Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ED342055
ED342055
ABSTRACT
Help for educators in meeting the challenge of
involving parents and extended families of at-risk children is
offered in this report. Twenty-eight chapters provide information to
help educators communicate with low-income, nonwhite, and non-English
speaking parents. Part 1 identifies the at-risk population, the
benefits and forms of family involvement, and discusses the schools
role in initiating contact. Part 2 examines the components of
family/school partnerships--communication, understanding the home
atmosphere, preparing children for school, home learning, and
empowering parents. Support for families and teachers is described in
part 3, and issues relevant to special ages, such as early preschool
intervention and high school dropout prevention, are examined in part
4. Special groups are discussed in the fifth part, including rural
families, nontraditional parenting arrangements, families with
disabled children, and Asian-American, Hispanic, and African-American
families. Part 6 examines the process of developing parent/school
partnerships through discussions of three topics: elements of
successful programs; recruitment; and maintaining parent involvement.
A conclusion is that ovvanizational change is gradual, requires
collaboration, and is not an end in itself. Forty-six sidebars
providing supplementary and illustrative information accompany the
text. The appendix contains an annotated list of 14 organizations
concerned with at-risk families. (138 references) (LMI)
AT RISK
FAMILIES & SCHOOLS
BECOMING P.A.RawmRs
Cal
ERIC
ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management
College of Education University of Oregon
ERIol
ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management
College of Education, University of Oregon
1787 Agate Street, Eugene, Oregon 97403
3
Design: Lee Ann August
II 4
Mission of ERIC and the Clearinghouse
The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a national information system operated by
the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC serves the educational community by disseminating
research results and other resource information that can be used in developing more effective
educational programs.
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, one of several such units in the system, was
established at the University of Oregon in 1966. The Clearinghouse and its companion units process
research reports and journal articles for announcement in ERIC's index and abstract bulletins.
Research reports are announced in Resources in Education (RIE), available in many libraries and by
subscription from the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Most of the documents listed in RIE can be purchased through the ERIC Document Reproduction
Service, operated by Cincinnati Bell Information Systems.
Journal articles are announced in Current Index to Journals in Education. CIJE is also available in
many libraries and can be ordered from Oryx Press, 2214 North Central at Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona
85004. Semiannual cumulations can be ordered separately.
Besides processing documents and journal articles, the Clearinghouse prepares bibliographies,
literature reviews, monographs, and other interpretive research studies on topics in its educational
area.
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Philip K. Piele, Professor and Director
Keith A. Acheson, Associate Director
Stuart C. Smith, Director of Publications
PP
PREFACE
6
iv
August, and word processing specialist Meta Finally, we are grateful for the contribution
Bruner carried out the data entry and revision. of Don Davies, president of the Institute for Re-
sponsive Education and codirector of the new
In the final weeks before the report went to National Research Center on Families, Communi-
press, Smith and Lumsden incorporated into the ties, Schools, and Children's Learning, for his
text the most recent data on dropout rates, poverty critique of a draft of this report and for his insight-
status, and racial/ethnic composition of the popu- ful Foreword.
lation obtained from the U.S. Bureau of the Cen-
sus and the Western Interstate Commission for An earlier version of the first seven chapters,
Highfv Education. which compose part 1, "Background, " was pub-
lished by the Clearinghouse in January 1991 as a
We are indebted to many organizations that Trends and Issues paper titled Involvit g the Fami-
supplied us with complimentary copies of publi- lies of At-Risk Youth in the Educational Process.
cations used for this report, as well as those that
gave us permission to print excerpts or adapta- Philip K. Piele
tions of their publications in sidebars. Professor and Director
PP
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION I
Literature on At-Risk Family Involvement 1
Pioneers 2
A Note about Ethnic Terminology 3
Who This Report Is For 3
PART 1: BACKGROUND
Chapter 1. WHO IS AT RISK9 7
Definition of 'At Risk' 7
Spotting At-Risk Children 8
Poverty: The Bottom Line 8
Minorities: A Second Factor 9
Parental Involvement and Our Bottom Half 10
Chapter 2. WHY AT-RISK CHILDREN ESPECIALLY NEED FAMILY INVOLVEMENT 11
Bridging the Gap 11
The Importance of Human and Social Capital
Attitudes and Expectations 12
What Schools Can Do . 12
Chapter 3. BENEFITS OF FAMILY INVOLVEMENT 14
Fo Children 14
For Parents 15
For Teachers and Schools 15
Chapter 4. WHAT WORKS: FORMS OF FAMILY INVOLVEMENT 16
Traditional Methods Don't Work 16
Forms of Parent Involvement 17
Which Forms of Involvement Are Best? 19
Chapter 5. SCHOOLS MUST TAKE THE INITIATIVE 21
At-Risk Families Cannot Reach Out 21
What Should Schools Do9 22
Chapter 6. BARRIERS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS 24
Barriers for Parents 24
Barriers for Schools and Teachers 26
Chapter 7. OVERCOMING BARRIERS: NEW BELIEFS AND PRINCIPLES 30
New Beliefs about Parents and Families 30
New Principles for Programs 31
PART 2: COMPONENTS
Chapter 8. COMMUNICATION: THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL CONTACT 35
The Most Effective Form of Communication: Personal Contact 36
Parent-Teacher Conferences 37
School-Parent Contracts 39
vi
Home Visits 39
Other Forms of Communication 42
Two-Way Communication 42
Volunteers and the Culture of the School .42
Chapter 9. HOME ATMOSPHERE: ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS 44
Parent Attitudes 44
The Power of Reinforcement and Modeling 45
Family Activities: The Curriculum of the Home 46
Parenting Styles 46
Family Involvement Programs Can Help 47
PART 3: SUPPORT
Chapter 13. FAMILIES NEED SUPPORT 65
Parent Education 65
Parent Centers 69
Parent Support Groups 73
The Need for Collaboration 74
The School as a Starting Point 75
CONCLUSION 147
Principles of Organizational Change 147
Is It Worth the Effort? 148
APPENDIX: ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH AT-RISK FAMILIES 149
BIBLIOGRAPHY 151
0
viii
INDEX TO SIDEBARS
I1
FOREWORD
12 Foreword
economists, and corporate leaders about the involvement, business community support, and
country's ability to remain economically competi- collaboration with community agencies and orga-
tive with Japan, Western Europe, and other coun- nizations.
tries emerging as economic powers. Every drop in The research, theory, and demonstration
SAT scores or report on cross-national achieve- projects sketched and synthesized in this report
ment studies highlighting the low performance of have played and are continuing to play an impor-
American students on measures of school learning tant role in creating new public and policymaker
heightens this concern. Increased parent and com- acceptance of the importance of the topic.
munity participation in children' s learning is eas-
ily grasped as related to the need to increase the Given the new visibility and significance of
productivity of education without the kinds of the topic, one might expect widespread, nearly
large increases in costs that are politically unac- universal shifts in practice in the relationships
ceptable these days. Now more people realize that among schools, families, and communities.
if the schools are to become more productive and Clearly, this hasn't happened yet, as some of the
produce more students who are able to contribute data Liontos presents later reveal. What is also
to the closing of the competitiveness gap, they will revealed clearly and helpfully are hundreds of
need help from parents and the community. good examples of schools and communities that
are working hard, often with considerable suc-
Second, there is social inequality and insta- cess, to create new collaborative relationships
bility. Many policymakers, social analysts, econo- among the various key parts of the world of at-risk
mists, and corporate leaders are concerned about children.
the development of a two-tiered society of haves
and have nots, with a large number of people But the nagging question remains: Why so
consigned to a seemingly perpetual underclass. little shift in the day-to-day practices of most
The failure of public schools to serve the urban and schools? Let me offer three possible answers.
rural poor adequately is viewed as one important First, the traditional mind3et (set of attitudes,
part of a deteriorating situation in which crime, ways of viewing the world) of those who most
violence, drugs, and health crises such as AIDS are
affect the day-to-day life in schoolsprincipals,
a threat to social stability as well as to the nation's teachers, school specialistsabout school-fam-
aspirations to be just and equitable. Moreover, the ily-community relationships still dominates. This
threatof social inequality and instability is closely mindset is reinforced by the traditional school
linkel with the issue of competitiveness. culture and by teacher and administrator training
Third, there is political reality. The growing programs and educational organizations wary of
consensus about the importance of parents in the too much perestroika too soon. This traditional
education and development of their own children mindset divides responsibility among educators,
feeds on itself, and the idea becomes entrenched in families, and other community organizations and
public opinion. Ideas such as "parents are the sees clearly marked and well-protected bound-
child's most important teachers," "community re- aries as being in everyone's best interest.
sources are needed for at-risk children and fami- A different mindset is clearly required if
lies," and "the schools can't do it alone" become significant moves toward partnerships are to be
widely repeated and accepted. These ideas are made. These moves require an acceptance of the
then reflected in the expressions of public opinion
idea of shared and overlapping responsibility for
and "leader opinion," which in turn influence children's learning and development.
elected policymakers.
This book can be very specifically helpful as
School officials and organizations read the
a tool in the hands of those involved in changing
same polls and hear many of the same messages; traditional mindsets, because it lays out briefly and
by and large they respond to the political reality. It clearly the theoretical and practical case for shared
would be hard to imagine an urban superintendent responsibility, supported by plenty of research
talking publicly these days without considerable
evidence and expert opinion.
bows in the direction of the importance of parent
xi
Foreword 13
Second, changes in front-line practice always piecemeal basis and the hard-liners who are seek-
lag behind changes in public and professional ing more profound restructuring and a more au-
opinion, research, and the political mood. It is one thoritative policy framework. The book provides
thing to do studies, issue reports, give speeches; help to those who want to build a case for compre-
it's quite another to change one's own behavior, hensive change, but it also gives practical direc-
especially when the work conditions and rewards tions to those who want to do what they can while
for risk-taking for front-line teachers and adminis- "waiting for the revolution."
trators often inhibit and penalize efforts to change.
What the book offers to both camps that sets
There is also a big gap between the general it apart from some other similar volumes is that it
theory and the specific "technology" (organized provides a detailed contexta theoretical and
mechanins of systems) of how to create and research backdrop. Liontos pulls together and
sustain school-family-community collaboration describes the various strands of theory, research,
aimed at increasing children's social and acfi- and demonstration that are necessary to under-
dem ic success. stane and properly use the practical examples and
This book makes a major contribution in how-to-do-it advice that are offered.
filling this gap by providing good descriptions of The explanation of the context of research
how educators, family members, and community and theory is a great and welcome gift to all of us
people are actually collaborating and by offering who have been involved in the past two decades of
many practical, how-to-do-it suggestions. Al- work in this arena. For this reason, I hope that
though the book falls short of being a complete many will find this book and put it to use, and that
"tool-kit," it makes a good beginning. they then will help take further steps to move the
Third, in all the current discussion of parent now fashionable idea of partnership into practice
involvement, there is still missing the kind of in most American schools rather than in a few
authoritative, comprehensive policy framework shining examples.
that will induce institutional behavior to more
quickly catch up with the new rhetoric and wide- Don Davies
spread acceptance of the parent involvement/part- Director
nership ideas. There are many policies at all levels Center on Families, Communities,
now in placeschool level, district, state, fed- Schools, and Children's Learning
eraland new ones arriving in a steady stream. Boston University
In a current survey of the effects of policies in
schools that are reaching out for new partnerships,
we found multiple, fragmented, sometimes con-
flicting policiesbudgets, laws, grant require-
ments, regulations, union contracts, administrator
intentionsin many schools. A more comprehen-
sive, systematic, and authoritative policy frame-
work wou!d be useful to parents and educators
trying to stiffrlin new partnerships and to buck
institutional iitions.
This book can be useful to both the soft-liners
(the majority of educators, policymakers, and par-
ents) who are willing to work along on a more
14
xii Foreword
INTRODUCTION
/never see the parents I need to see," more than do care. Grace Godinez, interpreter for the North-
one teacher has complained, calling them hard-to- west Regional Parent Involvement Project, says,
reach or saying they don't care about their children's "The principal and the teachersI think they are
education. more aware of us now.... I think for awhile they
thought we didn't care, that we didn't have the
These are the parents of children at riskat same concerns and hopes for our children. Now
risk of failing, of dropping out, of having what in they know that we do" (Kneidek 1990).
today's world accounts for no future at all.
This report will attempt to explore the reasons
And it's true that, as a rule, these parents why some parents traditionally haven't been in-
aren' t very involved with the schools. The Carnegie
volved with their children's schooling. These are
urban schools study tells of a high school in New
children who have the most, perhaps, to gain from
Orleans, which, like others in the city, requires parent and family involvement. There are reasons
parents to pick up their children's report cards. At why schools haven't done their part either.
one school, located in a low income area, 70
percent of the cards remained unclaimed two It may not be easy to reach parents. In fact,
months after the marking period (Reeves 1988). most project coordinators working with "at-risk"
families report that it takes a great deal of time,
A first-grade teacher in Cleveland told the
creativity, patience, and commitment. But there's
Carnegie researchers: no alternative when we consider that these chil-
You send notices home, there's no response. You dren are our future.
ask parents to come to conferences, they don't
come. You send homework home, you can see
that parents aren't paying attention to it. They Literature on At-Risk Family
aren't helping their kids. (Reeves) Involvement
Is this true? Well, yes and no. Many parents The literature that targets at-risk family in-
simply don't know how to help their kids. But most volvement is sparse. Ironically, in most publica-
1
Introduction
15
tions on family involvement, I often found only a Pioneers
paragraph or two that talked directly about at-risk
I am indebted to three pioneers on this path,
parents. Even when documents did mention at-
risk families, most had little to say about the each of whom has contributed much to my at-
tempts to fit together pieces of the puzzle of how
process of reaching them. It is ironic because many
to work with at-risk families.
of the research studies were carried out in inner-
city schools where the populations are largely
poor and nonwhite. Yet the literature on parental Don Davies
involvementwhich is abundantis filled chiefly In his research and with his project Schools
with prescriptions or ideas that are most effective Reaching Out (SRO), Don Davies of the Institute
with middle-class parents and families. for Responsive Education (IRE) in Boston has
been working exclusively with low-income fami-
Reasons for This Lack lies. His two lab schools in New York and Boston
have been grappling with putting into practice
Why is there so little information about in-
what his research in three countries has indicated
volvement of poor and nonwhite families? Part of
as possible directions for working with at-risk
it may simply be tradition. Our schools have tradi-
families. The assumptions that underlie all his
tionally been part and parcel of the middle-class
workand that are included in this report as
value system, and teachers are used to dealing with
wellmust be the foundation for involving at-risk
middle-class behavior and expectations. Also,
families with schools, if the undertaking is to
much of the information on parent involvement
succeed.
has come from short-term research projects con-
ducted by doctoral students, where there is no
followup and where at-risk families and other James Comer
cultures are simply part of a larger educational James Comer, professor of psychiatry at Yale
package. Finally, many programs that are working University who established the experimental
with at-risk families may not publicize their ef- School Development Program (SDP) in New Ha-
forts in papers or journals. ven, has also been working largely with lower-
income families and students. He has a particular
Cultural Differences interest in black families.
To date, say Diana T. Slaughter and Valerie His work on empowerment, which includes
Shahariw Kuehne (1987-88), we've paid little involving families in the decision-making and
attention to cultural differences in parent involve- governance of SDP schools, stands out. Most
ment. We know little about how different subcul- importantly, SDP schools work; they are success-
tures and groups adapt to diverse family involve- ful and have been replicated in about 100 schools
ment programs. As John Ogbu, anthropology pro- around the countiy. And parent involvement in
fessor at Berkeley, has said about the Accelerated decision-making is a key element. Comer's work,
Schools for students (Freedberg 1989): You don't because it involves actual schools and deals with a
just lump all the kids together who are at risk and form of the parental involvement process that
provide the same program for them. Ogbu claims many writers only give lip service to, has also been
that to be effective the Accelerated approach must very useful to me.
carefully differentiate between student groups.
My review of the research suggests that the same Hispanic Policy Development Project
principle applies to at-risk families and parent (1:1PDP)
involvement programs.
The Hispanic Policy Development Project
Considering the fact that a larger proportion (HPDP) is the only detailed source on the process
of ourchildren will be nonwhite or nonmainstream of actually recruiting at-risk parents. HPDP spon-
by the twenty-first century, it is prudent to learn sored various projects involving different ways of
more about different subgroups of at-risk families attempting to work with Hispanic families; some
and how to involve them in our schools. worked and some didn't. The result was the pub-
2 Introduction
1 6
licationTogether Is Better: Building Strong Part- they have not seen widespread use of Latino in
nerships Between Schools and Hispanic Parents written materials.
(Siobhan Nicolau and Carmen Lydia Ramos 1990).
Several people felt that each term has limita-
If other cultures and other at-risk groups, such tions or drawbacks. One indicated that Hispanic
as teenage mothers and single parents, went through does not technically include people with Indian or
a similar process that resulted in a similar publica- black blood; on the other hand, objections have
tion, we'd certainly further our undo standing of been raised to the term Latino because it is viewed
how to work with different at-risk popalations. as being too narrow in scope, technically referring
only to those of Latin descent.
Although Hispanics have their own particular
Those who prefer Latino say that it empha-
history, lifestyle, and values, many ideas, con-
sizes the native character of the people. The term
cepts, examples, and conclusions that worked for
Hispanic may be problematic for some, stated one
them can be adapted and used in working with
organization, because of its "associations with
other groups.
Spain and the conquest." Another organization
indicated that a weakness of the term Hispanic is
that it stresses those of European origin, even
A Note about Ethnic Terminology though only a small percentage of people classi-
Currently, preferred designations for some fled as Hispanic are of European heritage.
ethnic groups are in a state of flux. As everyone
knows, ethnic labels can have positive or negative A representative of one organization made an
associations. Over time, ethnic terms tend to un- interesting pointthat very few people actually
dergo evolution; one term loses acceptance as use either term in reference to themselves. In-
another rises to replace it. stead, people tend tc identify with the country
from which they are descended. For example, a
person would be more apt to describe himself or
herself as a Mexican-American or a Puerto Rican,
Black or African-American?
not as a Hispanic or a Latino.
One area where change is occurring is with
the terms black and African-American. Black ap- When consensus did not emerge from my
peal s to be losing ground to African-American, conversations with representatives of various His-
primarily because the latter emphasizes one's cul- panic/Latino organizations, after much delibera-
tural heritage whereas the former does not. In this tion I opted for using Hispanic instead of Latino
publication, therefore, I decided to use the term when referring to Mexican-Americans, Puerto
Africcin-Americwi. Ricans, Cubans, or others with Central or South
American or Spanish origins. In part, the decision
was made for the sake of consistency. Because
Hispanic or Latino? references to U.S. census data are sprinkled through
Likewise, the terms Hispanic and Latino are this publication, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census
spawning debate. When several Hispanic/Latino uses the term Hispanic, in the interest of reducing
organizations were asked which term they pre- confusion, it seemed to make sense to stick with
ferred and why, responses varied. Many ex- the same term for all textual ethnic references. It
pressed a sincere desire to be not only "politically is my hope that readers who prefer the use of
correct" but culturally sensitive as well. Yet many Lafino will understand that an effort was made to
!Aso acknowledged confusion and uncertainty. learn about and weigh disparate definitions and
viewpoints regarding use of the two terms.
One person reported alternating between the
two terms in written works; another policy was to
use Hispanic/Latino on the first mention and then Who This Report Is For
continue with one term or the other for the remain-
der of the document. Yet another organization This report is for everyone who works with
reported using Hispanic exclusively, noting that or intends to work withat-risk families who
Inowduction 3
7
have children in the schools. Independent parent teacher who wonders why you've had trouble
and citizen organizations interested in involving reaching at-risk families, you might pay special
parents and communities with the schools may attention to chapters 6 and 7. Then cheek parts 4,
also find it useful. "Special Ages," and 5, "Special Groups," forchap-
Commitmentthe key to starting and run- ters on the particular kinds of at-risk families in
ning a successful parent involvement program for your schools.
at-risk familiesbegins at the top. So school board Nothing works for everyone, but educators
members, superintendents, principals, and other concerned with at-risk families should find some-
administrative staff might be particularly inter- thing in this report that is applicable to their own
ested in this report. Implications and specific situation.
guidelines for administrative action are found
throughout the report, but especially in part 6, Good luck! What you door don't doto
"Process." involve at-risk families in the schools will have an
important bearing on the future for all of us.
If you're a project coordinator or have re-
sponsibility for parent involvement, or if you're a
18
4 Introduction
PAIZM 1
ICCr RAD 13 1Ni ID
19
Preview of Chapters in
Part 1: Background
Chapter 1. Who Is at Risk? parents themselves gain from it respond to schools' and teachers'
(which, in turn, positively affects initiatives.
Who's at risk? To find out, a
their children).
brief history of the term and how
it's traditionally been used is
Chapter 6. Barriers and
Chapter 4. What Works: Misunderstandings
provided, followed by an exami-
Forms of Parent Barriers and misunderstand-
nation of how to identify chil- Involvement
dren at risk and the two major ings are examined in detail for
risk factors: poverty and minor- Generally, at-risk families both sidesparents and teachers.
ity status. Outlined in this sec- have I ittle contact with the schools. Answers are sought for why ob-
tion is what has happened with Why not? For one thing, tradi- stacles exist and where they come
our "bottom half' and what we tional methods of involving par- from. The chapter emphasizes that
can expect if nothing is done for ents do not work, and this is re- stereotypes are present for both
them. lated to the history of poor and groups and that at-risk parents
minority groups within the school and educators each play a part.
Chapter 2. Why At-Risk system, along with other barriers.
Children Especially Need Chapter 7. Overcoming
This chapter focuses on an adap-
Family Involvement Barriers: New Beliefs and
tation ofJoyce Epstein's forms of
parent involvement, detailing Principles
This chapter looks at the im-
each along with the goals for at- To help educators overcome
portant connections and assets
risk families. The chapter ends the barriers and misunderstand-
missing in an at-risk child's
with two authorities proposing a ings listed in chapter 6, this chap-
world. It also discusses how par-
variety of entry levels and activi- ter looks at new beliefs and prin-
ent involvement can help by
ties for at-risk families. ciples that can serve as a founda-
bridging the gap, changing atti-
tudes and expectations, and mak- tion for successful programs for
Chapter 5. Schools Must at-risk families.
ing home and school settings Take the Initiative
more similar so that there is con-
tinuity in the child's world. The This chapter shows why at-
importance of the link to the child risk parents aren't usually able to
through his or her parents is em- reach out to schoolsand there-
phasized. fore why schools must take not
only that first step, but perhaps
Chapter 3. Benefits of use aggressive outreach for eth-
Family Involvement nic and low-income families. The
forms school initiative can take
In this chapter, the benefits
are explored and suggestions are
of parent involvement for chil-
proposed for what schook need
dren, parents, teachers, and
to do. Most at-risk families wit/
schools are briefly noted, with a
special emphasis on what at-i;:.k
6 20 Preview qf Part
CHAPTER 1
WHO IS AT RISK?
irst, a word about the termfamily involvement. The term itself appears to have been coined,
I prefer it to "parent involvement" because with says Reeves, by the Boston Coalition of Advo-
changing demographics, different cultures, and cates for Students in their 1985 report Barriers to
the many forms of family life today, a child is often Excellence: Our Children At Risk, deliberately
under the care of the extended family. Sometimes titled in reference to the report A Nation At Risk.
stepparents, noncustodial parents, and grandpar- Until the Boston Coalition's report, no one had
ents have primary care for a child. However, since suggested that it was the studentsour children
"parent involvement" is the term most often used, who might be at risk, rather than the nation.
both will appear here. Actually, most of our children are "at risk"
one time or another. "In our transitional society,
with extremely high rates of family dissolution,
Definition of 'At Risk' mental health problems, substance abuse, and ado-
lescent pregnancy, few children are risk free," says
The term at risk has become a cliché. As
Walter Hathaway, research director for the Port- the report of the New York Education
land, Oregon, schools, notes, the term has virtually Commissioner's Task Force on the Education of
become "a verbal dumping ground" for a variety Children and Youth At-Risk (New York State
of ills, some of them educational, some of them Department of Education 1988). Yet the report
personal or related to society (cited in Reeves concludes that certain children are in critical need
1988). of social intervention.
