Chapter 4
Working with Parents

Where can anyone find an opportunity to impact a child’s world as easily and as well as in a school or home, leading children to discover their own distinct way to grow and develop.
Know you what it is to be a child? …It is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in it own soul. Thompson,
1988, p. 300.

Why don’t schools involve parents?

• Are schools inviting places for parents?
• The Parents Tool Box

• Parents who avoid schools like the plague
• Parents who need encouragement to come to school
• Parents who readily respond when invited to school
• Parents who are comfortable and enjoy involvement in school
• Parents who enjoy power and are overly active

Barriers
Parents do not have enough time
Percent
89 percent
Parents feel they have nothing to contribute 32 percent
Parents don't understand; don't know the system; they don't know how to be involved
32 percent
Lack of child care
Parents feel intimidated
Parents are not available during the time school functions are scheduled
Language and cultural differences
Lack of transportation
Parents don't feel welcome at school
Other barriers
28 percent
25 percent
18 percent
15 percent
11 percent
9 percent
21 percent

• How to break the barriers.

Williams (1992) found:
• 86.8 % of teachers believed they needed parent-involvement training
• 92.1 % of principals believed they needed parent-involvement training

Harris & Associates
(1987) found:
• 75 % of the teachers wanted parent involvement
• 74 % of the parents said they wanted to be involved

• MetLife Survey of the American Teacher:
An Examination of School Leadership
(2005)
– 9 of 10 new teachers say it is “very important to work with parents when educating their children…
– 1 of 4 teachers finds working with parents
“very satisfying
– 7 of 10 parents see their child’s teachers as
“adversaries”

• Who is responsible for initiating and fostering parent-teacher interaction

Epstein, 1986; and Epstein & Dauber 1991:
• Found that teachers who were leaders in parentinvolvement practices enabled ALL parents, regardless of parent’s educational levels to be involved.
• Found that teachers who DID NOT involve parents had attitudes that stereotyped lesseducated single parents and low socio-economic parents.

• When parents are involved in their children’s education at home, they do better in school. And when parents are involved in school, children go farther in school—and the schools they go to are better. (Henderson and Berla)
• The family makes critical contributions to student achievement from pre-school through high school. A home environment that encourages learning is more important to student achievement than income, education level or cultural background. (Henderson and Berla)
• In 1994, the College Board found that reading achievement is more dependent on learning activities in the home than is math or science. Reading aloud to children is the most important activity that parents can do to increase their child’s chance of reading success.
• When children and parents talk regularly about school, children perform better academically. (Aston &
McLanahan, 1991; Ho & Willms, 1996; Finn, 1993)

• Three kinds of parental involvement at home are consistently associated with higher student achievement: actively organizing and monitoring a child’s time, helping with homework and discussing school matters. (Finn, 1998)
• Parents who read to their children before they enter school give their children a boost toward reading success. Talking to children about books and stories read to them also supports reading achievement.
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 1996. Developing Engaged
Readers in School and Home Communities. Rahway, N.J.: Author.)
• The earlier that parent involvement begins in a child’s educational process, the more powerful the effects. (Kathleen Cotton and Karen
Reed Wikelund. "Parent Involvement in Education," Research You
Can Use. NW Regional Educational Laboratory.)
• Positive results of parental involvement in their children's schooling include improved achievement, reduced absenteeism, improved behavior, and restored confidence among parents in their children's schooling. (Institute for Responsive Education. The Home-School
Connection: Selected Partnership Programs in Large Cities. Boston:
Author.)

Parenting: Families must provide for the health and safety of children, and maintain a home environment that encourages learning and good behavior in school. Schools provide training and information to help families understand their children's development and how to support the changes they undergo.

Communicating: Schools must reach out to families with information about school programs and student progress. This includes the traditional phone calls, report cards, and parent conferences, as well as new information on topics such as school choice and making the transition from elementary school to higher grades. Communication must be in forms that families find understandable and useful for example, schools can use translators to reach parents who don't speak English well and it must be two- way, with educators paying attention to the concerns and needs of families.

Volunteering: Parents can make significant contributions to the environment and functions of a school. Schools can get the most out of this process by creating flexible schedules, so more parents can participate, and by working to match the talents and interests of parents to the needs of students, teachers, and administrators.

Learning at Home: With the guidance and support of teachers, family members can supervise and assist their children at home with homework assignments and other school-related activities.

Decision-making: Schools can give parents meaningful roles in the school decisionmaking process, and provide parents with training and information so they can make the most of those opportunities. This opportunity should be open to all segments of the community, not just people who have the most time and energy to spend on school affairs.

Collaboration with the Community: Schools can help families gain access to support services offered by other agencies, such as healthcare, cultural events, tutoring services, and after-school child-care programs. They also can help families and community groups provide services to the community, such as recycling programs and food pantries.

• Parents as teachers of their own children
• Parents as spectators
• Parents as temporary volunteers
• Parents as volunteer resources
• Parents as employed resources
• Parents as policy makers

• Facilitator
• Teacher
• Counselor
• Communicator
• Program director
• Interpreter
• Resource developer

• School climate – atmosphere in school – reflects the principal’s leadership style
– school spirit - enthusiasm, morale builder, autonomy, enabler, etc.
– leadership as program designer , if principal recognizes importance of PI, then …
– parent-principal relationship - opens the doors for many different parent involvement activities
– program coordinator - teachers may develop creative, innovative PI for their classroom, but much of this requires principal’s support
– leadership role in developing site-based management, advisory councils, and decision-making committees

• School atmosphere and acceptance of parents
(Does anyone notice you when you enter the school?)
• Open door policy (Come when you want to discuss a problem with your child)?
• Parent Advisory Councils (Does school have a
PAC and who serves on PAC)
• Site-based management (Are parents involved)
• Family Center (Is there a room for parents)

• Back to school night
• Alumni events
• Sharing reading
• Parent education groups
• Parent networks
• School-home activity packets
• School programs & workshops for parents
• District or school conferences
• School projects
• PTA
• Learning centers
• Telephone tutor
• Resource room
• Libraries
• Summer vacation activities

• Reading programs
• Health programs
• Civic projects

• Letters in August to parents
• Neighborhood visits

• Book publishing
• Career day
• Talent sharing