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Family Involvement inChildren's EducationSuccessful Local ApproachesAn Idea BookJanie E. FunkhouserMiriam R. GonzalesPolicy Studies Associates, Inc.Project OfficerOliver C. MolesNational Institute on the Education of At-Risk StudentsOffice of Educational Research and ImprovementU.S. Department of Education

Archived Information

Foreword

We well know that when educators, families, and communities work together, schools get better.As a result, students get the high quality education they need to lead productive lives. Yet variousbarriers in the school, home, and community often prevent strong partnerships from developing.This Idea Book describes how some schools and their communities have overcome keybarriersÅfinding the time, increasing their information about each other, bridging school-familydifferences, improving schools, and tapping external supports to strengthen school-familypartnerships.The report concludes that successful partnerships require the sustained mutual collaboration andsupport of school staffs and families at home and at school. Businesses or community groups canalso help schools and families to work together.This Idea Book is one of an occasional series issued by the U.S. Department of Education toprovide promising ideas to educators and community leaders on the critical issues we facetogether. It is designed for school administrators, teachers, policymakers, and parents to helpfamilies become more active participants in their children's education.This Idea Book is based on case studies of 20 successful education programs around the country.They include elementary and secondary schools and districtwide programs that receive Title Ifunds from the U.S. Department of Education. What these schools have done with low-incomestudents and their families can be done by all schools.Also, an ongoing source of assistance and networking opportunities can be found in thePartnership for Family Involvement in Education. If you are interested in joining the Partnership,call 1–800–USA–LEARN.In addition, schools that are working to build family-school-community partnerships focused oncritical education issues may find “A Compact for Learning: An Action Handbook forSchool-Family-Community Partnerships” to be helpful. It can be ordered free of charge by calling1–800–USA–LEARN.I encourage you to draw on the ideas in this book and the successes of the profiled schools toimprove your schools, to strengthen school relationships with families, and to help all childrenlearn more.Richard W. RileySecretary of Education

Executive Summary

Thirty years of research confirms that family involvement is a powerful influence on children'sachievement in school (Eagle, 1989; Henderson & Berla, 1994; U.S. Department of Education,1994; Ziegler, 1987). When families are involved in their children's education, children earn highergrades and receive higher scores on tests, attend school more regularly, complete morehomework, demonstrate more positive attitudes and behaviors, graduate from high school athigher rates, and are more likely to enroll in higher education than students with less involvedfamilies. For these reasons, increasing family involvement in the education of their children is animportant goal for schools, particularly those serving low-income and other students at risk of failure. Increasing family involvement in children's education is also an important goal of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is designed to enable schools to

provide opportunities for low-income and low-achieving children to acquire knowledge and skillscontained in challenging standards developed for all children. Title I is the largest federal programsupporting elementary and secondary education.

Families and Schools as Partners

If families are to work with schools as partners in the education of their children, schools mustprovide them with the opportunities and support they need to become involved. Too oftenschools expect families to do it all alone. Developing effective partnerships with families requiresthat all school staff (administrators, teachers, and support staff) create a school environment thatwelcomes parents and encourages them to raise questions and voice their concerns as well as toparticipate appropriately in decision making. Developing partnerships also requires that schoolstaff provide parents with the information and training they need to become involved and that theyreach out to parents with invitations to participate in their children's learning.Schools that are most successful in engaging parents and other family members in support of theirchildren's learning look beyond traditional definitions of parent involvement—participating in aparent teacher organization or signing quarterly report cards—to a broader conception of parentsas full partners in the education of their children. Rather than striving only to increase parentparticipation in school-based activities, successful schools seek to support families in theiractivities outside of school that can encourage their children's learning. Schools that havedeveloped successful partnerships with parents view student achievement as a sharedresponsibility, and all stakeholders—including parents, administrators, teachers, and communityleaders—play important roles in supporting children's learning.Successful school-family partnerships require the sustained mutual collaboration, support, andparticipation of school staffs and families at home and at school in activities that can directlyaffect the success of children's learning. If families are to work with schools as full partners in theeducation of their children, schools must provide them with the opportunities and support theyneed for success.

Successful Approaches to Family Involvement in Education