The history of the term is interesting. "High At-risk children are not defined solely by low
risk" has been in use only since 1980. But by 1987 income or minority status. Even divorce, which is
ERIC was using "at risk" to refer, apparently, to common today, can inteifere with a child's aca-
school and academic failure, potential dropouts, demic and social success at school. lames Cotner
the educationally disadvantaged, and under- comments that "given increasing divorce rates, the
achievement.
growing numbers of single-parent families and
8 22 Part 1: Background
percent; it jumped to 23.9
percent in schools with Children, Poverty, and Race
moderate rates of pov-
erty; and to 47.5 percent Percentages of Children (Age 0-18) Who Were Poor in 1990
in schools with the high-
est poverty rates.
African-American Hispanic
Another reason All Children White Children Children Children
poor children are apt to
be at risk is that they get
a bad start early in life.
Many poor mothers re-
ceive inadequate prena-
tal care, and their chil-
dren tend to be low in
birth weight and get in-
adequate nutrition and
211.() 4-4:3N` 38.4
medical care. Under-
nourished children are
less attentive and respon- Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census (1991)
sive in school. They get
tired easily and are un-
able to sustain prolonged mental or physical the Western Interstate Commission for Higher
activity. Education and the College Board (1991). Enroll-
ments of Asians and Pacific Islanders are increas-
Poverty is associated with health problems
ing more rapidly than any other group (70 percent
and restrictions in socialization that are likely to between 1985 and 1995), Hispanics next (54 per-
profoundly impair development in children. Chil-
cent), then African-Americans (13 percent).
dren in poor families are more prone to illness in
the early years and to sensory motor deficits. In
addition, poverty breeds stress and depression, Jones reports that forty languages, including
which are not conducive to healthy child develop- dialects, are spoken in the Los Angeles school
ment (Kurtz 1988). district. Too often we've ignored language and
cultural differences. If language development is
the key to learning, how can children who do not
speak Englishand who may have delayed lan-
Minorities: A Second Factor guage development in their own languagelearn?
It isn't just poverty that puts children at risk. And how can educators teach?
As a University of California researcher observed,
an important cause of the high incidence of aca- The national dropout rate among minority
demic failure is the fact that the preparation for groups is 30 percent (.ones), with wide variation
learning that many children receive at home is from one group to another and by region. In Texas,
inadequate or may differ fundamentally from what for example, the dropout rate is 45 percent for
the schools expect (Jones 1989). Hispanics and 14 percent for African-Americans.
The U.S. is increasingly becoming multieth- "Me paradox, of course," says Jones, "is that
nic and multilingual. Whereas nonwhites and His- these minority groups, on whom this nation's
panics made up 29 percent of the overall elemen- future economy depends, are the groups that often
tary-secondary school population in 1985, by 1995 experience the most difficult lite circumstances
their enrollments will increase to 34 percent, say and obtain the least educational preparation."
Asian/ Not
Pacific Islanders 1.6 million 70% 3.0% 4.3% available 2%
'Percent of 16- to 24-year-old population who had not completed high school and were not enrolled in high
school or college in October 1989.
Percent of tenth graders in 1980 who had not completed high school in 1986.
Source: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and The College Board (1991)
Parental Involvement and Our society: one affluent, well-educated, and optimis-
Bottom Half tic: the other poor, increasingly isolated, badly
educated, and despairing.
The Japanese, says Reeves, claim to have the
best bottom 50 percent in the world and thus The high rates of failure of at-risk children
achieve their extremely high average level of and the gap between the advantaged and disadvan-
performance by seeing that their weakest students taged amount to a national crisissocially, eco-
do well. American school reform, however, was nomically, and politically.
launched with rhetoric on excellence that didn' t Without substantial improvements in the way
take into account the bottom half. all children are taughtespecially those at the
The phenomenon is called "the second "social margins"we can expect a future that
achievement gap." According to Reeves, the gap includes a lowered standard of living, fewer gov-
is "between the bottom scorers and the top scorers, ernment services, intensified class divisions, a
between minorities and nonminorities, and be- weakened democratic process, and lost human
tween the poor and nonpoor." The great danger, potential.
fears Davies (1989), is that of having a two-tiered
12 Part 1: Bcwkground
26
the school" (Council of Chief State School Offic- velopment, such as through reading, discussions,
ers 1989). She calls for: approval of school work, respect for children's
efforts, and provision of a quiet space to study.
1. Bettercommunication between home and school
regarding children's preparation for school At-risk parents can become more sensitive to
the importance of all these things. Likewise, schools
2. Greater accommodation to the cultural patterns
that value the uniqueness of children make them
of students and how lessons are resented
feel part of the school, as a family would do. A
3. More attention paid to the social environment sense of belonging, especially for African-Ameri-
of the classroom and student/teacher relation- can children, has been found to be important for
ships these students.
All of the above can be facilitated by involv- The ideal link to the child is through his or her
ing at-risk families with the schools. parents, Ziegler points out, as they are the persons
Over and over, experts who work with these with whom she has a primary relationship:
children emphasize that the connections between
When the child sees her parent visit the class, talk
schools and at-risk families must be increased.
to the teacher, or receive a personal note from the
They also recommend that schools become more teacher which is read to the ch ad, the likelihood
decentralized and caring. But there's a desperate increases that the child will feel that her two
need to reduce the disparity between home and worlds overlap and that she is at home in both. The
school for these ciiildren and their families. positive impact of this kind of relationship, it is
posited, is strongest for those with the least expe-
rience of itthe young and minorities, for ex-
Settings ample. (Ziegler 1987)
14
28 Part I : Background
4. Children who are failing in school improve 3. Change their behavior at home to be more
dramatically when parents step in to help. supportive of the child (Hester)
(Henderson 1988) But that's not all. States researcher Urie
An example of one simple program took Bronfenbrenner:
place in Chicago, where 99 percent of the parents Not only do parents become more effective as
in forty-one classes signed a contract to provide parents, but they become more effective as people.
work space at home for their child, to encourage It's a matter of higher self-esteem. Once they saw
and praise schoolwork, and to cooperate with the they could do something about their child's edu-
teacher to provide items needed for schoolwork. cation, they saw they could do something about
The result? Students in the program achieved their housing, their community and their jobs.
twice the grade-level gain of nonparticipants (Amundson 1988)
(Krasnow 1990).
Many research studies are based on innercity For Teachers and Schools
schools with large populations of low-income and
Epstein (1986) has shown that teachers dis-
minority students. In Anne Henderson's update of
cover that their lives are made easier if they get
The Evidence Grows (1987), the eighteen new
help from parents, and that parents who are in-
studies, along with the thirty-five original ones,
volved tend to have more positive views of teach-
support the conclusion that parent involvement in
ers. For instance, parents tend to rate teachers'
any form appears to produce measurable gains in
interpersonal skills higher, appreciate teachers'
student achievement. "If school improvement ef-
efforts more, and rate teachers' abilities higher,
fects are judged successful when they raise student
says Hester.
achievement," Henderson (1988) says, "the re,.
search strongly suggests that involving parents According to a parent survey reported in the
can make a critical difference." newsletter of the Center for Research on Elemen-
tary and Middle Schools (1989), "parents who are
In addition, it's also important to note that the
involved at home and at school say that the school
effects seem to be permanent. For example,
has a more positive climate. Even more so, parents
Henderson (1988) says studies show that low-
who perceive that the school is actively working to
income and minority graduates of preschool pro-
involve them say that the school is a good one."
grams with high levels of parent involvement are
still outperforming their peers when they reach Finally, involvement can also lead to feelings
senior high schooland at least one study shows of ownership, which lead to increased support of
that positive differences are maintained into col- schools. This may manifest itself through greater
lege years. political support and willingness to pay taxes to
fund schools, which, as Davies (1988) suggests,
are important byproducts.
For Parents
Through being involved in schools, parents
develop a greater appreciation of the important
role they play in their children's education, a sense
of adequacy and self-worth, strengthened social
networks, and motivation to resume their own
education, says Davies (1988).
Specifically parents:
I. Receive ideas from the teacher or project coor-
dinator on how to help their children
2. Learn more about the educational program and
school system
2;1
CHAPTER 4
WHAT WORKS: FORMS OF
FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
16
30 Part I : Background
parents do not work with many at-risk parents. Yet Joyce Epstein's model is often used, and it
schools continue to rely upon traditional avenues has been adopted by Davies (1989) in his Schools
of involvement such as open houses, parent-teacher Reaching Out (SRO) projects. So her model,
conferences, the PTA, and volunteer programs slightly modified, will be used here to include both
even though these forms of involvement may be the roles of each form of involvement and the goals
more effective with middle-class parents. This is for at-risk parents.
not to say that the types of involvement mentioned
above won't work with at-risk parents, but they
may have to be modified for use with various School Support for Families
populations.
Parents have basic obligations for their
Of course, part of this problem involves the children's safety and health. These obligations
history of American public schools and low-in- include preparing their children for school, admin-
come or minority families. Traditionally, Ameri- istering effective discipline, and providing posi-
can public schools and middle-class parents have tive conditions for learning and behavior.
taken it for granted that there was continuity be-
The goal for at-risk families is to help them
tween home and school. Middle-class parents have
establish home environments that do all these
assumed that schools will educate their children
things, including supporting learning.
for successful roles in mainstream society, and
educators have relied on middle-class parents to However, at-risk parents often need help even
take an active role in socializing their children for with the basics, such as providing for their
school, as well as supporting the schools. children's physical needs. This is where human
service agencies can link up with schools to offer
Socializing children for school has meant,
family support services.
according to Carol Ascher (1987):
1. Conveying the importance of education
2. Backing up teachers by making attendance, Parents as Learners
homework, and good grades a priority Being a parent is a huge responsibility; there
3. Being willing to participate in school activities, is much that parents must learn if they are to
such as the PTA effectively help with their children's education.
So at-risk parents must also become learners.
Not so with poor and minority parents. Their
history with the school system has been quite This form of parent involvement includes
different. Generally, there has been suspicion and participation in workshops that train and educate
mistrust on both sides. What's happened is that parents in areas such as child development,
parenting skills, or helping their children at home.
at the same time as poor and minority parents have
complained that the schools are not run to benefit The most effective parent education programs are
their children, and that teachers do not welcome those planned cooperatively by parents and school
them, educators have lamented that exactly those staff members.
parents, whose children tend to be low achievers
The goal is to provide education that meets
and who most need extra help to achieve, have
parents' needs and concerns, as well as the school's.
tended to be so burdened by their own lives that
they are the hardest to reach. (Ascher)
School-Family Communication
Forms of Parent Involvement This represents communication from school
There are several ways to look at different to home about school programs and the child's
forms of parent involvement, but mainly they're progress (memos, conferences, home visits). For
simply different phrases for different kinds of at-risk families, two-way communicationthat
activities or roles. The question is: What works for is, communication from home to schoolis also
at-risk families? important.
18 Part 1: Background
32
the PTA, School Advisory Council, and other
steering or decision-making groups, or they might
PROJECT AHEAD
be involved in planning events.
(ACCELERATING HOME
Empowerment is an important component to EDUCATION AND
consider when designing parent involvement pro- DEVELOPMENT)
grams for at-risk parents. Family Matters at Cornell Project AHEAD is a parent-to-parent
University stresses the importance of empower- program serving disadvantaged families of
ment as one of the keys to overcoming social class children attending schools in the Ten Schools
and cultural barriers related to parent involvement Program of the Los Angeles Unified School
in schools. District. These schools have only minority
students enrolled and are under court order
Low-income parents, who so often feel a
to receive supplemental services to offset
sense of exclusion and powerlessness, responded the effects of racial isolation.
well, for instance, to decision-making participa-
AHEAD was developed in 1977 by the
tion in the Head Start program during its early
Martin Luther King Legacy Association
years. Corner's SDP model, which has been
(MLKLA) of the Southern Christian Lead-
replicated in over 100 schools throughout the
ership Conference in Los Angeles and cur-
country, maximizes parent involvement at the
rently is operated and funded jointly by the
school level. In fact, parent participation in deci- MLKLA and the Los Angeles Unified
sion-making and governance is an integral part of School District. Project AHEAD's parent
the program and a key to its success. educators are indigenous to the community
and parents of successful school children.
Of course, parent involvement is a process
They make biweekly home visits and facili-
that usually occurs gradually. However, when tate monthly meetings of parents in the
parents are ready for greater involvement, the
schools.
ability to participate in decision-making can be
The curriculum is based on the work of
important. It's not true that socially marginal
Dorothy Rich, who subsequently incorpo-
parents aren't interested in having their voices
heard in some way.
rated the ideas into a book entitled
Megaskills. Parent educators introduce
home activities that guide parents in helping
their children develop critical skills for suc-
Which Forms of Involvement cess ("megaskills"). such as responsibility
Are Best? and self-esteem. In addition, the program
works with parents on school-related topics
Any way you look at it, parents have a number such as reviewing rport cards and prepar-
of roles to fulfill. There is debate, however, about ing for parent-teacher conferences.
the best ways to involve parents. The goal here is
Source: Goodson and others (1991)
to decide how and when to recruit and train poten-
tial at-risk parent leaders.
According to Epstein, different types of par-
ent involvement seem to produce different results: Cotner and Davies would both likely chal-
lenge the assertion that volunteers do not help
For example. several studies show that wIrn student achievement, though they might concur
parents help their child at home in a particular
subject, it's likely to increase the student's achieve- that it's not in a direct, straightforward way. Nev-
ment in that subject. By contrast, involving a few ertheless, educators .11 want to be familiar with
parents in decision-making on school committees the different forms of parent involvement and
probably won't increase student achievement, at decide what their goals are, what kinds of at-risk
least in the short term...a few volunteers at school
won't help other parents know how to help their groups their school includes, and where they want
children at home. (Cited in Brandt 1989) to start.
34
20 Part I : Background
PP
PP
CHAPTER 5
SCHOOLS MUST TAKE
THE INITIATIVE
22 Part I : Background
cases," she adds, "the parents of at-risk children encouraged, the more inequity may result as en-
need as much support as their children do. Schools thusiastic parents come forward and the 'silent
have important roles to play here." majority' remains silent." That's why he suggests
that aggressive school outreach, including home
Some schools are reaching out in creative visits, may be especially important to ethnic and
ways. For example, they may sponsor events at the language-minority families.
beginning of the school year rather than at the end,
plan social events and use school buses to get the
parents there, and increase the literacy of parents All Summed Up
and children in joint programs.
In short, says James A. Sandfort (1987),
schools need to:
Examples of School Initiative Change their belief systems about at-risk
Davies (1987) suggests several ways schools families.
can reach out: Admit that help is needed.
I . Have adequately prepared and sensitive school Ask parents to become involved and take
representatives go into homes to meet with responsibility for their children's educa-
families
tion.
2. Have some meetings outside the school in set-
View an interested parent as a potential
tings less intimidating and more accessible to
partner, not a problem,
parents
Communicate with parents, letting them
3. Use natural and informal settings to reach and
know specifically what it is they must do.
talk with parents (such as churches, markets,
social centers) Begin at the top: the principal must be a
4. Prepare materials in other languages for parents catalyst.
whose English proficiency is weak Develop and promote strong programs of
5. Schedule activities that are attuned to at-risk parent involvement that involve adminis-
parents' needs tration and colleagues as well as indi-
vidual teachers.
However, Derek Toomey (1986) cautions
that "the more parent participation is accepted and
23
Chapter 5: Schools Must Take the Initiative .17
PP
PP
CHAPTER 6
BARRIERS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS
/t is the parents of at-risk students who are Davies (1988) in his report on low-income fami-
often least likely to be involved with the school," lies in three locales.
states the New York State Department of Educa-
Davies states that many of these parents have
tion (1988). However, educators as well as par-
low expectations for themselv c. and their chil-
ents must assume responsibility for this lack A*
dren, though they almost uniformly express strong
invol vement.
interest in their children's education. Michelle
Some obstacles to involvement are due to Sarkees (1989) says some may feel they are unsuc-
benign neglect, others to political or professional cessful parents and thus feel discouraged by what
barriers that keep parents out of the way, still they consider to be personal failures.
others to emotional barriers felt by parents them-
Although most doubt their ability to become
selves. Finally, some are simply due to ignorance,
involved in their child's schooling, many partici-
lack of awareness, and misunderstandings.
pants in Davies' (1989) study said they would like
to learn more about how to help.
24
38 Part I : Background
Nicolau and Ramos (1990) add that many ents with low socioeconomic status, who also lack
Hispanic parents may fear appearing ignorant ("I educational skills, separated themselves from their
am called by the school when there is a problem children's education. These parents perceived edu-
with my son, then the teachers make me feel cation as the teacher's job, not the parents'.
embarrassed and hurt about his behavior"). Or
they may feel overwhelmed by educators ("I went
to the third grade., how can I question my son's Cultural and language barriers
teacher?"), or intimidated by their own lack of Nicolau and Ramos list reasons why barricrs
success in school ("Teachers don't like me. I exist between Hispanics and schools, including a
flunked school. Better for my kids if I stay away as lack of underst nding of U.S. education and a
much as possible"). tradition of not questioning schools or teachers.
Parents said things like, "They know what is best
for my children," or "I want to be correct but
Suspicion or anger that schools are not nobody tells me what is correct here." or"They say
treating them equally if we cannot speak English, there is no point in
Many parents harbor negative feelings to- wanting to see the principal or counselors." South-
ward school, seeing themselves as pawns, not east Asian parents, as well as Hispanic parents,
partners, in public education. Sarkees says that believe they are being helpful by maintaining a
some parents have developed a resistance to au- respectful distance from the schools.
thority, often as the result of frustrations or con-
cerns about previous educational experiences pro-
vided to their child. Thus they may be suspicious Economic, emotional, or time constraints
of parent education programs. Economic hardship and unemployment can
African-Americans have a deep distrust of profoundly affect both adults and children. Many
public schools, based on past discrimination. chronically poor parents or parents who suddenly
"Blacks may say they believe schools help people find themselves unemployed suffer from depres-
get ahead, but actually they do not buy the white sion. The effect of parent job loss on children is not
middle-class folk theory of achievement through certain and seems to depend on the degree of
education," says John Ogbu, researcher at the parental depression and duration of problems in
University of California (cited in Reeves 1988). the family.
James Comer illustrates this mistrust by relat- "Depressed parents," says P. David Kurtz
ing the experience of one first-grade teacher in (1988), "tend to be harsh and intolerant of their
New Haven on the first day of school: "A si x-year- children, demand independence before their chil-
old raised his hand, as instructed by his teacher, dren are ready and are emotionally withdrawn
and said, 'Teacher, my mama said I don't have to from their children." Children whose parents are
do anything you say' ( Reeves). emotionally unavailable experience rejection, in-
security, and possible social development lags that
Ascher (1987) says that parents of poor and may influence their adjustment to school.
minority kids often are suspicious of school for
teaching subjects whose importance they don't There is also growing evidence about how
understand, or, more commonly, for "cheating children are affected by having a parent who is
their chi klren of the same quality of education that mentally ill. "Children of mentally ill parents have
they believe middle-class children receive.- significantly increased risk of developing
psychosocial problems during the school-age years
than do children of mentally stable parents," says
Leave it to the schools Kurtz.
Many low-income parents. as well as those Family discord and hostility seem to be the
from other cultures, see teachers as authority fig- chief disruptions. The primary effect is the occur-
ures and leave it to the school to educate their rence of conduct disorders in children. Their anti-
children. Annette Lareau (1987) found that par- social behavior makes these children, especially
Often excessive energy is required to meet Parents can't be effectively involved with
the family's basic needs. Many are struggling schools if educators continue to view their partici-
simply to survive. pation as desirable but not necessary. It is the
difference between looking at parents as extras
It is not reasonable to expect that individuals who and looking at them as partners.
are barely surviving will have the time, the incli-
nation, or the psychic energy to get themselves Teachers frequently ask, "How do I get involved?
together for a school meeting or a workshop. It is How do I get them to attend meetingsr But the
clear that most cannot help their children until real question that each teacher needs to ask is, "Do
they have gotten help for their own all-consuming I really want to involve the parents?" Only when
problems. ( Nicolau and Ramos 1990) the answer is an unqualified "yes" will the means
to do this become feasible. (Smith 1970)
Or as Ascher puts it, "A welfare client may
have the time to come to school, but may not have
the emotional or spiritual resources to do so."
Confusion about the role of teachers
Both teachers and parents have stereotyped
Logistical problems: child care, images of each other, says Ziegler (1987), that
transportation, scheduling stem from childhood experiences and guide their
views about schooling. Teachers, for instance,
There are logistical problems, .:oo. Often both
report that they feel uncertain about how to in-
parents work, sometimes at more than one job.
volve parents and still maintain their role as ex-
Mothers may be single and on welfare and have a
perts.
number of children to care for. As one Hispanic
parent put it, "My husband, he works two jobs and At the root of conflict between teachers and
I have two babies. We got no time to go to school" parents is their often differing views on parent
(Nicolau and Ramos). involvement. A 1985 survey by the National PTA.
cited in the National School Boards Association
Child care may be nonexistent or too expen-
report (Amundson 1988), found that about three-
siveand the same goes for transportation. Work-
fourths of the parents surveyed said they were
ing parents can't attend meetings in the day, and
interested in attending classes and workshops with
single parents often choose to spend time with teachers and principals, as well as serving as
their children in the evening rather than go to a advocates for their school in meetings with the
school event.
school board or on advisory committees. School
"Unless this mismatch in schedules can be administrators, on the other hand, said they did not
overcome," the 1987 Metropolitan Life survey want parents participating as advocates.
noted, "there remains a need for working parents In other words, teachers seem to see parents'
to occasionally take time off from work, or else role as minimally supportive, traditional, and per-
forego direct contact with teachers" (Harris 1987). haps passive, say Diana T. Slaughter and Valerie
Shahariw Kuehne (1988). The proper role for
parents, according to teachers, is home-based.
