Discuss their classroom activities
 Listening carefully to their
explanations of what
has been learned
PARENTS CAN HELP WITH
Reading at home
 Reinforcing classroom concepts
 Providing time and a place for doing homework
 Encouraging their children to keep trying when
the work becomes difficult
 Monitoring homework completion
 Turning off the TV
 Engaging with their children in educational
activities such as field trips, games and activities

DECISION MAKING
Include families as partners in school
decisions, governance, and advocacy
through PTA/PTO, school councils,
committees, and other parent
organizations.
WHAT CAN PARENT’S DO?
 Visit
classes
 Encourage attendance
 Monitoring Children
 Advocate for their child
 Participate in parent-teacher
conferences
COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
Coordinate resources and services
for families, students, and the
school with businesses, agencies,
and other groups, and provide
services to the community.
PARENTS CAN
 Work
with YOU about how to help
their child succeed
 Work to inform family-friendly
policies at the classroom, school or
district levels
 Network with other children,
parents, teachers and administrators
PARENT INVOLVEMENT ISN’T THE
ANSWER
School, family, and
community
partnerships can
replace the term
“parental
involvement”
Parents, educators, and community
members must share responsibility for
students’ learning and development.
IF WE BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?

Early Childhood is a great place to start.
Early Childcare Centers in your community
 Head Start/Early Head Start in every county
 Parents as Teachers

Local school districts
 Faith-based organizations
 After school organizations
 Youth-serving groups

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS
ABOUT BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
 Do
you have relationships with
centers or agencies that focus on
children’s education?
 If not, you will need to develop a
relationship.
 How would you do that?
EASY AS 1, 2, 3.
 Write
down 1 center or agency you
will target to implement this
program in your community
 Write down 2 dates that you will
visit the agency or center.
 List 3 people that you will call on for
assistance and follow through with
this program.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
EVERY DAY
Thank you for all you have done for children and
families in North Carolina! Do call if I can be of
assistance!
Kimberly Allen, PhD
Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist
4-H Youth Development & Family and Consumer
Sciences
(919) 515-9139
kimberly_allen@ncsu.edu
REFERENCES
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Arnold, D.H., Zeljo, A., Doctoroff, G. L., & Ortiz, C. (2008). Parent involvement in
preschool: Predictors and the relation of involvement to preliteracy development.
School Psychology Review, 37(1), 74-90.
Bouffard, S. (2008). Tapping into technology: The role of the Internet in family-school
communication. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from http://www.hfrp.org/family
involvement/publications-resources/tapping-into-technology-the-role-of-the-internetin-family-school-communication.
Epstein & Sheldon (2006). Moving Forward: Ideas for Research on School, Family,
and Community Partnerships in C. F. Conrad & R. Serlin (Eds.) SAGE Handbook for
research in education: Engaging ideas and enriching inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications.
Epstein, J. L. (1987). Toward a theory of family–school connections: Teacher
practices and parent involvement. In
K. Hurrelman, F. X. Kaufman, & F. Losel
(Eds.), Social intervention: Potential and con- straints (pp. 121–136). Berlin,
Germany: de Gruyer.
Hill, N. E. (2001). Parenting and academic socialization as they relate to school
readiness: The role of ethnicity and family income. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 93, 686–697.
Shumow, L. & Miller, J.D. (2001). Parents’ at-home and at-school academic
involvement with young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 68-91.
Walberg (1984). Review of 29 students of school-parent programs