Barriers for Schools and Teachers However, add Slaughter and Kuehne, parents
Commitment to parent involvement express interest in more active rolesin being
colearners with their children, functioning as ad-
A number of school practices have discour-
vocates, and participating in decision-making.
aged or completely blocked parent participation,
says the National School Boards Association Not too many years ago, says Dorothy Rich
(Amundson 1988): "First, although most school (1987), parents were told "hands off, you don't
officials say they want parent participation, in know what you're doing" in regard to their
26 40 Part 1: Backgmund
children's education. But today, she stresses, the Unfortunately, teachers receive little or no
message must be "hands on." training in working with parents. Preservice train-
ing for teachers and administrators devotes mini-
mal, if any, time to relationships between families
Concerns about turf and territory and schools. Therefore, says Jane C. Lindle (1990),
many teachers find they're ill-prepared for meet-
Some teachers are worried that parents will
ing parent expectations or ascertaining the needs
undermine their authority and disrupt their class-
of parents.
rooms. Rhoda Becher (1984) points to a report by
the National Education Association stating that Teachers not only have reservations about
teachers express concern that parents will try to whether they can motivate at-risk parents, but they
take over their teaching responsibilities and won't also report they are uncertain about how to imple-
follow the teacher's instructions and school regu- ment such a program.
lations.
"There has always been the question of who
controls the child's life in school. " acknowledges
Sandra Feldman, president of the United Federa- KENAN TRUST FAMILY
tion of Teachers in New York City. "Teachers are LITERACY PROJECT
always concerned that parents will interfere" The Kenan Trust Family Literacy
(Jennings. May 2, 1990). Project is a full-day, center-based program
They are also concerned that parents will for parents and their preschool children in
Louisville. Kentucky. The program is funded
cause confusion and disrupt the classroom be-
primarily through grants from the William
cause they do not know how to work productively
R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust of Chapel
with children. And they're worried that parents
Hill, North Carolina, and is un adaptation of
may use nonstandard English ordemonstrate other
the PACE (Parent and Child Education)
characteristics that teachers do not want in the
Program developed by the Kentucky De-
classroom.
partment of Education.
The Kenan model builds on four ac-
Doubts about their abilities to work with a` tivities: preschool for children; adult basic
risk parents education for parents; Parents and Children
Together (PACT); and Parent Time (PT).
Many teachers harbor doubts about whether Parents and children attend the program
certain parents are willing or able to be involved in together three days a week for a full school
helping their children. Working-class parents, day (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
non-English speaking parents, immigrant parents.
For three hours in the morning, the
and single parents are among those groups about
children attend a cognitively oriented pre-
which teachers have reservations.
school program based on the High/Scope
But it's been found that teachers learn by model, while their parents receive instruc-
doing. says Ziegler. Those who take the initiative tion in adult basic education and literacy.
in reaching out don't seem to be defeated by For at least forty-five minutes a day, the
barriers, but instead have been able to work suc- parents and children play together during
cessfully with parents of all educational back- PACT time, with the adult education and
grounds. early childhood teachers present to facili-
tate interaction and learning. While the chil-
Epstein (1983) confirms this. While some dren nap, parents meet for Parent Time to
teachers she studied had worked out successful discuss issues such as parenting, child de-
practices to use with parents who had less than a velopment, home activities, and personal
high school diploma, other teachers did not know care and growth.
how to involve less-educated parents and thus Source: Goodson and others (1991)
claimed these parents lacked the ability or willing-
ness to help.
28 Part 1: liackgmwul
12
building there was a welcoming attitude" ( Krasnow in one survey that over one-third of the parents
1990). rer rted that they had no conference with the
teacher during the year, and almost two-thirds
Locked doors and notices to check in imme- never talked with a teacher by phone (Amundson
diately at the office can be forbidding and inter- 1988).
preted as signs of mistrust. For too long, says Bob
Chase, vice-president of ihe National Education
Association, some schools have made parents feel Dwelling on the hard-to-reach concept
like intruders: "We restricted conferences to cer-
tain days, and we didn't welcome parents into Davies (1988) says many Leachers dwell on
classes. The barriers were unspoken, but they family problems and conditions, such as crime and
suggested we were the professionals" (McCormick poor living condiC,- and talk little about the
strengths all families nave. They label these par-
1990).
ents "hard-to-reach" because of their home and
Working parents and single parents need ac- neighborhood environment and the parents' char-
tivities that are scheduled at times they can come, acteristics; "parent apathy is a recurring theme."
rather than at times that are most convenient for
school personnel. As indicated earlier, at-risk fami- Unfortunately, Davies says, only a minority
lies may need such extras as child care, transpor- of educators acknowledge that school policies or
tation, and possibly meals. A lack of child care or educator attitudes may be part of the problem.
transportation can contribute to parents' inability Davies (1988) says there is something flawed
to participate in school events. about the hard-to-reach concept: "Most of the
parents in our study were 'reachable, but the
schools were either not trying to involve them or
Communicat ion from schools focuses were not knowledgeable about, or sensitive to
on the negative ways to overcome barriers of culture, class, or
Communication between schools and parents language."
with low socioeconomic status is primarily nega-
tive, focused largely on academic and behavioral
problems of children, says Davies (1988). Lack of time ancl funding
Research shows that most teachers don't con- Many demands compete for teachers' and
tact parents unless there is a problem: principals' time. Teachers who are also parents
have some of the same time problems that other
In this situation, parents find,themselves dealing working parents do. Schools may give lip service
with a stranger, the teacher.... Furthermore. be- to reaching at-risk families, but to actually do so
cause they probably have had no contact with the
may require released time for teachers as well as
teacher until this point, parents feel no desire to
employing parent coordinators. In ad&tion. there
support the teacher. a stranger. over the interests
of their child. (Lindle 1990)
may be a lack of access to appropriate family
involvement materials. Finally, lack of sufficient
Many teachers also overestimate the number funding l'or family involvement programs is an
of contacts they have with parents. whether nega- ongoing problem at all levels of the educational
tive or positive. Surprisingly, large numbers of system.
parents are excluded from some of the most com-
mon communications from school. Epstein noted
Several programs that involve the families of Sue Berryman, director of the National Cen-
at-risk students have achieved success by replac- ter on Education and Employment at Teachers
ing old beliefs and assumptions with new ones. College, Columbia University, says there is an-
There are also certain principles on which effec- other school reform waiting in the wings, one that
tive at-risk family involvement programs are based. "will be organized in some way around a much
The following "new beliefs" result from the work fuller definition of human talent than narrowly
of Rhoda Becher, Don Davies, and the Family defined academic achievement skills" (Reeves
Matters program at Cornell University. 1988). This will be so, she says, not only because
the economy needs a wider range of skills, but also
because at-risk families may bring a greater diver-
New Beliefs about Parents and sity of talents to us. Some of the talents these
Families groups have are in spatial relationships, physical
All families have strengths coordination. music, interpersonal perceptiveness,
and inner attunernent.
Parents, says Becher (1984), already make
contributions to their children's education. Suc-
cessful programs emphasize the strengths of par- Parents can learn new techniques
ents and let them know these strengths are valued.
Successful programs help parents identify
They also build on the particular assets that new things they're capable of doing, says Becher.
many poor and minority families have. For in- This perspective also suggests that parents have
stance, these families are usually more group- both the ability and interest to expand and enhance
oriented and interactive than the white middle their parenting skills. An aim of successful pro-
class (which stresses individualism and competi- grams is to help families overcome obstacles to
tion)and it's exactly these collaborative skills effective functioningand one way to do this is
that the labor market needs today. by teaching them new skills and behaviors.
30 44 Part I : Background
Parents have important perspectivef; about
their children THREE INNOVATIVE
Successful programs recognize and draw on PROGRAMS
parents' perspective and knowledge about their SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, Oak
children. Teachers realize that parents can be im- Park Elementary School found that an effec-
portant and useful in helping them improve tive way to involve parents from diverse cul-
children's education. "Valuable information on tural backgrounds was to train representative
child rearing and family functioning has been parent and teac her faci litators who cou'd meet
gleaned even from disadvantaged parents and with each ethnic and racial group separately
passed on to benefit other parents," reports Moles to brainstorm, solve problems, and discuss
(1990). issues and concerns. As a result, each group
felt for the first time that it was important and
that its views counted. After the separate
meetings, the school held a joint session to
Most parents really care about their children
develop a parent involvement plan. Parents
Successful programs acknowledge and rest and teachers were surprised to see that all
on e sincere belief that most parents really care groups shared common concerns and needs
about their kids. This has been demonstrated over (Chrispeels 1991).
and over by parents' comments. BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. Devel-
oping Multicultural Awareness Through Lit-
Of course, there are families struggling with
multiple problems. As Slaughter and Kuehne erature is federally funded under family-school
partnership grants. Seeking to empower par-
(1988) point out, "Generally, under impoverished
ents and children by recognizing their cultural
conditions, many families are considerably more differences as assets, this program introduces
survival-oriented than child-oriented, although for children, parents, and teachers to some of the
many adults their children are their most precious world's best children's literature. Teachers
possessions." receive training in family involvement activi-
ties and parents and students are given educa-
tional materials for lear.ting at home (Cross
Cultural differences are both valid and and others 1991).
valuable FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. Early in-
"Diversity is not a disease to be cured or an tervention is the central priority for this fam-
aberration to be stamped out by the experts," says ily-school partnership program called Project
MIRROR (Managing Integrated Resources
Davies (1988). Successful programs learn about
Reaching Out Remediation). Community
other cultures and respect their beliefs, They find
role models work with families and students.
ways of building on the loyalty and obedience, for Successful individuals from disadvantaged
example, that Hispanic parents instill in their chil- backgrounds Flare their own e tperiences with
dren. Or they find ways to bring other cultures' the disadvantaged students of West Fresno to
traditions and values into the classroom. create a "mirror" effect. The program is
designed to improve the level of participation
ond involvement of families in the education
Many family forms exi.st and are of iheir Own children. Activities include
legitimate teacher and family training; a family-school
retreat; a strategic planning session to estab-
There is no single pattern, says Davies ( 1988),
Iish dialogue between school and families;
that determines healthy child and family develop- and a prescriptive learning and family tutorial
ment. Yet the number and types of resources that component, which features an automated
parents can marshal can be a key factor. In cases homework information system (Cross and
where children are cared for by grandparents, others).
stepparents, or other members of an extended
family, successful programs are prepared to reach
31
Chapter 7: Overcoming Barriers: New Beliefs and Principles
out and provide family support where resources Anything that can be done to give at-risk
are linhid. families more control over their livesand their
children's educationwill be helpful.
46
32 Part 1: Background
l'AFZ'T 2
COIVIP0INTEINT'T
-
17
Preview of Chapters in
Part 2: Components
Chapter 8. Communica- the values and activities of the Chapter 12. Decision-
tion: The Importance of school, Making and Advocacy:
Personal Contact The Importance of Em-
Chapter 10. Preparation: powerment
Good communication lies at
the heart of every effective family
Getting Children Ready for Many low-income and mi-
School Pority parents feel a sense of ex-
involvement program. Without a
doubt, the most effective way to Low-income families and clusion, powerlessness, and hope-
communicate with at-risk fami- those from minority cultures may lessnessattitudes they pass on
lies is personal contact, especially not prepare their children for to their children. To deal with
home visits. After a brief look at school by teaching them skills this problem, family involvement
parent-teacher conferences and (such as how to hold a pencil) thatprograms must incorporate ways
school-parent contracts, this chap- are essential for their successful to empower parents by involving
ter details the benefits of and ef- progress in school. Making mat- them in decision-making about
fective procedures for conducting ters worse, many teachers don't the schools their children attend.
home visits. The chapter also know how to deal with children Programs that have sought to give
tells how to make communication who have been socialized differ- poor and minority families a
a two-way street by bringing the ently than middle-class children. greater role in school decision-
home into the classroom as well making include Head Start. The
as reaching out to homes. Chapter 11. Home Learn- Early Childhood and Family
ing: The Wave of the Education Program, and James
Chapter 9. Home Atmo- Future Comer's School Development
sphere: Attitudes and When learning in the home Program.
Expectations reinforces what is learned at
The values parents hold about school, children excel. This
education shape their children's chapter explores various ap-
view of learning. Children of proaches to and benefits of home
parents who believe in hard work learning, drawing on the research
and discipline, emphasize high of Dorothy Rich and Joyce
aspirations, and provide stimu- Epstein. Activities for parents
lating learning materAs in the with low literacy skills are sug-
home are far more likely to suc- gested, and examples of home
ceed in school than children whose reading programs are given.
parents prefer leisure to work, have
no rules about TV, and are indif-
ferent to learning. This chapter
suggests some ways schools can
encourage families to reinforce
48
34 Part 2: Components
PF
PP
Chapter 8
COMMUNICATION: THE IMPORTANCE
OF PERSONAL CONTACT
eommunication is so important that experts and that first contacts often set the tone for subse-
assert that the lack of information flowing be- quent communication. "Communication is like a
tween home and school may lie at the root of the magnet, "they say, "that draws together the 'spheres
dissonance between teachers and parents. When- of influence' that affect children's livesschool,
ever heman beings communicate, natural barriers home, community, and the peer group."
exist. In the case of schools, these barriers must be Evidence is growing, they add, that extra care
broken down if parents are to become involved in in fashioning and maintaining communication
their children's education. This is doubly true with between schools and families is paying off. Under-
at-risk families. lying these new approaches is the recognition that
Diane D'Angelo and C. Ralph Adler (1991) any parent may be "hard to reach" at times. They
give an example. Imagine, they say, you are play- list many variables such as the parents' literacy
ing the game where you pass a message around a level; language preferred for reading, writing, and
circle, one person whispering it to the next. By the speaking; daily commitments and responsibili-
time it gets to the end, the message usually bears ties; parents' comfort in becoming involved with
little resemblance to the original one. Now imag- the schools; and cultural beliefs. Therefore, it's
ine that the first child has a hearing problem, the not possible to design a single method of commu-
second child can barely speak English, and the nication that will always reach all parents.
third child dues not want to believe the message. Communication strategies, D'Angelo and
By the time the message completes its route, Adler explain, should be adapted to the needs of
neither the !anguage nor the content of the mes- particular families. For instance, some material
sage would be intelligible. will need to be translated into other languages or
D'Angelo and Adler say schools are begin- put in alternative formats (see "Tapping Technol-
ning to realize that the initial contacts between ogy" on page 38) to meet the needs of parents who
school and home can make or break relationships do not speak English or who cannot rad.
36
50
Part 2: Components
tions, which is an element many Hispanics find
important. Coordinators emphasized, though, that
TIPS FOR WRITTEN
a single home visit or conversation may not do the
jobthat it may be necessary to make personal COMMUNICATION
contact two or three times to convince parents to The key to creating effective written
attend an activity. materials is the presentation and the reading
level of the materials, say D'Angelo and
Adler. They suggest the following tips, from
Why Personal Contact Works Push Literacy Action Now of Washington.
D.C., to help educators develop better writ-
Suzanne Ziegler (1987) explains that the ef-
ten information for parents:
fectiveness of parent involvement may be due to
I. Keep sentences short (never more than
the message children receive when they see their
twenty words).
teachers and parents in direct, personal contact.
Children sense consistency and caring in both 2. Keep paragraphs short (an average of six
home and school environments. Ziegler hypoth- lines).
esizes that the more direct, frequent, and personal 3. Use easy, short, familiar words.
the parent-teacher contact, and the more visible 4. Get to the point; omit irrelevant informa-
the contact is to the child, the greater its potential. tion.
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1972) also suggests 5. Write things in logical order (who, what,
that the more personal the modes of communica- where, when, why, and how).
tionface-to-face versus the telephone, for in- 6. Be definite; give a clear picture of what
stancethe more powerful. He believes that the you want to say.
more direct the links are between settings, the 7. Be direct. Speak to each reader. Say
more they enhance the potential of each setting. "you should" instead orparents should."
Thus a child whose parents have formed a relation- 8. Use the active voice more than the pas-
ship with the teacher is more likely to learn than is sive. Put the subject at the begirning of
a child from a family that has no connection with the sentence ("Please sign the consent
the teacher. slip" rather than "A consent slip must be
signed").
9. Use pictures and subheads. Readers tend
Parent-Teacher Conferences to drown in a sea of solid text. Bold print
emphasizes important words or phrases.
There are two basic formal ways to achieve
face-to-face contactthrough home visits or, more 10. Watch type size and use of capital let-
traditionally, through the parent-teacher confer- ters. Don't overuse capitals; they are
hard to read. For easy reading use at least
ence. (More will be said about home visits later in
12-point type.
this chapter.) For conferences, parents are usually
expected to come to the school. Because of past 11. Know your audience. How well do they
negative associations with set, .)ol, some low-in- read? If you aren't sure, test your mate-
rials on a few representative people.
come parents find this uncomfortable. Parent-
teacher conferences, however, do allow for inter- 12. Be yourself. Write as yuu would talk.
action, but often are held infrequently and are Write to express, not to impress.
difficult to schedule. As a result, many parents 13. Write and rewrite. Read a draft over. Can
only see teachers when their children are having you say something more succinctly or in
academic or disciplinary problems. a more interesting way? Have you used
jargon or abbreviations that your audi-
Some schools are experimenting with parent- ence may not know'? Ask someone else
teacher conferences. At an initial parent-teacher to read what you've written. Then re-
conference in Lima, Ohio, parents are given a write it.
packet designed to help them engage in learning Source: Adapted from D'Angelo and Adler( 1991)
activities with their chi!dren at home (D'Angelo
:
0
38 Part 2: Components
and Adler). Other schools hold regular confer- study," she reports, "programs offering home vis-
ences with parents to discuss student progress as a its were more successful in involving disadvan-
way of distributing report cards or in place of taged parents than were programs requiring par-
them. Some schools schedule evening confer- ents to visit the school."
ences for working parents. Since most families want to help their chil-
dren learn, schools should reach out to families in
their homes and neighborhoods to provide infor-
School-Parent Contracts mation, materials, and guidance to the large con-
A number of schools are experimenting with stituency that does not come to school, say
school-parent contracts as part of parent confer- D'Angelo and Adler.
ences. Such contracts are an important part of the Home visits say, "We care about you." If
Quality Education Project, which was started in teachers make visits before school starts, a child
1982 by Nancy Honig, wife of California's Super- has the chance to become acquainted with his or
intendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig her teacher before school begins. A sense of be-
(Jennings, August 1, 1990). As part f their longing is especially important to an at-risk child.
"pledge," parents sign a document promising they Home visits set a tone of mutual understanding
will provide a quiet place for their children to that makes subsequent school/home communica-
study, encourage them to complete their home- tion more successful. For example, family crises
work, get them to bed by 9 p.m., send them to that occur during the year can be dealt with more
school on time, spend at least fifteen minutes a day successfully if a home visit has been made prior to
reading to or with them, and attend back-to-school the beginning of the school year (Wolf and Stephens
nights, parent-teacherconferences, and other school
1989).
events.
In exchange, teachers promise to provide a
safe place for children to learn, teach all the con- Benefits of Home Visits
cepts necessary for academic achievement, strive
to be aware of children's individual needs, and SCHOOLS
communicate with parents about their children's . The benefits of home visits are that the school
progress (Jennings). can:
Contracts are also an important part of the 1. Gain insight into paiznt/child relationships
Accelerated Schools program, which aims to bring
the achievement of disadvantagcd children up to 2. Obtain specific information about the student
grade level by the end of sixth grlde. Parents sign that is of value in providing motivation
a written agreement that includes ensuring that 3. Observe situations that might forecast potential
children go to bed at a reasonable hour and attend changes cr account for problems that have al-
school regularly and punctually. Teachers' obli- ready taken place
gations include keeping parents informed about
4. Provide information and support to the parents
students' performance. "The purpose," says Ac-
celerated Schools founder Henry Levin, "is to 5. Learn more about the home environment and
emphasize the importance of the parental role how the school and personnel are perceived by
through the dignity of a written agreement that is the family (Decker and Decker 1988)
affirmed by all parties" (Jennings).
"Principals who encourage and even require
the making of home v isits," say Wolf and Stephens,
"find that the parents are more likely to become
Home Visits allies with the teacher and administrative staff on
Carol Ascher (1987) states that only one behalf of the child's learning experience. Parents
study has tried to directly compare school-based who welcome a teacher into the home gain a more
parent involvement with home-based parent in- positive attitude and am more supportive of the
volvement among low-income families. "In this school."
42 56 Part 2: Components
mends greater accommodation by the school to the and alien to the child's experience, the mother-
cultural patterns of students in the way in which teacher style of interaction, her face, and her
instruction is presented and organized, the models character are not strange. It feels like home. (Cited
of teaching used, the structure of the learning and by Ziegler)
social environments of the classroom, and the In effective school-home contact, both set-
roles and relationships of students and teachers tings are changed. When a parent involvement
(Council of Chief State School Officers 1989). program is successful, says Ziegler, "changes oc-
cur at home and at school, so that the two environ-
Another way of bringing home into school is
ments become more similar and familiar to chil-
to have parents volunteer in the classroom. "It is
dren." Besides using parents as volunteers to make
important to recognize that the presence of parents
schools more home-like, Ziegler also suggests
in the school not only provides more adults to
parent rooms or parent centers in the school, which
teach reading or offer help and support to the
also makes schools more inviting to parents. To
children but also transforms the culture of the
learn more about parent centers, see chapter 14.
school," says Ziegler.
How parent involvement develops depends
Lightfoot ( 1978) points out that with mothers
both on the ease and extent of two-way communi-
present, for instance, there is no way that the
cation between parents and schools,
curriculum and environment can remain un-
Bronfenbrenner stresses. While he acknowledges
changed:
that schools must often serve as the initiators,
Even if the content of the lesson appears the same parents must not be merely passive recipients: for
on paper, the transmksion of the lesson takes on parent involvement to really work, they must be
a different quality and character when presented
cocommunicators,
by mothers. Even if the concepts are unfamiliar
learly, all parents communicate important may be accelerating the intergenerational transfer
values about school and learning to their chil- of that povertyare of such concern to educators"
dren," says Krasnow (1990). "These determine (cited in Reeves 1988).
and shape a child's view of learning. Closer fam-
ily-school connections, shared values, and mutual Home environment is one of the most power-
respect can positively influence school success." ful predictors of school achievement. The continu-
ing low scores of many urban children in both
A positive atmosphere in the homecharac-
reading and math suggests the need for richer
home experiences. Hence the growing interest
terized by such things as parents' high aspirations
today in learning that takes place in the home.
for their children, a belief in hard work and disci-
pline, and the availability of good reading materi-
als----is the strongest predictor of high student
achievement. According to Mvlin Orland, home Parent Attitudes
atmosphere explains more of the variation in stu-
"Throughout their children 's growing years,"
dent achievement than do parental income levels
says Joan A. Newman (1989), "parents of the most
or socioeconomic status. But, of course, home
successful children model behaviors most likely to
atmosphere and family income levels are them-
help them do well." Some characteristics of par-
selves linked; in the homes of far too many poor
ents whose children succeed include taking an
people, little value is placed on education. interest in their children's interests, listening to
their children and being responsive to them, and
Orland says that home atmosphere may vary respecting them even when they make mistakes.
dramatically, depending on the length and depth
of a family's poverty. "That is why," he says, "the In addition, Benjamin Bloom's (1985) land-
entrenched nature of poverty in some portions of mark study of people who had attained a world-
the populationand mounting evidence that cer- class level of achievement throws light on other
tain behavior trends, such as teenage motherhood, important beliefs and attitudes. He consistently
44 5S Part 2: Components
found that home environment was critical for why so many Asian immigrant children do so well.
excellence. These "successful" families shared a Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, gives ex-
number of characteristics: amples in the Chinese-American community that
address this question. The mothers in this nor '
1. They were hard-working.
stress the importance of effort with their daugh-
2. They believed in doing one's best, whatever the ters. One mother thought that her daughter could
task. do or be anything in America if she just tried.
When her daughter didn't become the concert
3. They believed that everyone, including the chil-
pianist that the mother had hoped for, the mother
dren, should use time productively and set goals.
said, in effect, "You could be genius. You just not
4. They emphasized self-discipline and that work try."
comes before play. For at-risk kids, belief in the importance of
effort may be central to success. When parents
believe in effortor can be taught to raise their
Effort Versus Ability expectations for their childrenthen children ex-
Bloom found that achievement of these people pect more of themselves and are more self-confi-
was due less to superior talent than to hard work dent. These changes lead to more successful expe-
and encouragement from families and teachers. riences in school, as well as in the community.
This may also be part of the reason that some
(Of course, there is a dark side to the emphasis
cultures or groups of at-risk families do better than
many Asian parents place on their children's
others. Both effort and ability can affect school
achievement. Some Asian youth experience inor-
performance.
dinate psychological stress because they feel they
Japanese children spend more time in school cannot meet their parents expectations. In moti-
than American children and have more hours of vating children to excel in school, as in all areas of
homewe, k. But parent attitudes may be the pri- life, moderation is a virtue.)
mary reason they are more successful.
Working Mothers magazine asked mothers in The Power of Reinforcement
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, and mothers in
and Modeling
Taiwan and Japan what accounts for a child's
success in schoolluck, natural ability, or effort? When the community and family reinforce
Chinese and Japanese mothers said effort was the what is presented in school, students are more
most important element, whereas American moth- likely to see the two environments of home and
ers responded that ability was the key (Amundson school as related. When there is an obvious link
1988). between school and comrnunity, the impact is
even greater.
"That's enormously imprtant," said Mare
Tucker of the Carnegie Forum on Education and Reinforcement of what the school is teaching
the Economy. "If you think natural ability is the happens when parents become involved in their
source of achievement, you don't have to do much." child's school and what he or she is studying and
For example, he suggested that "you don't have to learning. When at-risk parents are taught how to
pay attention to curriculum content, or how much help their children at home and how to make
TV children watch, or what demands you make on modifications in their home environment, they are
them, or how much support you give." In contrast, reinforcing not only what their children are learn-
Tucker noted, if you think effort is most important, ing, but also conveying the attitude that learning
you emphasize all of those things (Amundson). and school are important.
Suzanne Ziegler (1987) examines why paren-
tal reinforcement has such a powerful effect on
Why Asian Children May Do Well children's achievement. Since children spend so
Parents who think that effort is the key to much time at home, the people there (parents,
success expect their children to learn. That may be siblings, grandparents)
46 60 Part 2: Components
sponse to children's grades. The authoritarians which is a component of many parent involvement
would likely punish their children for bad grades; programs? If so, some at-risk families may already
for good grades, they would tell them to do better. have authoritative styles of parenting that are a
Permissive parents seem indifferent to grades, good foundation to build on.
don't stress working hard, have no rules about TV,
and usually aren't involved in education. Authori-
tative parents, however, would respond to good Family Involvement Programs
grades with praise, to bad grades with restrictions Can Help
or offers of help and encouragement.
Programs for involving at-risk families can
Authoritative parents tell kids to look at both help enrich what parents already do "naturally" in
sides of an issue and admit that children some- the home to socialize their children and help pre-
times know more. All family members participate pare them for school, says Ascher. "One might
in decisions. say," she concludes, that the aim of educators is
"to increase school effectiveness by improving the
Dornbusch says that children of authoritative
assistance they receive from parents at home."
parents are more socially responsible, more inde-
pendent, and exhibit more developed social and Ziegler says that an important message of
cognitive skills (cited in Olson 1990). research is that school personnel can intervene
positively to teach at-risk parents to be more
In a study of ten poor African-American
effective. Families are not unalterable, she stresses;
families, Clark (1983) also found that parenting
styles were a key to achievement and that the Research indicates that the attitudes of parents
authoritative style (or what Clark terms "spon- who have felt unimportant and powerless and the
sored independence") is associated with students academic outcomes for their children who are
performing poorly in school can be changed, by
who do well in school regardless of social and
parent involvement which is well-planned and
economic backgrounds.
lasting.
"His study strongly suggests that a family's
overall cultural stylenot the more commonly
used variables of marital status, educational level,
income, or social classdetermines whether or
not children are prepared to perform well in school,"
says Anne Henderson (1988).
The question arises, Can parenting styles be
taught or influenced through parenting education,
ci
Chapter 9: Home Atmosphere: Attitudes ond Eveetations 47
Chapter 10
PREPARATION: GETTING
CHILDREN READY FOR SCHOOL
he fact that many children arrive at school Children from Other Cultures Are
apparently more difficult to teach has made it Often Unprepared
naturai for educators to want to improve the
preparation of students for school," says Ascher Preparing children for the American public
(1987). school system has been difficult for many at-risk
families, but particularly so for those from other
Some children entering first grade from low
cultures. Why is this so? For one thing, parents
socioeconomic homes mine from impoverished
who want their children to succeed in American
backgrounds and lack the necessary motor, cogni-
schools must do czrtain things in the preschool
tive, and social/emotional developmental experi- years to produce in their children the skills that
ences that help ensure success in school.
kindergartners are expected to have mastered.
Because of their own limited schooling, poor Yet many other cultures may not stress these
parents may not be able to provide the learning practices. "Although they teach their children es-
experiences that foster successful entry into school.
sential social skills such as cooperation," say
Says Kurtz (1988): Nicolau and Ramos (1990),
Parents of chi Wren in poverty have a low literacy
most low-income Hispanic parents arc unaware
rate, rely on electronic media rather than printed
of specific practicessuch as talking and reading
media, and find it difficult to afford educational
to children and encouraging their curiositythat
materials, toys, and books. Thus poor children
lay the academic skills foundation. These prac-
frequently enter school without readiness skills,
tices begin at home, and must be carried out by a
often with physical and mental handicaps, and child's first and most important teachersthe
are at risk for school adjustment problems. Some
parents.
kids reach kindergarten, for instance, without
having been read to or even talked to and can Low-income Hispanic parents may not real-
interact with other children only by hitting them. ize the value of out-of-school educational activi-
48
62 Part 2: Components
ties, such as trips to parks, zoos, museums, and
libraries that may provide a base for understanding
TWO SUCCESSFUL
the larger world and may reinforce what children
learn in class.
HISPANIC PROJECTS
TEXAS. One project in Texas schools
While most Hispanic parents understand that
(pre-K and kinderg uien) ran an Intensive
children should do their homework, few are aware.
Training Institute ft,. Hispanic families. Al-
say Nicolau and Ramos, that school-age children though most families had expressed a will-
should spend up to twenty hours a week engaged ingness to assist their children and prepare
in constructive learning activities outside the class- them for school, most did not feel capable
room, such as reading for fun, writing, pursuing (45 percent of the parents did not have a high
hobbies, watching educational television, talking school diploma).
with adults about the day's events, spending lei-
The project's goal was to train the
sure time with the family and going on family
parents to meet the educational and emo-
outings, and participating in sports.
tional needs of their children and to become
However, Nicolau and Ramos are optimistic: involved in their children's education year-
Knowing how ;Lo help yot..' child succeed in the round.
U.S. school system is an acquired skill and can be To do this, they held an informal week-
learned. Many low-income Hispanic parents long Intensive Training Institute for inter-
like other poor parentsare unaware of the cru- ested parents. At the institute, Hispanic par-
cial role they can play in supporting their children' s ents received information about child growth
sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. and development, motivation and self-es-
teem, and the process and techniques of
language development. Parents also learned
Schools Uninformed about Other about the school system.
Cultures The institute was followed by monthly
Many teachers are uninformed about other workshops on what children are expected to
cultures. They have values and expectations that learn in kindergarten. The program was so
stem from their own backgrounds and from teach- successful that the mothers requested an-
ing middle-class children. Frequently teachers other training session for fathers and other
don't know where to begin with a child who has relatives. By the end of the project period,
been socialized differently from middle-class chil- fifty-three parents were actively participat-
dren. ing in school activities.
BOSTON. A Boston K-I school cre-
Comments from two teachers of Hispanic ated Classroom-Based Activity Centers for
children illustrate areas of misunderstanding: Parents where parents were allowed to sit in
"Where have they been all their lives? The chil- on their children 's classes once a week. This
dren don't know anything. They come into kinder- gave them a firsthand understanding of their
garten without knowing colors or numbers. They children's day and helped them become
can't hold a pencil." And: "The children are unre- familiar with the curriculum and their
sponsive. They won'i look adults in the eye, and children's interactions. Parents were then
they refuse to participate in class unless directly able to reinforce at home what the children
called upon" (Nicolau and Ramos). were learning in school. Parents took pride
in watching their children, and the children
Hispanic parents comment in turn: "The teach-
liked having their motheN at school.
ers are professional people. They know what is
best for my child." Or: "I teach my children to Source: Adapted from N icolau and Ramos (1990)
63 49
Chapter 10: Preparation: Getting Children. Readyfor
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH EARLY CHILDHOOD PROJECT
By the end of the first project year, the 4. Learning to write their names.
creators of the Lafayette Parish Early Childhood 5. Improved ability to count and recognize num-
Project hoped that 80 percent of the parents of bers.
preschool children w . port specific knowl-
6. Improved listening skills.
edge of how childre ...am and understand the
types of experience atat foster physical growth, 7. Improved social skills (including better man-
social/emotional growth, and academic readi- ners). Every parent surveyed felt this pre-
school experience would definitely help his
ness. The project was successful in meeting
or her child do better in kindergarten next
these goals.
year.
It's interesting to note that the project was
One parent explained that the teacher helped
designed specifically for those children not ac-
her to know what kind of behavior is appropriate
cepted by Head Start, who thus had greatest need
for children at different ages, and each parent
for this kind of program. The children participat-
expressed satisfaction with his or her child's
ing were described as "high risk," and the popu-
increased social awareness and ability to get
lation was heavily weighted in terms of African-
along with family members and peers. In terms
American males.
of readiness, all parents interviewed felt they had
Project personnel say there is always a acquired valuable skills and information to help
tremendous gap between what is acceptable at their children.
home and the demands of the classroom. Given
Se il comments from parents in the
the socioeconomic background of these chil-
project show how much these kinds of rograms
dren, project teachers were not surprised that at
are needed:
the end of the academic year 39 percent of the
thirty-one children in the project still demon- "It may seem like common sense things but
strated behaviors that their teachers felt would little kids don't know them and they won't learn
interfere with learning in kindergarten. them unless we talk to them and teach them. I
Alexander and Lovelace conclude that support thought kids learned these things by themselves,
services should be provided for preschool chil- but they don't."
dren and their teachers to help the children "They showed us how to do things and I'll
acquire social skills appropriate for the class- do it with my baby because they showed us
room. how,"
Parents appeared to be well informed at the "It helped me to be a better parentlike
end of the project about how much their children teaching them and learning to do things with
had learned. Specific accomplishments parents themthings I never realized."
noticed in their children included: Source: Adapted from Shirley Alexander and Terry
I. Learning to get along with other children. Lovelace (1988)
50 64 Part 2: Components
Differences Stem from Countries of Origin Language Delay
While. most Hispanic parents want their chil- Language delay is one of the most serious
dren to succeed in school, they are simply behav- obstacles that many low-income Hispanic chil-
ing in a manner consistent with the way they were dren (and other at-risk children) must overcome
expected to in the countries in which they or their when they enter school. The typical Hispanic
parents were born. child is the good, obedient child. Yet condition-
ing them to be quiet among adults also conditions
As it's been said, the U.S. school system them to be nonverbal.
assumes that parents will take some responsibility
for their children's success in school by preparing Different cultural norms, combined with the
them for schoolteaching basic skills and later fact that these parents often do not read to their
reinforcing what goes on in the classroom. Many children, contribute to children from other cul-
white middle-class parents do this. tures having underdeveloped language skills.
"This is a challenge for any child," state Nicolau
But in the countries of origin of most low- and Ramos, "but those who simultaneously must
income Hispanic and migrant parents, the roles of learn a new language and catch up on language
parents and school are sharply divided: "Parents development in general are truly disadvantaged
have a serious duty to instill respect and proper at the starting line."
behavior in their children. That is a parent' s job.
It is the school's job to instill knowledge. Teaching
is not the parents' business"(Nicolau and Ramos).
Thus the majority of low-income Hispanic par-
Parenting Behaviors Can Change
ents simply "hand over" their childrenneat and But there is hope. Projects that the Hispanic
respectfulto be educated. Development Policy Project funded (see Nicolau
and Ramos) revealed that parent behavior and
As an example of cultural differences, con-
parenting styles are subject to change.
sider that for Hispanics "respectful" often means
not looking adults in the eye, not speaking to adults The partnerships created an awareness among
unless spoken to, and not asking questions. Casual the involved parents that they must play a greater
conversations between parents and children are part in their children's education. The projects
not the norm in most poor Hispanic homes. familiarized parents with the skills that chAdren
require to be successful in school and showed
Most Hispanic children are deeply loved, them how they could promote acquisition of
claim Nicolau and Ramos,
those skills.
but the parents' deep sense of responsibility to
instill proper behavior and respect, and to protect Schools, in turn, learned to communicate
the children from a world they themselves do not cross-culturally and to build on the many strengths
fully understand, frequently hinders their ability that Hispanic parents already have.
and willingness to build on their traditional
parenting practices to include the skills that pre-
pare children for success in the U.S. system.
14(ome learning has become very popular re- 1989) found that single parents spend more time
cently. Once considered the most difficult kind of helping their children in the home, whereas two-
family involvement, this is becoming the most parent families spend more time helping teachers
relevant type of involvement for families, schools, at school. Home learning activities seem to be a
and student learning. particularly good tool for single parents.
52 Part 2: Compownts
6' 6
gram was $4.83 per student per year. In contrast, However, says Chrispeels, most schools still
the cost for special instruction would have been want parents to come to them rather than going to
$563 per student per year. the parents. Most of the efforts, she adds, have
been directed at "fixing" patents rather than at
changing school structures and practices.
Reinforcement for the Work A 1982 study of home/school relations showed
of the School that elementary teachers do not favor parent in-
Dorothy Rich, founder and president of the volvement in teaching at home (Newman 1989).
Home and School Institute, has been working with However, those teachers in the study who did
home materials for the past twenty-five years. She encourage home activity were able to work suc-
says that parent involvement should no longer be cessfully with all socioeconomic levels. Teacher
defined as involvement only in the school setting, leadership, not the educational background or
which usually takes the form of attending meet- marital status of the parents, was the key to suc-
ings and spending time at school. Not very many cess.
parents, especially employed mothers, can partici -
Home learning activities can be extensions of
pate in this way anymore. But we need not despair.
what the child is learning in the classroom by
What we need to care about is involving families
helping the child develop specific skills in various
in children's education well beyond the school
subjects. Often these home learning activities are
setting (Rich 1987).
conducted in consultation with the classroom
Rich adds that children learn before school teacher. Or home learning activities can deal with
hours, after school, and on weekends and vaca- basic attitudes and motivation.
tions. Yet there are still parents and teachers who
The literature is full of techniques and tools
are not yet aware of what can be done to help
children at home. She stresses that parents need to
for involving parents in developing both general
and specific skills that are immediately applicable
learn how important they are and what they can do
to the classroom. However, teachers may need
to help and that teachers need to be familiar with
training to know how to work with parents in using
the research about families as educators.
these materials.
Rich advocates learning activities at home
Epstein is one of several experts nationwide
(see sidebar next page) that reinforce and support
who have developed models to help parents help
but don't duplicate the work of the school. Her
their children at home with school-related skills.
position, she says, is to mobilize the strengths that
She also trains teachers to use these activities. Her
exist in every family into effective educational
program, Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork
action, including at-risk families who simply need
(TIPS), offers training for teachers to involve
help to make the most of the time and resources
elementary and middle-school parents in their
they have (Rich 1986).
children's homework assignments. TIPS targets
mathematics and science instruction at the el-
ementary level and social studies instruction in
Teacher Attitudes middle school. The goal is to help teachers guide
"To involve parents more often and more parents through structured homework assignments
productively," argues Joyce Epstein, that must be completed by parent and child to-
gether.
requires changing the major location of parent
involvement from the school to the home, chang-
ing the emphasis from general policies to specific
skills, and changing the major target from the Parent Competence
general population of students or school staff to
the individual child at home. (Quoted in Jennings, What about at-risk families? Can home learn-
August 1, 1990) ing really work with them?
54 Part 2: Components
GS
Rich has worked with parents from all kinds "automaticity that leads to above average perfor-
of backgrounds, including bilingual parents, par- mance of high achievers and effective learners."
ents of severely handicapped children, divorced Clark supports this claim by contrasting the
parents, and parents in Chapter 1 programs. "Across number of hours that successful students spend in
the states," she says, desirable literacy experiences with the number of
hours spent by nonsuccessful students. He also
we have successfully reached thousands of what
have been called "hard to reach" families. These
lists a number of parent-child interactions that
families, who may not go to meetings in schools enhance children's literacy skills. His work en-
because they are employed or otherwise school- courages schools to develop home learning mod-
avoidant, given encouragement and ideas on how els and work with families to implement an infor-
to get involved directly with their child at home, mal curriculum of the home that reinforces the
prove to be dedicated and remarkably able home- literacy skills necessary for school achievement.
style teachers for their children (Rich 1986).
Ziegler (1987) says that considerable research
supports the effectiveness of parent involvement
The Importance of Literacy at home. She describes home reading programs
(see sidebar next page), in which parents and
However, the CCSSO has something slightly
children read together on a regular basis with
different to say about certain at-risk families and
teacher support.
home learning:
Despite organized efforts on the part of school Disagreeing with those who say that parental
staff, family involvement in learning activities is literacy is a prerequisite for home learning, she
often circumscribed by the level of literacy in the states that "such programs are shown to be effec-
home. If the level of literacy is low, families are tive with parents of varied language backgrounds
unlikely to motivate their children to place high and with no or low as well as higher literacy
priority on reading and other literacy skills, and skills." However, she adds that recent research
they will not be able to assist their children with suggests that such programs may be of limited
the most basic tasks. effectiveness if they don't include active and re-
What's the answer then? "Improving the home curring communication between home and school.
learning environment through family education,"
the CCSSO goes on to say, "is one way to enhance
family esteem as well as child achievement. Fam- Activities for Parents with Low Literacy
ily literacy programspre designed to break the Epstein (cited in Ziegler 1987) has other
intergenerational cycle of illiteracy by simulta- suggestions for parents with low or no literacy,
neously addressing the basic skills deficits of both such as watching a specific television program and
parent and child." discussing it afterwards or asking teachers to give
Reginald Clark (1983) describes how home an assignment where the children have to ask their
curriculum "stimulates and reinforces children's parents ,Jestions. In addition, she suggests games
literacy skills development by increasing their and group activities related to the children's school-
access to experiences that encourage them to uti- work and also certain techniques for using learn-
lize school-related tev ts, words, ideas, and strate- ing materials that can be explained to parents.
gies." Besides home study programs, other ex- For example, in a California elementary
amples of "home curriculum" are leisure reading, school, where about half of the students are His-
enrichment programs, hobbies requiring special panic, many parents questioned their ability to
knowledge, and games. help students in academic matters (many of them
Research shows, Clark says, that students had little or no formal education). Thus a variety of
must have active lifestyles and practice literacy workshops are planned to train parents to use and
skills beyond the school day in order to become develop insiluctional materials for school and
firm and automatic with their literacy. Classroom home use. The first workshops were attended by
instruction by itself is not enough to produce this fifty-two parents (only half that number was ex-
56
70 Part 2: Cot-voile& s
pected) and the other one was equally successful We've learned that we can greatly increase thk
(Nicolau and Ramos 1990). type of involvement when teachers design home-
work to include parents on purpose.... Some home-
work once a week in some subjects or twice a
week in other subjects should be designed to
Other Examples of Home Learning require students to talk with someone at home
At Project Ahead in Los Angeles, family about an interesting, important, exciting part of
educators go into disadvantaged homes and recruit schoolwork. (Interviewed by Brandt 1989)
parents to participate in their kids' home learning. Home learning is definitely an area that has
The family educators establish rapport with the great potential for at-risk families.
parents, assess the family circumstances and
lifestyle, then develop a written plan of action for
the family. This plan is discussed with the parents
and modified if necessary. The family educators HIGH SCHOOL HOME
also obtain "partner, hip agreements" from the LEARNING
parents, visit with the child's teacher to discuss There are very few examples of home
how the family is supporting the teacher's objec- learning or parent-as-tutor programs at the
tives, and conduct bimonthly visits to the home to high school level. Ziegler (1987), however,
carry out the activities listed in their plan of action cites a program aimed at involving parents
(CCSSO). of grad,.. 11 students in their children's
writing assignments. This program took
The Schools Reaching Out (SRO) program in
place at an urban school where 90 percent
Boston and New York decided to focus on devel-
of the students are nonwhite.
oping materials for parents to use at home with
their children. These materials are brief, easy-to- The teacher developed a set of
do activities that enhance reading and math devel- worksheets for students on elements of style,
opment. Teachers and project personnel work to- developing paragraphs, and other elements
of composition. Worksheets were also de-
gether to develop their own parent materials that
veloped for parents, advising them both on
will coincide with instructional goals. Home visi-
how to help with writing in general (dis-
tors, who are parents of children at the schools, are
cussing ideas, encouraging dictionary use,
hired to meet with the parents at home, discuss
and proofreading) and with specific assign-
school and family issues, and provide the at-home
ments.
materials (Krasnow).
After fifteen weeks, students in the
Some programs are sending teachers directly experimental group improved significantly
into students' homes to work with the families on more than the control group. "This im-
home learning. Project Care in El Paso, Texas, for provement," says Ziegler, "was consider-
instance, provides substitutes for teachers who ably larger for the students with lower
would like to visit parents at home during the achievement records, suggesting that high
school day. Gloria Barragan, project director, says school students most at-risk for poor per-
teachers have been impressed by how eager even formance may stand to benefit very signifi-
the most hard-to-reach parents were to work with cantly from planned parental involvement
their children, once they were shown how they in their work." The experiment also indi-
could provide educational activities at home cates the willingness of parents to involve
(Jennings, August 1, 1990). themselves with their teenagers' education.
58 Part 2: Components
72
experts as one of the finest examples of early Although residents of the community were
childhood care and education. But it would not be aware of their problems, they seldom realized their
as successful without the parental component. strengths. As Maria Chavez, project director, says,
parents "do not know they are the experts on their
Along with other vograms during the "War needs and those of their families and children. Nor
on Poverty," Head Start was initiated as a response are they aware of the importance of their role as
to the influx of African-Americans and Hispanics theirchildren's prime educators, and of their unique
into urban areas. The idea, according to Slaughter ability to perform this crucial responsibility"
and Kuehne (1987-88), was to push children be- (CCSSO).
yond the limitations of their families so that they
would become more "middle-class." Early Head By allowing parents to participate in the deci-
Start programs, say Slaughter and Kuehne, stressed sion-making process and also to serve as teachers
parent involvement and participation in order to in the preschools, ECFEP soon found that parents
radically improve the child's home environment. were designing curriculum and setting policies as
well. And they were realizing their ability to ac-
Eventually, for many low-income parents, complish these tasks.
Head Start became the basis for grassroots training
in political participation and decision-making, Parents enrolled in the program also began to
something that in itself was very important to these see new opportunities for themselves in other
parents and central to the success of the children. areas. For instance, many returned to school to
Ultimately, Head Start empowered the parents, obtain GED certificates or specialized job train-
which, in turn, positively affected their children. ing, or they enrolled in the local university. Pro-
gram parents also initiated community action by
In the beginning, the program encompassed petitioning for better school transportation, effec-
the social and political empowerment of parents tive police patrols, and better cleanup services.
and parent education. Over time, the latter focus
has prevailed. Several experts would argue, how-
ever, that empowerment is equally important for Other Programs
parents helping their at-risk children.
Family Matters at Cornell University stresses
"Parents are eager to learn how to help their empowerment as one of the keys to overcoming
children and improve their parenting skills if their social class and cultural barriers to parent involve-
self-esteem and cultural heritage are respected, ment in the schools. Empowerment has been de-
and if they are permitted to make decisions for the fined as a process through which people become
program," says Avern Moore, executive director more able to influence those individuals and orga-
of the Institute of Community Services, a Head nizations that affect their lives; it also helps in
Start grant recipient in Holly Springs, Mississippi removing obstacles that get in the way of achiev-
(Cohen 1990). ing equal status in our society (Davies 1988).
Davies' Schools Reaching Out program aims
The Early Childhood and Family at increasing family empowerment through a home-
based support program (involving home visits),
Education Program support-network development, and use of com-
A good example of the ripple effect of em- munity resources. One of the reasons empower-
powertnent is the Early Childhood and Family ment is needed, says Davies, is that Americans
Education Program (ECFEP), established in an need to rebuild a sense of competence and confi-
economically depressed neighborhood in Albu- dence in dealing with institutions in the face of
querque, New Mexico, through a process termed ncreasing powerlessness and manipulation caused
"respectful intervention" (Council of Chief State by our postindustrial society (I lamilton-Lee 1988).
School Officers 1989). The staff looked for
strengths in the community and wanted to learn Henry Levin's Accelerated Schools model
from participating families how best to structure a sets specific achievement goals for all children to
program that would reflect the community's needs. meet by the end of their elementary years. In
59
Chapter 12: Decision-Making and Advocacy: The Importance of EmpowZ3nt
addition, the program stresses changes in school gram became involved as classroom assistants and
management. Parents play central resource roles volunteers. They were also encouraged to partici-
in Levin's schools and collaborate with teac ,ers in pate as members of a school governance commit-
making important school decisions. tee"a collaboration that energized the entire
"Unless we can create schools in which...there school" (Jones).
are decisions that parents can make that have This process didn't happen overnight. It took
meaning for their children," says Levin, "parental time to build trust, The program began in a "no-
involvement must necessarily be limited" fault" atmosphere, in which all concerned agreed
(Jennings, August 1, 1990). Jennings adds that that no single group was at fault and that no single
involving parents in decision-making at the Accel- initiative by itself would make a difference.
erated Schools has often proven problematic be-
cause of the turf conflicts between educators and The outcome? The academic performance in
parents. the schools exceeds the national average, and
truancy and delinquency problems declined dras-
tically (Jones).
The School Development Program In fact, in 1969, the schools' first year, the two
James Comer, a Yale University psychiatrist, SDP schools in New Haven ranked thirty-second
and his colleagues in several states have been and thirty-third in the city academically, and atten-
working to reform schools that serve poor and dance was among the lo west in New Haven. By
minority children. Corner believes that parents 1986 the original project school, with no change in
must play a major role in all aspects of school life, its socioeconomic makeup, tied for th ird in achieve-
particularly school governance and management. ment out of twenty-six elementary schools, and its
He contends that involving parents directly in students ranked a year above grade level. This
school operations can lessen parents' distrust of school has ranked among the top five schools in
educators. He also stresses the importance of fos- attendance in the last seven years, and there have
tering a democratic setting, where teachers, fami- been no serious behavior problems in the school
lies, and specialists work together to promote the for well over a decade (Ziegler).
social and emotional as well as the academic The model is now being used in all low-
growth of children.
income elementary schools in New Haven and has
been replicated in over 100 schools throughout the
country.
History of the SDP Schools
Begun over fifteen years ago to combat school "An essential characteristic of the model is to
failure and severe disciplinary problems, the School move the school from a bureaucratic model of
Development Project (SDP) provides insights into management," says Comer (1987-88), "to a sys-
how we might approach reform for at-risk chil- tem of democratic participation in which parents
dren. Rather than define reform in terms of teacher play a key role. The purpose of this team is to
credentials, didactic instruction, and curriculum, establish a representative body within each school
the two project schools in New Haven decided to to address the governance and management issues
focus on developing supportive bonds that em- of the school."
power children, parents, and the school (Jones
1989).
A Three-Level Approach
It had become obvious that the differences
between home and school environments were af- The schools are based on a three-level ap-
fecting the psychosocial differences of at-risk chil- proach that gradually moves parents from social
dren, which in turn s:taped their behavior and events to volunteering and, finally, into policy
making.
academic achievement. Thus to bridge the gap in
a way that respected the diversity of cultures, Level I. Broad-Based Participation. This level
languages, and learning styles, parents in the pro- is designed to include most parents. Activities are
60 Part 2: Components
7
culturally compatible with the community, such as involved in the school, including three or four
gospel music nights, children's pageants, and pot- parents selected by the parents' organization. The
luck suppers. group meets on a weekly basis to review and
coordinate all aspects of the school, both academic
Level II: Parent Parth ',union in Day-to-Day and social (Comer).
School Affairs. At this level, parents become more
active in the ongoing life of the classroom and Parent-staff collaboration is stressed and there-
school. A range of parent education activities is fore parents tend to participate in the school's
offered. The key component is the parent stipend regclar governing body rather than in a separate
program: about fifteen parents are employed as parent advisory group. Training in participatory
classroom assistants, tutors, and clerical and caf- skills is provided on an issue-by-issue basis and
eteria aides. Parents are paid a minimum wage for touches upon such topics as techniques of letter
fifteen hours a week. In addition, parents function writing, telephoning, and mobilizing the larger
as unpaid volunteers for an average of five hours parent-staff community.
per parent per month (Comer). Like level II, level III has both real and
symbolic value for improving home-school part-
SDP schools claim that the importance of
nerships. For one thing, parents are seen as equal
level II is often overlooked:
partners with teachers and administrators. Also,
We believe that the basic climate and tone of by sharing in the "owrership" of the school, par-
interactior of a school are greatly influenced by ents have more of a vestt interest in the outcomes
the presence or absence of parents within the
of all students and are thus more willing to invest
school building on a regular and observable basis.
increased time and energy in maintaining trust and
Besides being visible to the children, it reduces
barriers between staff and parents, both in the eyes collaboration, Symbolically, parents, students, and
of adults and students. Although thk level of staff recognize that all are working together for
involvement will probably include only 10 to 20 common goals: there's a new climate of shared
percent of the parent population, its impact is responsibility and power at SDP schools, accord-
considerable. (Hamilton-Lee) ing to Hamilton-Lee.
Because of its importance, SDP schools don't
leave this type of involvement to chance or self- The Effects of SDP Schools
selection. If they find only a handful of parents are
volunteering, a recruitment program is conducted. Research on SDP schools indicates that the
If parenN seem reluctant to volunteer because they overall model has produced ignificant improve-
feel inadequate or inexrerienced, then informal ment in both social and academic areas among
training workshops are provided to di.icuss the student populations (Hamilton-Lee). An evalua-
skills needed and to reassure parents that profes- tion of the program conducted in schools in low
sional training isn't usually necessary for most socioeconomic areas showed significant improve-
school assistance ',asks. In many instances the ment in attendance and achievement in classroom
principal or a teacher must offer personal encour- reading grades (Comer). However, "the most pro-
agement to overcome a parent's shyness or anger, nounced student improvements have occurred in
or the disbelief that their presence is actually those schools in which the parents' program is an
welcome in school. active and integral part" (Hamilton-Lee).
The results indicate that the SDP program has
To accomplish both levels II and III, the
school's teachers and administrators must have a a positive effect on school climate as well. Re-
search has shown that, for African-American chil-
genuine desire to include parents. Thus staff de-
dren in particular, school climate plays an impor-
velopment workshops are often necessary.
tant role in adjustment to school and ability to
Level III: Parents in School Governance. perform well. Thus the SDP schools, with their
This level is the most sophisticated and innovative strong emphasis on changing attitudes, values, and
concept of the SDP schools. The Governance and ways of interacting among adults and children,
Management Team is composed of twelve to fif- have sought to create a climate that is sensitive to
teen individuals and is representative of all adults the needs of African-American children (Comer).
62 76 Part 2: Components
a
t_JiznEbirciorz.4-r
,
Pz.miew of Chapters in
Part 3: Sum.. t
76
64 Part 3: Support
PP
,P
Chapter 13
FAMILIES NEED SUPPORT
66
s Part 3: Support
"that parenting education alone does not provide However, Chicago's Beethoven Project has
the changes in behavior that are necessary, par- noted the dangers in setting unrealistic timetables
ticularly in communities where there are other for success in communities of severe distress. "At
stresses. Information on the child is not enough to some point," B lumenthal notes, "we have to grapple
motivate changes in childrearing patterns." with the fact that a child's experience has to be a
good experience every year." Parenting programs,
"The more things you attack in one program, she adds, "present the hope of kids arriving at
the better your success rate is going to be," says school where they need to be. I don't think we can
Janet Blumenthal, director of a followup study on ask for anything more" (Cohen).
the federal Parent Child Development Centers.
"To the extent that these programs don't do just
parent education, but many help parents get some
training or better job situations, it might help
Parent Education versus Parent
Involvement
change the whole family's living
circumstances....Then you're really going to see Epstein argues, though, that many people
some substantial changes for kids" (Cohen). don't understand the difference between parent
education and parent involvement. Parent educa-
tion advocates are pushing for people to see these
programs not just as add-ons but as an integral part
How Effective Arc Parent Education of the larger educational system (Cohen).
Programs?
Epstein says that research documenting the However, Cohen notes that Epstein worries
effectiveness of these programs is inconclusive, that many parenting programs focus on the "dy-
that there are few hard data on the impact of these namics of family life" without exploring how it
programs on parent behavior and even less on relates to schooling. It's the rare program, she
children's outcomes (Cohen). says, that tries to be cumulative, to help parents be
responsive to their children through all the grades
However, one of the best arguments for par- and to help them grow with their children. To have
ent education may be studies showing that the an impact beyond the preschool years, she adds,
initial gains in early education programs are less parenting programs "would have to make stronger
likely to be sustained without parent involvement. connections with schooling and with the child as a
To have long-term effectiveness, parent education student. That's the kind of continuing education
programs should include some kind of cInsroom parents want and need and often do not have access
component and regular home contact. to."
68 82 Part 3: Support
family is critical in human development and that should not intrude on the right and ability of
we need to strengthen and reinforce the role that parents to rear their children. But he argues
families play in children's lives. that "without training on how to support their
children's learning, parents will never become the
David L. Williams of the Southwest Educa- resources that schools so desperately need
tional Development Laboratory warns that schools (Jennings).
Parent Centers
The Institute forResponsive Education (IRE)
9. While the idea is catching on nationwide, in Boston suggests that if schools really want to
Missouri is the only state that requires each make parents feel welcome, they should set up a
of its school districts to offer a parent educa- room or place in the school that parents can call
tion program. Parents as Teachers, launched their own.
in 1981, is based on the premise that parents
are best suited to be their children's primary Vivian Johnson, IRE's project coordinator,
teachers, but recognizes that parents some- estimates that about 30 percent of the parents use
times need help. the parent center in the David Ellis School in
The program makes a special effort to reach Boston Before the project started at the school,
disadvantaged families but is designed to there was a sign on the outside of the school
serve all parents. That way there is no stigma saying, "Parents: Wait outside for your children."
attached to participating in the program. Par- "The fact that this center exists really sends a
ent participation is voluntary. message to parents," says Johnson (Jennings).
Districts are expected to offer (I) information
and guidance for expectant parents; (2) parent Reasons for Parent Centers
education services, including four home vis-
its and four group meetings over an eight- An increasing number of communities and
month period for families with children from schools are creating parent centers in schools or at
birth to age three; and (3) annual screening for other locations in low-income neighborhoods for
children from ages one to four to monitor a variety of purposes. Besides letting parents know
language and motor development, hearing, they are welcome in the school and giving them a
vision, health, and physical development. sense of ownership, parent centers can also:
The chief goal of parent educators in the Allow informal person-to-person contact
program is to coach parents on how children between parents and teachers.
are developing and specific ways they can
encourage their child. Language development Give parents written material and information
is emphasized, and parent educators serve as on how to help their children in schoo,
role models. Instead of focusing on weak-
Serve as places for parents to practice new
nesses, the program helps parents build on
skills.
family strengths.
According to the national center, twenty- Give parents the opportunity to meet other
eight states have started seventy-five smaller- parents.
scale programs based on Missouri's program Provide a pooling of resources between
(Cohen). schools and communities to help families.
Offer parent education workshops and other
seminars on child development or topics of
intelest to parents.
Act as an information clearinghouse for
materials that parents can pick up or check out;
even computers are borrowed by parents at
some parent centers.
70
84 Part 3: Support
EXAMPLES OF COLLABORATIVE SUPPORT
Examples of collaborative support pro- 4. New York's Community School Program at
grams for at-risk families include: fourteen sites statewide provides human and
educational services to hard-to-reach or spe-
1. Minnesota's Early Childhood Family Edu- cial populations. School facilities are made
cation program (ECFE) has made efforts to
available on an extended school day and year
provide specific services for at-risk families
basis. Instructional services include tutoring,
in urban districts with large budgets and high
mentoring, and enrichment activities. Sup-
concentrations of special populations. Link- port services include day care and social and
ages with community resources include co- health services. Each school has a manage-
operation in sharing facilities, equipment, ment team composed of school administra-
and staff; outreach for recruitment and refer- tors, teachers, parents, community service
ral purposes; and collaboration in which providers, and other professionals involved
ECFE resources contributed to a jointly
in serving students (CCSSO).
funded activity (CCSSO 1989).
2. The Citizen Education Center and the Wash- 5. Edward Zigler's school-based child care
ington State Migrant Council have launched model provides onsite child care for threc-
a family literacy program for Mexican mi-
and four-year-olds and early morning and
grant farm workers in the Yakima valley. afterschool care for six- to twelve-year-olds.
The program includes instruction in English The model has already been replicated in two
as a Second Language, early childhood edu-
Missouri school districts. Funding comes
cation, and a parent education component from the Missouri Department of Education
that helps parents understand the school and and three local community organizations
the need to reinforce learning in the home (Jones 1989).
(CCSSO).
6. In McAllen, Texas, Superintendent Pablo
3. The Washington Department of Social and Perez has encouraged the formation of school/
Health Services and the Olympia School community partnerships as a way to expand
District have collaborated on a demonstra- the base of support for parent involvement.
tion project for high-risk children and their Today each school has at least one commu-
families. The purpose of the project is to nity partner that provides resources (dona-
promote early intervention in families whose tions, volunteers, in-kind services) to sup-
children are at high risk of school failure. port school programs and children's learn-
Family support serviceF are mobilized ing. Not long ago two bond issues for new
through development of a school-based schools passed easily, and passage was at-
Family Help Center, early detection and re- tributed in part to greater community aware-
ferral services, and case management for ness of school needs (D'Angelo and Adler
children and their families (CCSSO, 1991).
6. A wide range of formal and informal courses The center houses a successful parent volun-
and workshops (Davies 1988) teer program and well-attended adult edu( _non
Suzanne Ziegler (1987) reports that many classes in English, computer studies, and parenting
primary schools in England have seen an increase
education (including helping children learn to
read). Involvement remains high, and children's
in parent involvement by converting a spare class-
room into a parents' room. She cites one innercity reading scores have improved. Teachers, Ziegler
school, also in Liverpool, where many parents are adds, have come to value parental help in the
undereducated and unemployed, that has turned a classroom, and parents have come to appreciate
parents' room into a parent center. teachers' skills.
71
Chapter 13: Families Need Support 85
The David Ellis Sehoctl
Davies (1991) found that several ideas that TWO CHAPTER 1 PARENT
worked in the demonstration elementary schools
CENTERS
in his SRO project can be adapted to almost any
school without waiting for the central office to 1. BUFFALO, NEW YORK. Buffalo's
invest heavily in parent involvement. One of these Chapter 1 Parent Resource Center is lo-
ideas is the parent center. cated in a convenient downtown area.
Although not located in a school, the
The David Ellis School, one of the demon- center has the support of the local schools,
stration sites, is a good example of a successful, and the assistant superintendent fre-
quently participates in center activities.
low-cost parent center. Two paid coordinators
(both of them parents of children in the school) Parents are invited to drop in to review
staff the center and serve to bridge the gap between resource material s or to take part in work-
families and the school. The center itself is a shops. One of the ongoing activities is
comfortable room with places for parents to sit and Reading with the Stars, a program in
a play area for preschool children who accompany which local celebrities read stories to
children while parents meet separately
them. Parents drop in for coffee, a chat, and infor-
with staff members to discuss effective
mation.
strategies for reading to and with their
children. Then each parent selects a book
The Ellis School provides good examples of
to give to his or her child as a git't
the kinds of specific activities a parent center
might be involved in. For instance, the Ellis parent The center also has a computer lending
center: program that trains parents in computer
use as a prelude to borrowing a computer
Offered ESL and GED classesboth requested to use at home for up to eight weeks.
by parents and well-attended Parents learn how to select and use soft-
ware to meet individual student needs.
Organized grade-level breakfasts that brought
Adult education programs are also con-
together teachers, administrators, and families
ducted in the computer lab.
to talk informally in a nonthreatening atmo-
sphere about curriculum and classroom con- 2. NATCHEZ/ADAM, MISSISSIPPI. This
cerns parent center serves two primary, two
elementary, one middle, and two
Sponsored breakfasts for fathers, designed to nonpublic schools. The center's goal is to
bring male family members into the school to make education a pan of parents' lives
discuss the contributions they can make to their and to help parents work more effec-
children's education tively with their children.
Served as a referral service for parents who Parents receive forms from their
need help in dealing with social service, hous- children's teachers that outline the skills
ing, and health agencies their children need to practice. Parents
then bring these forms to the center and
Organized a clothing exchange and a small are trained in the use of instructional
library of books and toys for children materials to help their children. Once the
initial materials have been used, parents
Offered various social events, such as a
can return and check out other materials
multicultural potluck
on their own.
Recruited parent volunteers requested by the Source: Adapted from D'Angelo
teachers and Adler (199!)
72 Part 3: Support
66
a catalyst fordeveloping adult education programs
offered onsite to parents.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
ADULT EDUCATION For instance, parent cente-s could be the
central location for parent education and/or adult
Adult education for at-risk parents is education. Centers can be bilingual, recognize the
particularly important, because studies have cultural backgrounds of parents, and provide child
shown a relationship between the academic care, car fare, and refreshments.
attainment of the mother and the school
progress of the children (although Ziegler Michelle Sarkees (1989) adds that parent
[1987] has found that this relationship holds centers might also offer pamphlets, books, and
only when parental involvement actually other literature on recent legislation, effective
occurs). parenting techniques, drug and alcohol abuse, and
Researcher Andrew Sum was able to community resourcesin other words, act as an
use family data to predict test scores based information clearinghouse as well as a community
on parental education. When other vari- resource center where parents can seek counseling
ables were constant, he found an "extra and other assistance.
grade of attainment for the mother was
associated with an extra half-grade equiva-
lent of achievement for her chi ldren" Requirements for a Workable Parent
(Reeves 1988). CrAter
"Because of this intergeneration4I ef- Based on the experience of SRO at the Ellis
fect of the parents' education on the School, Davies (1991) lists the following basic
child's," Sum says, "it is unlikely that we requirements for establishing a parent center in
will be able to make a major difference for your school:
the child unless we place equal priority on
1. A physical space. At Ellis, the center was lo-
education and academic remediation for
cated in a small classroom.
the parent" (Berlin and Sum 1988).
Some schools are trying to facilitate 2. Adult-sized tables am: chairs. Ellis also had
thi either by having regular"drop in" days a comfortable sofa that someone had donated.
It school or by introducing or supporting 3. A paid staff of parents. At Ellis there were two
adt!It education classes. part-time coordinators; at least one of them
was present just before school started until the
building closed at 4 p.m. Project funds paid for
Parents reported feeling more positive about their salaries, but Chapter 1 funds or other
the school and being involved in their children's state and federal funds can also be used for
education as a result of the parent center (Davies parent workers.
1991). 4. A telephone. Davies considers a phone a low-
cost but crucial piece of equipment to encour-
age school/family/community connections.
Other Ideas for Parent Centers 5. A coffee pot, hot plate, and occasional snacks.
Parent centers. it should be added, do not It's generally agreed that food aids conversa-
have to be located in schools. Sometimes schools tion, sharing, and conviviality.
or parent involvement personnel find it more c:m-
venient or less threatening to locate centers in
downtown areas or neighborhood settings. Parent Support Groups
Parent centers might also consider offering Parent support groups are another approach
flexible hours, thus allowing parents to participate that can be helpful for at-risk families. They can
at their own convenience; providing help for par- focus on dropout prevention, dealing with a dis-
ents in negotiating the schc 1 system; and acting as abled child, or the like. In rural areas, parents can
74 Part 3: Support
88
statements from the Council of Great City Schools, cation agencies must become the "prime movers
the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the in connecting schools with health and social
Education Commission of the States have called services"' to meet a variety of family needs.
the coordination of children's services, especially "A key to this idea," says Gordon Ambach,
in urban areas, a top national priority. These groups executive director of the CCSSO, "is for schools
are encouraging schools to forge more effective to become genuine community centers, offering
alliances with social service agencies, commu- set v ices on site, or nearby, to make sure all needs
nity-based organizations, and businesses. are met" (Jennings, February 14, 1990).
As Davies (1989) sums up, "The schools The report also recommends that:
can't solve these problems alone; neither can low-
income families. Schools and families both need I. Schools collaborate with local governments,
each other and they need other community re- agencies, community id social organizations,
and businesses
sources and support."
2. Community involvement in schools bc in-
creased through greater recruitment of volun-
The School as a Starting Point teers, the extended use of school facilities, and
the provision of social, economic, and recre-
In spite of the need for wider community ational services
support, schools may be the place that at-risk
3. Resources be made available for hiring whoa/-
parents start. Siobhan Nicolau and Carmen Lydia
family liaisons, establishing state ar,d local
Ramos (1990), in their report on Hispanic parents,
family centers, and providing the services of
point out:
such professionals as psychologists and social
The school that is serving large numbers of at-risk workers in schools
families has to function in place of the parents
while it goes about the task of seeing to it that the Ziegler (1987) says that widespread support
troubled families get the help they require to among parents, teachers, businesses, and other
stabilize their lives and home environments. This segments of the community is an element found
has not traditionally been the schools' role.... But in a number of successful parent involvement
school may well be the only connection an alien- programs. "The utilization of a wide variety of
ated and isolated Hispanic family has with any resources among business people, parents social
source of help. The schools may have to till the agencies and other community sources," she
oufieach referral role by default, and !he govern- concludes, "seems to have contributed to the
ment and private sectors may have to give them
development of a positive climate by expanding
the resources to do so.
the number of individuals and organizations that
A major study by the Institute for Edlicational become stakeholders in the program."
Leadership concurs: "While schools do not have
the resources to meet all the needs of 'at-risk'
students, schools can provide referrals to a variety
of community agencies that serve 'at-risk' stu-
dents" (Amundson 1988).
"The time is ripe for refein in how our school
systems imeract with f .lies and other agen-
cies," says the CCSSO. l'o be successful, policies
and programs cannot concentrate solely on the
child but must simultaneously address the needs of
two generationsthe parent and the childfor
they are interdependent."
The CCSSO report proposes that state educa-
tion agencies require all scheols to develop family
support initiatives and emphasizes that state edu-
75
Chapter 13: Families Need Support
PP
Chapter 14
TEACHERS NEED SUPPORT
76
90 Part 3: Support
4 percent of teacher training institutions in the The University of Houston-Clear Lake in
Southwest, he adds, offer a course on parent- Texas has developed a parent education model for
teacher relations. preservice teacher training. Students have the op-
portunity in this program to learn about potential
barriers to parent involvement and also gain prac-
Preservice Education tice in minimizing those barriers. Eight out of
every ten program participants reported a positive
Data collected in a five-year study showed attitude change toward ethnic and racial minority
that although parent involvement was strongly parents after participation (Texas Education
supported by teachers and principals, school per- Agency 1989).
sonnel needed additional training. Very little has
been written about effective ways to train teachers
to involve parents in the education process (Chavkin Inservice Training
and Williams 1988).
Many teachers of at-risk students may need
Chavkin and Williams suggest thiee essen- help initiating home-school programs. First, they
tial components for an ideal teacher training pro- are seldom trained to undertake such a task. Sec-
gram: ond, many have little understanding of the charac-
teristics, needs, and strengths of at-risk children's
An understanding of the framework of a teacher families.
78 ;) Part 3: Support
relating, individualizing, personalizing, selecting
appropriate activities reinforcing, teaching, ex-
plaining, reteaching, and evaluating.
SAN DIEGO DISTRICT
STAFF SUPPORT AND
"For the majority of teachers," Rhoda Becher DEVELOPMENT
says,
District policy in San Diego recognizes
it is a lack of awareness, priorities, and attention that building the capacities of teachers, ad-
that hinders the development of successful in- ministrators, and other staff members to
volvement programs. Once teachers develop com- work effectively with families is a prerequi-
mitment to parent involvement, they can begin to site for family-school partnerships. To ac-
more systematically use the skills they already complish this goal, the district established a
possess in achieving optimum and successful department to oversee policy implementa-
involvement. (Cited in Ziegler) tion and to assist schools. Some of the
department's actions include:
1. Staff Newsletter. A quarterly staff news-
Parent Coordinators and letter contains articles on parent involve-
Teacher Specialists ment research, suggestions for school-
based activities, and information on up-
Coordinators for parent involvement are of- coming workshops.
ten a necessity.
2. Parent Involvement Handbook. The de-
"We've learned," states Epstein, partment compiled its own parent in-
volvement handbook for principals. The
that the strongest programs are usually developed
manual discusses the district's parent in-
in schools where there's a part-time coordinator to volvement policy and describes steps for
work with teachers and develop materials. The schools to take in developing family out-
position of coordinator or lead teacher for school reach programs. It also emphasizes that
and family connections is just as necessary as a staff members' attitudes and behaviors
guidance counselor, an assistant principal, a school toward parents are keys to the level of
psychologist, or a social worker. (Interviewed by parent involvement the school will be
Brandt 1989) able to achieve.
Parent coordinators can guide staff, provide 3. Workshops. Workshops are an essential
inservice training, offer services to parebts, and component of staff development. Those
perform other tasks that promote partnerships. for principals introduce them to the hand-
book and other district resource materi-
Schools Reaching Out (SRO) emphasizes the als. Other workshops focus on the areas
key role of the classroom teacher in developing of parent-teacher conferences, family-
school-family relations. In each SRO school there friendly homework and study skills, and
developing parent involvement plans.
is a key teacher who has been freed from teaching
for two years and is paid by the district to be a Source: Adapted from Janet H. Chrispeels (1991)
specialist in school-family relations. The key
teacher works full-time making connections with
families and community agencies. responded to attempts to contact them. The parent
1n SRO, the key teachers play a central role in liaisons take information directly to these parents
forming new partnerships with parents and the and introduce them to the local parent center and
community. Key teachers also serve as coaches the variety of other services and activities avail-
and troubleshooters for other teachers and foster able to them.
use of community resources.
In McAllen, Texas, Chapter 1 funds are used School Environment and
to hire parent liaisons. While district staff mem-
bers and teachers make some home visits, parent
Organization
liaisons visit families new to the district as well as The SRO project recognizes that the envi-
those who have not come to school or have not ronment of some schools inhibits both learning
79
Chaptel 14: Teachers Need Support 3
and teaching. "The ecology of the school has a suggests for administrators includes topics such
profound effect on the sense of control, empower- as:
ment, and motivation of teachers," says Krasnow.
Why parent involvement is worth it
"Creating schools that are positive learning envi-
ronments for children may have to start with the How to integrate effective homework proce-
creation of positive work environments for teach- dures into the instructional program
ers. 11
How to encourage, support, and reward teach-
Several studies have examined the effects of ers for partnership activities
the school's organizational climate on teachers. Basic strategies for mobilizing "out of school"
One of the mmt striking findings is the sense of opportunities for learning
isolation teachers feelthey do their work alone,
interact with students but not peers, and yet they Facts about families' diversities and strengths
are all part of a common mission (Krasnow). that affect student achievement
Thus SRO schools include teachers in plan- Ways to help parents support, learn, and moti-
ning and decision-making. Faculty collaborate in vate one another (Solomon 1991)
setting meeting agendas. Problem-solving teams
study problems and issue reports on the faculty's
perspective. Ziegler claims that the organizational Board and Administrators Must
climate is greatly enhanced when teachers are
Demonstrate Support
included in the planning ;%qd decision-making The school board's commitment to the imple-
aspects of the program. mentation of parent involvement programs has
been identified as crucial by a recent review of
Modifying school structure for genuine par-
parent partnership programs. Ziegler says that
ticipation and staff empowerment is seen as criti-
board policies significantly influence parent com-
cal at SRO schools and linked to the success of
munication and involvement practices and that
their parent involvement programs. "Isolation con-
board-level influence can be achieved through
tributes to resistance to change," says Krasnow.
recruitment practices, inservice training, orclearly
"Apprehension is reasonable when a teacher faces
expressed directives and expectations.
the prospect of implementing changes alone.
A junior high school principal in McAllen,
Therefore, SRO schools strive to develop a
Texas, illustrates the concept of commitment from
nonthreatening, collegial environment where ex-
the top. This principal, who believes that the best
amination, reflection, and change can take place
strategy involves face-to-face meetings with par-
so that work with at-risk families can proceed
productively.
ents, gives teachers two planning periods a day
during which thoy may confer with parents or set
up appointments for meetings at other times. In
other schools in the district, administrators teach
Commitment from the Top classes while teadiers conduct home visits; the
It goes without saying that fJr home-school principal of one school conducts the home visits
relations to really make a difference, principals, himself (D'Angelo and Adler 1991),
other administrators, and school boards must be-
lieve in the power of parent involvement. Wil-
liams and Chavkin recommend including princi- The Importance of Formal Policy
pals and other administrators in staff training since
Davies notes that authoritative policies are
they often set the rules and policies in schools.
needed whenever a proposed change represents a
Solomon suggests that states might offer significant departure from existing norms or when-
inservice training to district and school adminis- ever the new activity requires individual or orga-
trators and policy leaders to enable them to guide nizational risks. The wording of the policy, he
teachers in parent involvement. The training she adds, is crucial since the minimum requirements
80 Part 3: Support
9,1
ACTION RESEARCH TEAMS
One of the innovations in the Schools Each teacher on the team received a sti-
Reaching Out project (SRO) was the establish- pend of between $400 and $600modest, but
ment of action research teams to involve teach- an acknowledgment of professional eii'ort.
ers directly in home-school-community rela- To incorporate a school-based action re-
tions and in devising actions to improve their search team, Davies suggests that only a few
own practices. "School/fam ily/community part- changes are needed:
nerships will amount to little more than empty
I . At least a smaH number of teachers must be
rhetoric," says Davies (1991), "unless teachers
willing to participate in the process of
help design the partnerships, are devoted to improving parent involvement.
making them work, and eventually find them-
selves benefiting from them." 2. Funds for small grants or stipends are nec-
What are action research teams? In both of essary. These may be available from a
the SRO demonstration schools, a researcher/ local community source.
facilitator organized a group of four teachers 3. A researcher/facilitator who is sensitive to
who met at least monthly. After background teacher concerns can help teachers write
reading in parent involvement and training, the proposals, design interviews, analyze re-
action research team in each school interviewed sults. and lead discussions that encourage
the rest of the faculty to determine how teachers reflection. A facilitator might be found
felt about parents and parent involvement, what already on the school staff, at a local uni-
past activities had been successful, and what versity, or on the school district's central
concerns teachers had about parent involve- office staff. Volunteers might also come
ment. from a local corporation, a community
The teams used the results of the inter- organization, or a senior citizen center.
views to design several projects aimed at in- "The action research teams of teachers,"
creasing collaboration between the school and concludes Davies, "operate on the assumption
its families. They also came up with the idea of that change and improvement in schools are
awarding a series of minigrants (each totaling most likely to occur when there are opportuni-
$150 to $200) to teachers who were not on the ties for teachers to collaborate with time for
team to encourage them to reach out to families reflection and with support for trying new strat-
to encourage children's learning. This strategy, egies."
says Davies, produced a number of imaginative
activities at little cost.
tend to become the maximum performance (Davies Successful district initiatives also recognize
1987). that teachers must learn from the families of their
students. Says Chrispeels:
This means that if a local school board de-
The most important role for firmi lies from ethni-
cides it wants to increase a particular type of
cally and racially diverse backgrounds may be to
parent involvement, such as with at-risk families,
help teachers understand the educational experi-
it should trans!ate this decision into a set of clearly ences, customs, and values of parents as well as
written policies that can then be adopted through their expectations for their children. Opportuni-
the usual legislative orco!lective bargaining chan- ties forteachers to visit the homes of their students
nels. and learn directly from parents about their chil-
dren may not only be the best training for teachers
Merely expressing support for at-risk parent
and parents but also may be a way to craft
involvement. says Ziegler, or adopting a policy of
meaningful partnerships,
good intentions i not enough to produce change.
!J 6
PREVIEW OF CHAPTERS IN
PART 4: SPECIAL AGES
/t used to be that infancy to kindergarten were years are open to interpretation, she states that
considered empty years. It was a period when preschool studies that include extensive parent
parents took care of things. Not so today. Now involvement show notable and apparently long-
these years are recognized as the most formative term effects in students.
ones. Preschool programs for at-risk children are
Edward Zig ler, professor of psychiatry at especially important because of !teir early inter-
Yale University, notes, "There is an absolute vention into these families' lives. The process that
growing recognition that if we want to optimize ultimately leads to students' dropping out of school,
the development of children, we have to get in says Judith E. Jones (1989), begins before students
there even before they are born with prenatal even enter school: "Reaching parents early is the
careand then do everything we can to see that key, because the process that contributes to school
the environment of the child is optimal for the success begins at birth. Many children drop out
period from 0 to 5" (Cohen, May 9, 1990) before they drop in. The seeds of failure are sown
early, and early intervention is critical."
Preschool programs for at-risk kids have
shown us the importance of early intervention and
its long-lasting effects and the importance of
Preschool Programs and Parent
parent involvement. In fact, the latter can make all
Education
the difference in the world. An increasing percentage of impoverished
families are headed by young couples or young
Head Start was really the first program to
single mothers. In part, this is due to rising teen
involve parents in the education of their children.
pregnancy rates. Poverty and teen parenthood can
Parent experience with the program is detailed in
work against a child-centered approach that in-
chapter 12. cludes parent involvement, which is why parent
Although Carol Ascher (1987) mentions that education and support is so important for these
the effects of parent involvement in public school families.
98
Many school districts, Erica Gordon Sorohan The implication for school board members is
(1988) notes, are turning to preschool programs to that "preschool education may become a cost-
address the needs of at-risk students and the na- effective way to reach 'at-risk' children. By in-
tional shortage of day care facilities. Preschool vesting in preschool programs, school districts
programs offer practical advantages: established may save thousands of dollars per student per year
physical and administrative structure, continuity in reduced special education costs" (Amundson ).
and stability for children, and convenience for
parents.
An integral part of many public preschool Benefits of Parent Involvement
programs, Sorohan reports, is parent education. The benefits of parent involvement can be
Classes focus on topics such as discipline, time seen in evaluations of preschool programs such as
management, helping with homework, basic skills, Head Start, where the program variable that con-
and interpreting test results. tributed most was parent involvement (Krasnow
For example, a cooperative preschool in- 1990). Urie Bronfenbrenner' (1972) review of
early intervention programs also found that the
volves parents during the day as classroom aides
and then asks them to return to school at night for
most successful programsthose in which the
gains in ability persisted long after the children left
training sessions. The program, says Kristen
Amundson (19Fi8), is "living proof of the inaccu-
the programbuilt in the involvement of the
mother. "Such effective programs are family-cen-
racy of the popularly held notion that low-income
parents will not turn out for school programs." tered rather than child-centered," says Ziegler.
Another reviewer also concludes that parent
involvement is the key to long-lasting effects from
preschool programs. "Evidently a change occurs
EARLY CHILDHOOD
in the home environment which supports and
FAMILY EDUCATION maintains school achievement" (Sattes 1985).
ECFE, funded by the Minnesota De-
A closer look at four preschool programs
partment of Education, is a center-based
shows how this happens.
program designed for children from birth to
kindergarten that operates in more than 300
school districts in Minnesota. The program
is available to all families, with the goal of The Perry Preschool Program
serving hard-to-reach families in propor- The Perry Preschool Program is often cited
tion to their representation in the commu- for its longitudinal studies, which have been very
nity. positive. The studies followed 128 children for
On average, parents and their chil- more than a decade after they left the program.
dren spend two hours a week at centers These children came from a crowded slum area in
located in housing projects, low-income a city in Michigan, an area with consistently high
apartments, store fronts, and former el- school failure rates and crime rates.
ementary schools. Classes include par-
Children in the program attended preschool
ent-child activities supervised by early
five half-days a week for one academic year.
childhood educators, parent-to-parent dis-
Perhaps most importantly, weekly home visits
cussions facilitated by a parent educator,
encouraged parents to structure household activi-
and childreR's activities to promote cog-
ties that included their children.
nitive and motor development.
Source: Goodson and others (1991)
"The Perry Preschool Program," says
Krasnow,
demonstrated better grades, fewer failures, fewer
absences, and fewer special education placements
during public school years for those children
whose parents had been involved in a weekly homework, and had a higher self-rating of school
home visitor program, in addition to the preschool ability.
program, than for those children not involved.
In fact, Ziegler says the positive effects!. ave
In addition, fifteen years after preschool, at
been shown to persist throughout children's vntire age nineteen, program students were far less likely
school careers. During secondary schooling these than their peers to have dropped out of school,
students showed a greater commitment to school- been arrested, or become involved in the court
ing. At age fifteen they were more willing to talk system. Far more of them graduated and were
to their parents about school, spent more time on employed and self-supporting. Thirty-eight per-
The parent involvement program included Home visits were also favorably referred to:
four components: "If we didn't understand the home study pro-
1. An initial interview, designed to determine the gram, they explained to us what we needed to do to
degree of commitment, and culminating in the help our children."
signing of a contract acknowledging the par- "She gave us great ideas of things to do at home.
ents' responsibilities It made us closer as parent and child."
2. Workshops for parents, including dissemina- "It was helpful and it was nice to meet the other
tion of calendars with daily activities reinforc- parents." (Alexander and Lovelace)
103
90 Part 4: Special Ages
PP
Chapter 16
HIGH SCHOOL:
DROPOUT PREVENTION
1CG
93
Chapter 16: High School: Dropout Prevention
1989). Parents want more responsible roles, says
Hester, but no one recipe or blueprint works for
every school. CAREER INFORMATION
One of the most important roles of
Good home-school communication, says
parent education programs for at-risk popu-
Hester, relies on direct, personal contact between
lations, says Michelle D. Sarkees (1989), is
educators and parents. However, in comparing to provide information concerning career
elementary and secondary levels, he says it is and occupational development for their chil-
unrealistic to expect the same degree of participa- dren.
tion at the secondary level that you would expect According to Sarkees, research shows
at the elementary level. Instead, he recommends that parents contribute directly to the aspi-
increasing the parent-student involvement at home rations of their sons and daughters and, in
as a priority goal. many cases, are the principal influence on
their children' s occupations. Other research-
ers also claim that career aspirations, along
with maturity and expectations, are heavily
Avenues for Parent Involvement influenced by family structure and parental
in High Schools association with children.
The following are suggestions based mainly Sarkees states that a student's success
on the programs cited by Hester and Jonas, modi- in choosing a career can be greatly en-
fied to apply to at-risk families. hanced by parents who are "able to encour-
age role modeling and career exploration,
Parent-TeacherContracts: Parents enter into provide career-related materials, and build
contracts that state they will: (1) help their children a healthy self-esteem."
do school work at home, (2) attend PTA meetings She emphasizes that it is important to
(this may not work with at-risk families), (3) include parents of at-risk youth as an inte-
maintain regular communication with the school, gral part of the planning team, instead of
and (4) provide assistance when requested by the leaving testing, evaluation, and placement
teacher. Contracts with at-risk families set forth to the school, If parents are to be prepared to
specific parental activities to support instructional provide career guidance, they must also be
approaches (Jonas). provided with specific information. Career-
related knowledge, she adds, will greatly
Parents as Supporters of Activities: "It may affect parents' attitudes and the amount of
not be realistic to expect parents of secondary time and energy they will expend exploring
school students to be as involved in school activi- career options with their children.
ties as elementary students," says Hester. "How- Sarkees suggests that schools provide
ever, getting more parents involved is a powerful the following activities to assist parents in
component of a comprehensive high school parent exploring career opportunities with their
involvement plan." children:
2. Conduct new student orientation activities 3. Opportunities for parents to visit busi-
).ess and industrial settings
that are scheduled over a period of four to eight
months to welcome new parents and children. 4. Materials with suggestions for activities
Focus on grade 9 for high school. Activities could to do at home that will reinforce career
include reviewing school rules r.nd curriculum, for development eyperiences at school
example.
95
Chapter 16: High School: Dropout Prevention P
r
The Capistrano school district cautions that it
HELPING WITH HOME- may take time to develop a comprehensive parent
involvement plan. But Hester advises, "If there are
WORK
things that can be done immediately, do them.
Here are suggestions on how parents Almost anything and everything you can do to
can support their children's education at improve parent involvement yields immediate re-
home: turns." Just keep in mind, however, that Hester is
1. Create a routine and establish a regular speaking of high school parents in generai, not of
study time; set aside a place that is quiet at-risk parents specifically.
and away from the distractions of phone,
radio, and TV. Efforts to reach kids must be ongoing. Epstein
(1991) reiterates that programs must continue
2. Assume that your child has homework.
throughout childhood and adolescence. "Educa-
Review material he or she learned that
tors and policy makers, who may once have thought
day.
that family involvement was an issue only in the
3. Know homework guidelines for each early years of schooling, now recognize the impor-
class and what your child is expected to
tance of school/family connections through the
high school grades," she says.
4. Help to manage the workload by divid-
ing the tasks into manageable doses. Yes, the first five years of life are extremely
5. So an example. Use the homework time
important. But in some ways an overemphasis on
as your time to read, pay bills, or write this "magic period" can be counterproductive,
letters. says psychiatrist Edward Zigler. It can promote
the attitude that "if we. just do everything we can
6. Participate in homework assignments.
Review work. See if it's complete. Ask during the preschool years, then everything is
questions about it. going to be wondinful in school. That's just not
true" (quoted in Olson 1990).
7. Use lots of praise and reward progress.
Avoid using homework as a punish- Instead, he says that changing the trajectory
ment. of a child really calls for consistent, ongoing
8. Encourage study groups. Children can effort. "That is why the family is so important,"
learn a lot from each other through Zigler emphasizes, "because the family is there
grour study. Organize a group at your year after year after year" (Olson).
church, in community centers, or at
home.
9. Reinforce formal learning with infor-
mal learning activities, such as visits to
museums, theatres, parks.
10. Monitor grades and keep abreast of text
and quiz scores. Look for patterns that
suggest additional work is needed.-
1 1. Reinforce individual strengths by talk-
ing about them and finding ways to use
them in everyday life.
Chapter 17. Rural fare, and aren't ready, in many Chapter 23. Asian-
Families cases, to assume responsibility Americans
A close look at the nation's for a child. Unable to reach teen Since the fall of Saigon in
rural areas turns up a surprising mothers, a Hispanic project turned April 1975, over 800,000 South-
number of at-risk youth. This to the extended family. Programs east Asian refugees have settled
chapter surveys some of the as- dealing with life skills and focus- in this country. Today they num-
pects of rural life that either con- ing on jobs and training were ber over a million. This chapter
tribute to the problem or make it useful in reaching teen fathers. reviews several demographic and
more difficult for at-risk students social factors that influence the
to obtain help. Then it recom- Chapter 20. Fathers level of Southeast Asian parent
mends some ways to reach at- As a general rule, fathers are involvement. Then it recommends
risk rural youth. less involved in school matters steps schools can take.
than mothers. Coordinators of the
Chapter 18. Divorced and Hispanic project learned what Chapter 24. African-
Separated Parents, Single works and what doesn't work in Americans
Parents reaching at-risk fathers. The history of racism in this
In a recent survey, teachers country has left African-Ameri-
said that 41 percent of their stu- Chapter 21. Children with can families with a deep sense of
dents had parents who were sepa- Disabilities alienation from most institutions,
rated or divorced. The school Involving families is espe- including schools. This chapter
work of approximately half of cially important if schools are to suggests that the most effective
these students was adversely af- help children with special needs, way to reach out to African-
fected, the teachers reported. because it is the family that knows American families as partners
Schools can play a significant the particular strengths, needs, with the schools is to bolster their
role in the family adjustment pro- and problems of their children. sense of control. A major element
cess. in James Comer's solution to in-
One out of every four chil- Chapter 22. Immigrants volvement with African-Ameri-
drenfor African-American Many immigrants, driven to can families is empowerment.
children, it's one out of two improve their status through hard
live with a single parent. Studies Chapter 25. Hispanics
work, fare better in the U.S. school
show that single parents want Forty percent of Hispanics
systems than do native-born mi-
more contact and consultation norities. But many immigrant drop out of school half of these
with teachers, but teachers tend before they reach ninth grade. No
parents face obstacles that may
to mistakenly believe that these matter what causes Hispanics to
thwart the good intentions they
parents won't help their children. fare so poorly in school, the bot-
have for their children's success
Schools can take several steps to tom line is that Hispanic families
in school. For schools, therefore,
help. need support. Guidelines for plan-
effective communication with
ning programs to involve His-
immigrant families is a must.
Chapter 19. Teenage panic parents are provided, and
Parents recommendations for reaching out
to Hispanic families are offered.
Teenage mothers tend not
to finish high school, live on wel-
Rural families tend to get overlooked in the One of the difficulties in comparing this study
research on at-risk youth; by far, the majority of with research on innercity students is that the term
that research has been done in innercity areas. at-risk is defined slightly differently by Helge. Her
Also, because media coverage emanates from "at-risk" categories include, for instance, low self-
cities, rural areas often receive inadequate atten- esteem, suicide attempt, depression, disability,
tion. chiL. abuse, and child of an alcoholic parentfar
broader categories, and yet also more specific,
A closer look at the nation's rural areas turns than those used by studies that simply concentrate
up a surprising number of at-risk youth. In fact, a on low-income and/or minority students.
recent study by the National Rural Development
One-third of the nation's students live in rural
Institute found that rural children were signifi-
areas, and two-thirds of U.S. school districts are
cantly more likely to be described as "at risk" than
rural. While Helge says it's true that some rural
their counterparts in cities and suburbs (Helge
communities are thriving, many are experiencing
1990). Rural children came out worse on thirty-
economic and social difficulties that are contribut-
four of thirty-nine statistical comparisons within
ing to the development of at-risk children.
various risk categories.
100
113 Part 5: Special Groups
Chapter 18
DIVORCED AND SEPARATED PARENTS,
SINGLE PARENTS
oth children in families going through di- tardiness, absenteeism, suspension, and dropping
vorce or separation and those in families headed out, with those from intact families having fewer
by a single parent are more likely to be at risk than problems (Kurtz).
their peers in stable families with both parents
present.
Services for Families in Transition
Schools can play a significant role in the
Children of Divorce family adjustment process. Kurt,. suggests schools
Can parental divorce or separation really af- provide the following direct services:
fect children's academic performance? Yes, says 1. Support groups for single parents to share and
a recent teacher survey in which an average of 41 reduce loneliness and isolation
percent of the respondents' students had parents
2. Parenting classes to help divorced, single par-
who were separated or divorced. The schoolwork
ents understand the effects of divorce on chil-
of approximately half of these students was ad-
dren and how to manage those effects
versely affected. In addition, many of these stu-
dents displayed school behavior problems, such as 3. Family transition groups for children who are
aggression, meodiness, daydreaming, withdrawal, adjusting to life in a divorced family
and nervousness (Kurtz 1988).
Indirect services might include:
This survey echoes other studies that have 1. Teacher inservice training to broaden teachers'
found children whose families have experienced
sensitivity to family dynamics surrounding di-
marital disruption to be more at risk academically
vorce and children's reactions to family break-
and psychosocially. Research demonstrates sig-
ups
nificant differences between students from dis-
rupted families and students from intact families 2. Updated recordkeeping to ensure that school
in their involvement in school problems such as records reflect current family situations
. -
101
Chapter 18: Divorced and Separated Parents, Single Parents 11 4
3. Curriculum development to give children an different kinds of families. Textbooks have been
opportunity to understand and discuss family adapted to be more sensitive to the needs of these
transitions children. Yet at the same time, says Jane C. Lindle
4. Abolishing school policies that may be unfair to (1990), the needs of the parents themselves often
single parents (Schedule parent-teacher confer- go unaddressed.
ences after work, for example, and don't require School administrators may be aware of the
parents to come to school to get children's custody issues in divorces, and teachers are some-
makeup assignments when absent.) times aware of where and with whom a child lives.
5. Referral of families with chronic and severe But often school personnel stumble accidently
problems to appropriate community agencies upon difficult family situations. "Rarely do teach-
(Kurtz) ers and administrators actively seek to identify the
students' family structure and then address the
For instance, in regard to collaborating with
educational needs of both the child and the par-
other agencies, a social worker might be brought in
ent," says Lindle.
to work with children and famiLes. Robert Con-
stable and Herbert Walberg ( 1988) mention Jimmy,
a seven-year-old boy with learning disabilities Involving Stepparents and Noncustodial
whose parents were going through a divorce. The Parents
boy, who cried often and was very dependent on
Two sue'', -1- often occur with stepparents
adults, was having trouble staying "on task" in
and noncustodial parents. In many cases, steppar-
school. The classroom teacher found him difficult
and thought he was simply being uncooperative. ents struggle with their role in the family. Gener-
ally, they are less involved in parent-school activi-
The social worker consulted with both his ties. Noncustodial parents also wrestle with their
classroom teacher and resource room teacher and ongoing involvement with their children. Dorothy
worked with them so that their expectations would Rich (1985) encourages schools to reach out to
be similar for him. Both teachers gained a better noncustodial parents. "Almost always the more
understanding of what Jimmy was going through parents that are involved with the child, the better.
and how the divorce was impairing his ability to Rather than discouraging this interest of non-
concentrate. They agreed on a program of support. custodial divorced parents, schools will want to
encourage it."
The social worker also observed Jimmy and
visited his parents. She helped the family see some Other experts agree. Know the custody situ-
of the effects of their conflict on him and referred ation in each family. Home life is so tied to school
them to a family service agency for indepth family performance, says John McCormick (1990), that
counseling. The social worker developed a con- he claims 70 percent of elementary principals now
tract between the parents and teachers so that their keep formal records of each child's family struc-
efforts to work together and set common rules and ture. This practice is advisable for all children, at
expectations were supported. In addition, she all ages.
worked with the parents' counselor.
Consider sending duplicate notes and report
"Jimmy was clearly triangulated into the cards to noncustodial parents and scheduling sepa-
marital issues," say Constable and Walberg. "Both rate parent-teacher conferences with them. Many
parents were concerned about Jimmy's reactions researchers think this is definitely worth the extra
to their problems but the school's work with Jimmy postage and time it may require to ensure that all
gave them enough space to get to other issues." noncustodial parents who want these materials
This is a clear example of the benefits of parents and who want to be involvedreceive them.
and teachers working together to solve problems.
Rich suggests that allocating school funds for
Some schools have taken steps to support thes extra mailings may be one of the least expen-
children of divorce or remarriage. Many teachers sive but most effective ways of building parent
have learned to work with children who are from involvement with at-risk families.
The percentage of children under age eigh- The biggest factor that puts single parents at
teen who live with only one parent continues to risk is poverty. Families headed by a woman with
increase, especially for African-Americans. In no husband present represented 53 percent of poor
1980, 44 percent of African-American children families in 1990; for poor African-American fami-
lived with their mother only; by 1990, the propor- lies, the figure was 75 percent (U.S. Bureau of the
tion had increased to 51 percent. For whites, the Census 1991). In fact, the Census Bureau reported
corresponding numbers were 14 percent and 16 that the growing numbers of families headed by
females with no spouse present accounted for 84
percent (Bradley 1991).
CI African-American
Hispanic 144.5%
53.20% 137.9%
0 White
II Other
1 n
percent of the net increase in poor families be- "There is evidence," says James B. Stedman
tween 1989 and 1990. Poverty, as has been pointed (1987), "that single-parents find it difficult to
out, is one of the primary factors that place fami- participate in their children's education to the full
lies at risk. extent they want because schools have not been
sensitive to their time and resource complaints."
Schools Discriminate Against Single Among the complaints from single parents
Parents are that schoola schedule events as though each
family had two parents, only one of whom works,
According to a study by Joyce Epstein (1%4). and that school staff may have negative expecta-
single and working parents can and do spend as tions of single parents and their children.
much time helping their childrr n as parents who
have more leisure time. It is often teachers who
mistakenly believe that single parents won't help. What Can Schools Do?
But Epstein found that when teachers reached out
to these parents, the parents were generally more Stedman's recommendations to schools in-
willing to help. And when teachers assisted par- clude the following:
ents in helping their children, single parents were 1. Be more flexible in arranging parent confer-
just as effective as parents with more education ences; schedule them at times to accommodate
and leisure time. working parents.
"Whatever their potential for being involved," 2. Provide staff with inservice training on ways of
says Ascher, "research indicates that single and responding to single parents and their children,
working parents may be discriminated against by ankl deal with negative expectations staff may
school personnel, who tend to decide in advance have about these families.
that these parents cannot be approached or relied 3. Considerchild care both before and after school;
on." provide child care facilities at the school during
The Metropolitan Life Survey (1987) showed parent meetings and events.
that single working parents, as well as dual work- 4. Arrange transportation so that single-parent
ing parent families, are especially likely to want families can participate in all school activities;
more contact and consultation with teachers. Al- don't assume that parents have their own trans-
though teachers see these parents as hard to reach, portation.
the parents themselves are often equally dissatis-
5. Work with single parents in dealing with in-
fied about lack of contact.
school behavior problems.
In fact, another survey noted that 71 percent
6. Develop a list of suggestions that single parents
of single parents who work full-time had taken
can use at home.
time off to visit school, compared to 73 percent in
two-parent families where both partners work full-
time (Amundson 1988).
Each year more than one million teenagers in up being bound to the home, living on welfare, and
the United States become pregnant and more than almost always mired in poverty.
half of them give birth (Nicolut and Ramos 1990).
Among Hispanic teen mothers, very few com-
The physical and emotional changes that come
plete high school. If they marry, the marriage often
with adolescence, plus increased freedom and
ends in divorce or separation. More children are
peer pressure to become sexually active, can cre-
usually born. By her midtwenties, a woman who
ate problems, especially for female adolescents.
has had her first child in her teens may have several
That pressure, coupled with a lack of information
more, few marketable skills, and little chance of
about birth control or a willingness to use it, has led
escaping poverty. Even though they may have
to high adolescent pregnancy rates.
planned otherwise, most Hispanic teenage moth-
Teenage mothers are definitely an at-risk ers live with their own mothers, or, if they marry,
group. They tend not to finish high school, live on with their mothers-in-law (Nicolau and Ramos),
welfare, and aren't ready, in many cases, to take on
the care of a child, so many still being children
themselves. As Nicolau and Ramos explain, "Be- The Difficulty of Reaching
ing a mother is a big responsibility. Surviving the
teenage years can be a real challenge. When you
Teen Mothers
put them together, being a teenager and a mother Project coordinators for Hispanic parent in-
at the same time can be an overwhelming task." volvement projects found teen mothers very unre-
sponsive. Many would make a commitment to
Many adolescent females are unhappy at attend activities and then fail to show up, even
home, do poorly in school, or believe that their when they had proposed the activities during home
parents don't understand them--and think becom-
visits.
ing pregnant will solve their problems. They see
having a baby as a way out, a way to become A special initiative focusing on teen mothers
adults. Ironically, these young mothers often end shed some light on what was happening. Most of
the thirty-two teen mothers who were interviewed Thus the project coordinators decided these
were clearly dependent on their mothers, most of teen parents could best be reached by programs
whom had been teen mothers themselves. "The that targeted the extended family, rather than fo-
girls were not only locked in a cycle of welfare cusing on teen mothers alone. For instance, pro-
dependency," say Nicolau and Ramos, "they were grams with incentiveslike having a raffle or
trapped in a cycle of emotional dependency as drawingseemed to appeal to the practical sense
well.... Their misguided attempts to achieve adult- of the grandmother. If more family members were
hood through motherhood had produced the oppo- needed to increase their chances of winning, the
site result. It had prolonged the child/parent rela- grandmothers seemed to see to it that their teen
tionship with their mothers." daughters showed up (Nicolau and Ramos).
/20
Chapter 19; Teenage Parents 1 107
p
iL
Chapter 20
FATHERS
lis with other special needs groups, in fami- The involvement of these families in their
lies where a child has a disability, effective com- children's education and service programs is espe-
munication between home and school is espe- cially important because it is the family that usu-
cially important. ally knows the particular strengths, needs, re-
sources, and problems of their children. Thus
parents can help ensure that services are appropri-
Importance of Family ate and sensitive to their family's unique charac-
Involvement teristics. Also, because children with special needs
often require services from more than one source,
According to Madeleine Will, former assis- parents are frequently the most knowledgeable
tant secretary for spetial education and rehabilita- and effective case managers.
tive services in the U. S. Department of Educa-
tion, the assumption is often made that children
with special needs are burdens and that therefore Parent Involvement Is the Key
these families are dysfunctional or deficient in
in Colorado
some way.
In L we...md, Colorado, parents have helped
Not so, she says: children with learning disabilities succeed. The
Many of these families achieve happiness and Thompson school district is a good example of
well-being. School and service professionals, a special education program with strong parent
however, must be flexible and willing to go the involvement. "We have tried a variety of different
extra distance if families with special needs are to approaches," says Barbara Benjamin, special edu-
receive the information and services necessary to cation coordinator. "Involving parents in the pro-
ensure the best quality of life for the family unit. cess is the anproach that seems to work best"
(Council of Chief State School Officers 1989) (Decker and )ecker 1988).
110
123 Part 5: Special Groups
The Parent Resource Program serves parents their child," explain Decker and Decker. "Most
whose children have been identified as having a important, parents are better prepared to assist in
learning disability or handicap and is designed to the planning and be active participants in the
involve them in the development of an individual education of their children."
educational plan for each child. "It's a scary time The program's staff has also developed a
for parents when children are singled out in this booklet that tells parents about the planning pro-
way and we feel that by helping the parents we are cess and the different steps involved. Regular
helping the children," says Benjamin (Decker and group meetings are held to explain policies and
Decker). procedures to parents and to provide them with
resources. Guest speakers have included a variety
The program involves parents helping other
of experts from different sources.
parents in a supportive way. For example, certain
experienced parents are selected by the district to The group also presented a workshop for
go through a twelve-hour training session. During parents, special educators, and even bus drivers
this time, the parents discuss their own concerns who transport the children, to help them better
and how they coped with problems when their understand the frustrations and joys of working
children were going through the diagnosis and with handicapped children. The workshop focused
planning process. Then these parents are trained in on what it felt like to be the parent of a handicapped
communication skills, familiarized with the school- child or common emotions experienced by those
based programs available, and taught exactly what responsible for providing education or service to
is involved in developing an educational plan and the child. Both the group and the workshop have
individual goals for a learning-disabled child. been very successful.
The chief purpose in starting this group k as to "We believe that parents play an important
give parents of children who were experiencing role in their children's education," says Benjamin,
learning problems contact with other parents who "and at times the responsibility can be overwhelm-
had already been through the process. "Knowing ing for parents of disabled children. We have tried
what to expect and having sympathetic support to develop a system of supporting the parents to
reduces the inevitable stress on the parents, en- help them share the responsibility" (Decker and
abling them to be more supportive and helpful to Decker).
124
Chapter 22
IMMIGRANTS
/mmigrants in the U.S. often fare much better they face several obstacles that they may not be
educationally than native-born minorities. That's able to overcome by hard work alone. Immigrant
because immigrants generally perceive their sta- parents frequently lack knowledge about U.S.
tus as outsiders to be a temporary one that they can customs and American school traditions, which
overcome through hard work. results in their children being ill-prepared for
school. In addition, their limited English profi-
In contrast, "blacks and other nonimmigrant
ciency puts them at a disadvantage in dealing with
minorities tend to see their life conditions as per-
their children's education.
manent and unchangeable," says anthropologist
John Ogbu. This perception, he says, gives "rise to Parents from some culturesHispanic and
such counterproductive school attitudes as the Asian in particularare reluctant to challenge a
recently explored phenomenon of labeling high teacher's authority or openly air their concerns
academic achievement as 'acting white' (Reeves with the schools. Some even feel uncomfortable
1988). approaching a teacher or school administrator.
Finally, immigrant parents may have different
As these native-born students get older, they notions than schools on what makes a child a good
apparently become more aware of the reality that, student.
as members of a subordinate minority group, they
will encounter more difficulties obtaining good
jobs, even when they have a good education.
Schools Must Roach Out
Schools must make extra efforts to develop
effective communication with immigrant fami-
Immigrants Face Obstacles lies, keeping in mind that there are differences
In spite of the good intentions immigrant between and within cultures. Here are some basic
parents have for their children's success in school, steps schools can take:
Since the fall of Saigon in April 1975, over subjugate personal desires and concerns. Each
800,000 Southeast Asian refugees (Vietnamese, child de velops a sense of moral obligation and
Cambodians, Laotians, and Hmongs) have settled primary loyalty to the family, which includes
in this country. This high incidence of immigra- unquestioning loyalty and obedience to parents
tion, added to their above-average birthrate, has and, by extension, to all authority figures, includ-
increased their number to over a million. Califor- ing principals, teachers, and other school person-
nia has nearly 40 percent of this population, with nel.
the rest centered mainly in the urban areas of Like Hispanics, Southeast Asians tend to
Texas. Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Illinois believe that professional educators have the exper-
Morrow 1991). tise and right to make all the decisions and know
what to do with their children, without parental
assistance.
Factors Affecting Involvement of
Southeast Asian Parents Literacy Level
Several demographic and social factors in- In a 1985 study of 800 Southeast Asian refu-
fluence the level and quality of Southeast Asian gees, Paul Strand found that the Vietnamese were
parent involvement. All the following factors, far more literate in both their native language and
discussed by Morrow, should be considered if English than Laotians, Cambodians, and Hmongs.
schools are to successfully involve these parents There were also significantly higher levels of
in their children's education. literacy among the early (1975-78) refugees than
among those arriving later.
Different Values and Behaviors
In contrast to Americans' emphasis on ego-
Prearrival Education
centric, independent behavior, Southeast Asian Twenty-six percent of the Vietnamese had no
children are taught to think of family first and formal education, compared to 44 percent of the
F
problems, since Southeast Asians typically 'talk
around' any subject."
Develop and maintain a sense of trust. Be-
cause Southeast Asians rarely question educators'
decisions, school personnel have tremendous
131
118 Part 5: Special Groups
Pg
Chapter 24
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
11
Chapter 25: African-Americans 134
poor," say Slaughter and Kuehne. Evaluations of Three predominantly African-American
Head Start shouldn't focus simply on children's schools served a smaller proportion of low-in-
skill development and related parenting behav- come families than the other two schools (one
iors, but also on parents themselves and their self- being a white working-class school and the other
perceptions. primarily a low-income Hispanic girls' school).
Cotner believes that preschool programs, A coed African-American school was the
while perhaps useful, have had debatable long- smallest school studied. Along with familiarity
term effects with at-risk children, particularly those and ease of interaction, this school had a number of
that have had limited parental involvement. "While organizational advantages that contributed to a
such programs may have reduced parental alien- higher rate of parent inv olvec_ _ant. First, the school
ation from their children's educational experi- had been established through the efforts of a group
ence," he says, "they did not involve parents in of concerned parents who were highly organized
school management and operations in a meaning- and active. These parents continued to participate
ful way" (Comer and others 1987-88). in the school in a number of monitoring roles.
Here is how observers described this school:
For Comer and his colleagues, parent in-
volvement is a key to increasing African-Ameri- Parents were found in the school nearly every day
can children's success in school, since many Afri- and felt welcomed. They communicated infor-
can-American children perceive home and school mally and easily with teachers and administrators.
as being less closely related than other students do. While the research team was in the school, a
problem arose concerning students' coming late
However, school climate and parent involve-
to class. The principal immediately implemented
ment in school management and decision-making a solution suggested by one of the parents.
are the components of parent involvement pro-
grams that Comer considers essential, particularly Parents wanted the best for their child and did a
for low-income and African-American families. great deal of monitoring of their child and of the
Slaughter and Kuehne agree that we must not only school, and the school elijoyed the support and
look at the level of African-American parent in- benefit of a motivated and involved group of
volvement in the schools, but also at whether parents to assist in reinforcing school policy and
discipline. (Bauch)
African-American families feel a sense of inclu-
sion and belonging in the school community. Half of the parents were involved in decisions
It has been reported that 90 percent of all about home-school relations. Clearly it is a school
children in America are educated in public schools. that focuses on empowerment, where parents
Yet among African-American children the figure darted the school (an important factor connected
is higher because few of them attend private schools. to control and self-determination), and where par-
Those African-American children who are en- ents are not only welcomed but also actively
rolled in private schools appear to do better aca- involved in school decisions.
demically than African-American children in pub-
lic schools. Dropout rates among African-Ameri-
can children in private schools are also lower than SDP Schools and African-Americans
rates among African-Americans in public schools The increase in student achievement and par-
(Comer and others). ent involvement documented in SDP schools is no
accident. SDP schools build "human capital"
through their emphasis on staff deve lopment train-
Involvement in an African-American ing, which equips teachers and staff to deal with
Catholic School sociocultural issues. They also increase "social
Many Catholic schools operate much like capital" through emphasis on school management,
communities. However, in a study of five metro- in which administrators, teachers, and parents
politan Catholic high schools that serve low-in- work together to determine the climate, priorities,
come students, great variance in parent involve- and objectives within the schools. (See chapter 12
ment was found (Bauch 1987). for more information on SDP schools.)
/t's important to remember that, although they early 1990 census figures is growing faster than
share a common language and heritage of Spanish any other ethnic group. Since 1980, the Hispanic
colonization, Hispanics are not a homogeneous population has increased by 53 percent; if this
group.* They differ on such variables as race, age, growth continues at its present rate, Hispanics will
socioeconomic status, geography, the nature of outnumber African-Americans in the nation by the
their arrival in the U.S. (immigration, migration, -ar 2080 (Western Interstate Commission for
exile, or asylum), the length of their residence in Higher Education and The College Board 1991).
the U.S., and their country of origin. Today about one in ten children enrolled in
Mexicans, for instance, account for 63 per- U.S. elementary schools is Hispanic (just fourteen
cent of Hispanics in the U.S., Central and Snuth years ago the ratio was one in sixteen); by 2030
Americans for 13 percent, Puerto Ricans for 12 Hispanic chiidren will make up 20 percent of the
percent, and Cubans for 5 percent (Nicolau and school population (Haycock and Duany). WICHE
Ramos 1990). Differences among Hispanic sub- and The College Board project that the number of
groups--in poverty, education, family structure, Hispanics enrolled in elementary and secondary
and age distribution--often are greater than the schools will increase 54 percent between 1985-86
overall differences between Hispanics and non- and 1994-95, from 3.3 million to more than 5
Hispanics (Haycock and Duany 1991). million students.
The median age of Hispanics is lower than
that of other Americans. Add their relatively high
Fastest Growing Ethnic Group birth rates and continued immigration, and it's
Nationally, the Hispanic populationnow ex- clear there is considerable momentum for future
ceeding twenty-two million people, according to growth.
Eighty-nine percent of the Hispanic popula-
tion is concentrated in the urban centers of nine
*For a discussion of our reasons for using the term statesFlorida, New York, Illinois, Texas, Cali-
Hispanic instead of Latina, see the -Introduction." page 3.
138 125
Chapter 25: Hispars
Why Hispanics Fare So Poorly in problem has been getting worse for Hispanics. In
School 1986, more ,:ian 70 percent of Hispanic students,
compared to 63 percent of African-Americans,
For some time, it has been clear that Hispan- were enrolled in schools with a minority enroll-
ics and African-Americans do less well in school ment of 50 percent or more. Worse yet, almost
than most other groups. Why is this so? one-third of Hispanic students attended heavily
Many educitors point their fingers at the segregated schools, where minority enrollment
children themselves and the families. According was 90 percent or higher.
to Haycock and Duany, however, several other Some minority-dominant schools do provide
factors are at the root of the low academic achieve- high quality education, say Haycock and Duany.
ment that is present among Hispanics and other But most, they claim, do m 'n general, segre-
minority students. gated schools lack the resources to provide stu-
"Schools put less of everything into the edu- dents with a competitive education. Their teachers
cation of Latino and other minority students," they are not ag well educated as those in the suburbs,
say. "They get less in the way of experienced and and they often use out-of-date curriculum materi-
well-trained teachers, rich and well-balanced cur- als. Virtually everything is watered down."
riculums, and adequately equipped libraries and
laboratories. More importantly, they get less in the
way of a belief that they can really learn." The Tracking System
For those Hispanic students who do attend
schools with more resources, the problem is "track-
A Segregated School System for ing" (ability grouping), which Haycock and Duany
Minorities contend has essentially the same effect as segrega-
Despite what we might think, Haycock and tion. "In these schools," they say, " we tend to herd
Duany maintain that minority students in this the poor and minority students into low-track
country are still educated separately and that the classes with the worst teachers and the oldest
booksand expect little or nothing from them."
For example, Hispvic eighth-graders are
twice as likely as their white counterparts to take
A PROGRAM FOR MIGRANT no English or science classes, and they are most
FAMILIES likely to take remedial math. "We often force them
Prestame una Comadre is Spanish for to choose between learning to speak and read
"loan me a godmother." This program in English," Haycock and Duany continue, "or trying
Springfield, Illinois, is an extension of Head to keep up with their classmates in math, science,
Start parent involvement that targets mi- or literature."
grant Head Start families identified as high When we teach them less, say Haycock and
risk and who have limited English profi- Duany, it should hardly be surprising that these
ciency. Begun in 1984, the program utilizes students do less well on academic achievement
social workers or "family life trainers" who
tests. And because schools and teachers often
conduct home visits as often as three times
assume that Hispanic parents have little to offer
per week to help parents increase self-reli-
the school or their children, "we isolate ourselves
ance, learn about child development and
from the very community that we should be trying
educational opportunities in the home, and
to involve and serve" (Haycock and Duany).
improve family functioning. Small group
meetings are held weekly to discuss topics
such as nutrition and family relatimships,
Hispanic Families Need Support
Source: Goodson and others (1991)
The other major reason Hispanics do less well
in school has to do with the demographic statistics
Communication Problems
Language differences. Conduct meetings, seminars, and workshops
Tradition/cultural differences. in Spanish.
Have bilingual aide available when Hispanic
aparents visit the school.
Encourage parents to bring a bilingual rela-
tive or friend.
Sensitize school personnel to the Hispanic
community, its culture, and its special needs.
Use cultural enrichment activities to bring
school and families together.
Feelings of Inferiority
Limited or no education. Involve parents in decision-making, platming,
and implementation of activities. Let them
know they are important partners.
Give parents opportunities to demonstrate and
use their special skills and talents.
Feelings of Alienation
Not welcome at school. Welcome parents by conveying a positive at-
titude when they visit the classrooms and at
meetings and activities.
Let parents know you appreciate their pres-
ence and the time they are devoting to school.
Transportation Problems
Many low-income families may not be able to Provide transportation. if possible. to and from
afford transportation to and from activities, activ ities.
Set up carpools.
Get help from people and groups in the com-
munity.
Hold activities in the community.
Source: Nicolau and Ramos (1990)
To those who argue that many of the prob- Offer palent education programs for His-
lems facing Hispanic children are typical of immi- panic parents, particularly at the preschool level,
grants and will disappear with time, consider in order to help them prepare their children for
Haycock's and Duany's response: "There is no school.
time. We need these young people now." Provide transportation and child care; they
are not frills. Meals, too, may be helpful.
Educate Hispanic parents about the U.S.
Recommendations for Schools school system. This might be combined with fam-
Schools must make special efforts to reach ily education and support programs. For instance,
and involve Hispanic families. Consider the fol- Gloria Rodriguez of the AVANCE Educational
lowing suggestions: Programs for Parents and Children in San Anto-
nio, Texas, has sought to fill what many feel is "an
Institute home visits, at least in the beginning,
abyss between the Hispanic home and culture, and
with a bilingual staff or an interpreter. the public education system" (Council of Chief
Communicate regularly with parents about State School Officers 1989).
their children's progress. She does this through programs designed to
Translate all notices sent home into Spanish. help parents gain knowledge in child growth and
A humorous example of not doing this occurred in development and child management skills, while
a Portland, Oregon, school when memos were sent also exposing them to community resources,
44
PREVIEW OF CHAPTERS IN
PART 6: THE PROCESS
1. '1 5
132 Part 6:The Process
Chapter 26
ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL
PROGRAMS
134
117 Part 6: The Process
questioned the term parent involvement, since it Eventually, when at-risk parents have ac-
presumes that we want themthe parentsto be quired the skills and confidence they feel they
involved in our school, whereas instead we need to need to compete as equals, they can then join
think of schools reaching out to parents and the parent advisory committees or the like. Excep-
community. tions are schools set up from the outset to include
parent governance, like the SDP schools or schools
with predominantly African-American popula-
tions, where a different approach might be advised
(see chapter 24 on African-Americans).
Warm, Nonjudgmental
Communication
This aspect goes along with the above, but
can't be overstressed. Obviously, personal out-
Active Support by Administrators
reach and adequate communication with parents
and Staff
cannot be handled by a single person in his or her No matter how energetic a project coordina-
spare time. tor might be, the Hispanic programs illustrated the
fact that "the best efforts of a project coordinator
The Hispanic partnerships that succeeded all
will fail if he or she does not have the active
had project coordinators who were genuinely in-
support of the school principal and staff' (Nicolau
terested in working with the Hispanic community,
and Ramos).
sensitive to their needs, and determined to make
the program work.. night also be pointed out that When everyone sincerely wants Hispanic
these coordinators had supervisors who gave them parents to become involved and is willing to try
time to do their jobs. Besides creativity, persever- new strategies and be flexible, parents sense this
ance was found to be crucial to a successful pro- and respond. All the Hispanic programs that lacked
gram. the support of teachers and principals failed to
increase Hispanic parent involvement.
1A
USING CHAPTER 1 FUNDS IN MCALLEN, TEXAS
Forthe past seven years the McAllen, Texas, aides, home visits, evening family study centers,
schools have been combining Chapter I support computer-assisted language programs, and pro-
with other support to build stronger school/ grams on parenting skills and other topics.
family connections in a comprehensive pro- Each principal is responsible for the design
gram. The task has not been easy, as the commu- and direction of a school's parent involvement
nity is mainly Hispanic and many recent immi- program. For instance, at one school the parent-
grants and migrant families have little or no teacher organization trains parents and other
proficiency in English. volunteers to run a self-esteem program for stu-
However, under the leadership of Superin- dents in the school. This program was initiated
tendent Pablo Perez, the staff has grown from and implemented by parents, though it is sup-
one parent coordinator to five parent coordina- ported by the administration and teaching staff.
tors and several federally funded community District staff now estimate that nearly 99
aides. The position of facilitator was created at percent of parents have some productive contact
each building to help with instructional leader- with their children's schools. The staff are
ship and to free the principals to spend more working to reach the other 1 percent and to
time directly involved with parents and parent continue to improve the level, extent, and quality
activities. of involvement for all families.
To broaden family involvement to include 'The McAllen approach can be adapted to
all parentsnot just those targeted for Chapter local conditions in any district or school, al-
I fundsrequired increasing the district's in- though it will take time and commitment. Com-
vestment in school and family activities. The prehensive programs to involve parents require
district budget has tripled and parent involve- long-term leadership and some additional re-
ment is no longer supported solely by federal sources, but McAllen's example shows that Chap-
funds. ter 1 and other categorical programs can be
All parents of children in McAllen schools combined and coordinated with local initiatives
are eligible to become involved in five major to promote school-family partnerships.
types of activities: parent education programs, Source: D'Angelo and Adler119911
school/home and home/school communicat;ons,
opportunities to volunteer for school projects,
helping their children at home, and participation
in the parent/teacher organization.
Most staff members involved with patent
activities are bilingual. At each school the
handbook is provided in English and Spanish
versions. Families benefit from community
High Visibility
The Essentials of Child Care, Visibility will help sustain the effort to imple-
Transportation, and Meals ment parent involvement activities. Hester sug-
Providing childcare, transportation, and meals gests formal presentations and progress reports to
will make a big difference for low-income parents. parent organizations, teachers, and the school
The Hispanic projects used all kinds of innovative board, plus media coverage recognizing the spe-
ways to get parents to events, and so have other cial efforts of parents and teachers, as ways to
successful projects. One project used the school's attain recognition for the program.
buses. Some projects utilized escort serv ices
picking up the parents and taking them home.
Others provided the parents with money for trans-
ow do you get parents to that first event or To what organizations do they belong?
meeting? Here are ideas on the recruitment pro- Who are their spokespersons and leaders?
cess from Nicolau and Ramos (1990) and other Where are their neiohborhood centers?
sources. Where do they work?
It is crucial to find out who your school
families are and the details of their family compo-
Assign a Recruiter sition. As a first step in gathering information, you
The recruiter might be called a project coor- might survey parents when they register. As
dinator or home-school liaison. He or she should Nicolau and Ramos found, that may be the only
be someone who understands the culture and back - time a "high risk or troubled parent will appear at
ground of the parents and is sincerely interested school."
and dedicate(1, Give the recruiter time to do the In areas with large numbers of ethnic groups,
job.
the national PTA gives grants for programs that
encourage minority parents' participation in their
children's education. In San Diego, California,
Survey Your Community PTA members go into Hispanic, Asian, and Afri-
Get a clear picture of what kinds and how can-American communities to sun ey parents about
many different groups of families you have. Ques- their wants and needs (Decker and Decker 1988).
tions you might ask include:
What are their special interests, needs, and Use a Variety of Recruitment
concerns? Techniques
What at-risk groups do you haveand how
many members are there in each group? It is important not to rely on just one recruif
What barriers might keep these groups from ment strategy. Her:: are some examples of tech-
getting involved? niques used by innovative programs: "current or
Getting to know high-risk families (those If you do send a followup invitation or notice,
with multiple and serious problems) is a must, and make it nonintimidating and appealing. Don't, for
that also means home visits. It's important to instance, send it on official school stationery. Do
remember, though, that a single visit may not do it. follow up invitations to activities with a phone call
It may be necessary to make contact two or three one or two days before the event.
times to convince parents to attend an activity.
Many parents are suspicious of an invitation to In Project Home Visit in Los Angeles, a two-
become involved in school activities or feel ner- person team visits the homes of students in cases
vous if they don't speak English. where teachers' phone calls and notes have not
been effective. The teams work on facilitating a
Your home visits can be part of your commu- partnership between parent and teacher (Council
nity survey and carried out in conjunction with the of Chief State School Officers 1989).
survey. Here are questions Nicolau and Ramos
suggest you find answers to during your visits so
that you can understand who your partners are:
Post Teachers and Principals
Are they single parents, welfare parents, work- Outside the School
ing mothers, intact tamilies, large families, immi-
grant families, native-born families? This way they can personally greet parents
Do they speak English? when the parents drop off or pick up their children.
This is an effective icebreaker and makes the staff ceive special leadership training on program ob-
more "real" to the parents. jectives and school procedures.
Post parent volunteers at the school gates or in
the hallways to greet other parents personally or
Use Parents to Recruit Other give them information about upcoming events.
Parents
Build parent networks. If some Hispanic
parents, forexample, are already involved in school
Ask Parents What They Would Be
activities, encourage them to bring their neighbors
Interested in Doing
or friends to school events. Use a nuckus of Make your first event something that parents
involved at-risk parents to serve as the motiva- are interested insomething that 's on theiragenda,
tional core for organizing other at-risk families. not yours. Often they will want to start with things
These parents are most effective when they r:!- that the school doesn't. Follow their interests first,
telling parents about Mrs. Rios' generosity," says Don't tell parents they should change the
Bruce C. Davis (1989). way they are rearing their children
Instead of criticizing parents' child-rearing
practices, tell them they should consider building
Delegate responsibilities to parents
on their traditions by adding practices that will
Don't dictate what parents should do or how. better prepare their children for U.S. schools.
Use parent observers on your evaluation teams. Praise parents for the positive qualities they bring
144
157 Part 6: The Process
to their parenting, such as a strong sense of family when they are deserved. Parents receive letters
loyalty, discipline, and respect. praising them for their participation and support,
but, again, only when deserved. And this is all
done in four languages (meetings ;ire conducted in
Be generous with recognition and awards
Six, simultaneously).
"Incorporatt., tangible rewards for participa-
tion, ceremonies and rituals, and products with the In the letters, teachers ask for feedback about
program's logo or motto," say Goodson and oth- Emerson in the parents' native language and say
it's routine for 61 to 67 percent of the parents to
ers. Exampes are stickers, balloons, pins, refrig-
erator magnets. pencils, bookmarks, t-shirts, and respond to their letters. Then they translate the
parents' responses and report back to the parents
coffee mugs advertising the program's name, logo,
on what they plan to do about the parents sugges-
or motto.
tions. "Parents tell us we keep them well in-
Recognize both parents and students in news- formed," says Davis, "and that they teel no detail
letters and on school bulletin boards. Make "good is too small to warrant our attention."
news" telephone calls and establish a tone of
shared celebration to help set the stage for ongoing
If a meeting, workshop, or other event is
deemed essential for parents, then the schools
communication.
must find other ways to get that information to
One of the keys to parent involvement at the those parents who cannot be there, say D'Angelo
Ralph Waldo Emerson School in Rosemead, Cali- and Adler (1991). They suggest videotaping a
forniawhere 44 percent of the families are lim- workshop or sending a short summary lime in the
ited-English speaking, nineteen different languages next newsletter.
or dialects are represented, and 38 percent are on
According to Ziegler (1987), research shows
welfareis appropriate recognition.
that home visitsthat is, ongoing face-to-face
Every week each teacher picks two students contact between parents and teachersmay be
from his or her classroom to honor as Student of necessary to sustain the effects of parent involve-
the Week and Super Reader of the Week. Teach- ment programs.
ers present these awards at assemblies and then
phone the parents and tell them (in the parents'
native language) why their child received the 71-y new ideas and projects
award, how proud they are of the child. The school
Being innovative provides variety and re-
has been doing this for nine years and says those
news interest.
13,230 calls make a difference: If your child has
attended Emerson for seven years, chances are you For example, a unique approach to parent
have received at least seven to fourteen positive involvement was tried with Hispanic parents in
calls during that period. Texas, with great success. One of the components
was called "Rewards" and involved giving gift
It's hard to resist a plea for involvement when certificates redeemable at local stores. The idea
the school has acknowledged your child. After all, behind the rewards was to motivate parents by
if your child is doing so many things right, and the
rewarding them and their children with tangible
school can see it, then your parental skills have items for fulfilling specific obligations (attending
been validated. Most of us like to help people who
parent meetings, conferring with teachers, sup-
give us positive recognition (Davis). porting teachers in classrooms). The teachers'
cooperation was also rewarded (Nicolau and
Communicate frequently and positively Ramos).
The other key to Emerson's successful par- These rewards drew parents to the aaivities,
ent involvement program with its at-risk popula- but once parents felt comfortable about coming to
tion is "constant communication" with the fami- school, they began forgetting to collect the entry
lies of its 650 students. Teachers send thank you formsan indication that the reward had ceased
notes and letters of praise to the students, but only to be a reason for participating.
Take pictures of events, make displays, and Also, don't expect everyone at every event.
raise expectations for further parent involvement. People will choose what works for them. Different
tactics work with different groups; remember that
not everything works for everyone. If you can
attract a core group of parents and then keep them
When ready, involve parents in decision-
coming, word will spread.
making groups
Some parents might be interested in your Nicolau and Ramos conclude: "Little by little,
parent advisory committee, the PTA, or task forces. others will dare to join. They will discover that it
Sometimes they will need leadership training in is a rewarding experience and will tell their friends.
order to feel ready to be involved in this way. Keep up the effort, and one day you will find that
you can't keep the parents away."
Organize retreats
When a strong core group of parents has
emerged, retreats create cohesion, stimulate posi-
tive dynamics, and clarify the goals and objectives
of your parent program.
?he reforms of the last five years may pale Organizational change is a gradual process
against the requirements of the next 10," says the School reform requires changes of everyone,
statement on at-risk students from the Forum of not just teachers, administrators, and families, but
Educational Organization Leaders. "In fact, many of communities and social service agencies. Change
predict that the task will require nothing short of a in the school structure as a whole is often a difficult
fundamental reordering of the institution called dilemma.
school" (Reeves 1988). Some of this restructuring
will necessitate links with the larger community, Davies points out that his Schools Reaching
Out (SRO) project builds high expectations on the
including parents.
part of teachers and policymakers for change and
And it will require more money. "Any plan dramatic results. Yet urban schools are often
for major improvements in the development and plagued by poor conditions, skepticism about the
education of disadvantaged children that does not viability of new ideas, bureaucratic and financial
recognize the need for additional resources over a constraints, as well as the lethargy of tradition and
sustained period is doomed to failure," says Reeves. suspicion about or fear of change.
That includes money specifically for parent in-
volvement programs with at-risk families.
Organizational change requires collaboration
Davies says (in a preface to Krasnow 1990)
Principles of Organizational that school reform should be seen as "a slow,
Change collaborative developmental process." He adds
Davies (1989) reminds us of several points that for schools to change in their ability to share
worth remembering when developing programs the responsibility for children's development with
for at-risk families and the schools: familiesand especially at-risk families and com-
147
Conclusion
160
munitiesindividuals must become more con- They found that parents who became in-
nected to one another. Thus collaboration between volved and attended school activities became fa-
schools and other community and human service miliar with the school system; their discomfort
agencies is necessary to help at-risk children and and fear then evaporated and they began to feel
their families. they belonged. With this belonging, they became
more deeply involved in their children's educa-
tion. 'The involved parents," say Nicolau and
Outside pressure and organization are needed Ramos, "repeatedly remarked how good it felt to
for change to occur be able to help their children learn."
Without external pressure, says Davies, the Project coordinators noted some of the
builtin inertia of the school system is likely to changes they saw in the attitude and behavior of
defeat change. By outside pressure he means laws, parents. For instance, more parents telephoned
mandates, citizen protests. and citizen organiza- schools to make inquiries and ask for homework
tions demanding change. assistance with their children. Parents no longer
"Without public dissatisfaction," he empha- visited the school only when their kids were in
sizes, "politicians are unlikely to make substantial trouble but began dropping by to share problems,
shifts in the allocation of public resources. This express concerns, or ask for advice. and they no
points to the need for...work outside the schools by longer waited to be asked to come in. Many initi-
grassroots parent and community organizations to ated visits and communication with teachers. Par-
press for school reform and improved results." He ents said they felt more self-confident in general
also stresses that this has to be citizen-initiated and and felt appreciated by the school staff. Some
controlled, not dependent on the support or financ- requested additional activities (such as education
ing of school officials. training for their husbands, relatives, and friends).
These are indeed wonderful changes in these once
reluctant parents!
Parent involvement with at-risk families must Schools reaped benefits as well. These
not be seen as an end in itself or the only changes enabled teachers to do their jobs better.
component They learned how to communicate cross-culturally
Davies nightmare is that advocates of parent and found thud doing things in new ways need not
involvement will succeed too well, that there will be threatening. The ultimate satisfaction, of course,
be an upswell of interest, books, and reportsand was that teachers experienced that the students
also perhaps activities in the schoolsand yet 5 or were learning!
35 percent of our children will still be failing and
Nicolau and Ramos conclude with a quote
leaving school ill-prepared.
from Justice Holmes, which suggests what these
"The point is," he maintains, "that parent school-parent partnerships discovered. "As the
involvement should not be viewed in any way mind, once expanded..., nev. r Icturns to its oriqi-
other than as one of many needed conrections nal size," said Holmes, so Hispt.nic parents, once
between schools, families, and communities which exposed to school invoivement, never revert to
might contribute to social and academic success their original ways of thinking. They begin to alter
for all children." their parenting styles. which is greatly encourag-
ing for their children's success.
Isn't that progress? And isn't that worth. in
Is It Worth the Effort? addition to the changes in parents and children, the
Well. the Hispanic Policy Development time, patience, and creativity that must go into
Project certainty concluded it was (Nicolau and such a partnership?
Ramos 1990).
148 Omclushni
APPENDIX
ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED
WITH AT-RISK FAMILIES
9 or aditional information
about the issues discussed in
strategies and models for parent
participation.
+ Institute for Responsive
Education (Don Davies, Presi-
this report, you may wish to dent), 605 Commonwealth Av-
consult the following organiza- + Hispanic Policy Develop- enue, Boston, MA 02215. (617)
tions whose missions embrace ment Project (Siobhan Nicolau, 353-3309. IRE is k. nonprofit
at-risk youth and family in- President), 250 Park Avenue public interest organization that
volvement in schools. South, Suite 500A, New York, is studying new apRoaches to
NY 10003. (212) 529-9323. improving relations among
ASP1RA: Hispanic Commu- HPDP has published the booklet schools, parents, and the com-
nity Mobilization for Dropout Together Is Better: Building munity. Publishes reports, hand-
Prevention (Janie Petrovich. Na- Strong Partnerships Between books, and other publications.
t i nal Executive Director), Schools and Hispanic Parents and including the magazine Equity
ASP1RA Association, Inc., Na- also has an appealing pamphlet and Choice.
tional Office, 1112 16th Street for Hispanic parents (with one
NW, Suite 340, Washington, DC page in English, one in Spanish).
'rhe Language Minority Pro-
20036. (202) 835-36(X). ASP1RA gram (Richard Duran and
focuses on creating community The Home and School Insti- Alejandro Portes, Codirectors),
awareness and providing practi- tute, Inc. (Dorothy Rich, Presi- Johns Hopkins University, 3505
cal information to Hispanic par- dent), Special Projects Office, North Charles St.. Baltimore, MD
ents to help them he more effec- Suite 228, 1201 16th Street NW. 21218. (301)338-7570. The goal
tive participants in theirchildren's Washington. DC 20036. (202) of the program is to identify. de-
education. ASPIRA collaborates 466-3633. Offers publications velop, and evaluate effective
with other Hispanic community and help on how parents can get learning programs for disadvan-
organizations. The national of- involved in their children's edu- taged Hispanic, American Indian.
fice provides technical assistance, cation: has had success in work- Southeast Asian, and other lan-
training, and materials to enhance ing with at-risk families. guage minority children. The pro-
Appendix l 62 149
gram focuses on rigorous evalu- organization provides a voice for The National Rural Devel-
ations of practical, replicable pro- Chapter I parents at the federal, opment Institute (Doris Helge,
grams that can increase the lan- regional, state, and local levels. Executive Director), Western
guage skills of language minor- The coalition publishes a news- Washington University, Miller
ity children in their home lan- letter, provides training, and spon- Hall 359, Bellingham, WA
guage and in English and can sors conferences. 98225. (206) 676-3576. The in-
accelerate their learning in tradi- stitute has recently published a
National Committee for Citi-
tional school subjects. study, The National Study Re-
zens in Education (Carl
Mexican American Legal Marburger and William Rioux, garding Rural, Suburban, and Ur-
Defense and Educational Fund Codirectors), 10840 Little ban At-Risk Students, which
(Antonia Hernandez, President Patuxent Parkway, Suite 301, Co- shows that rural children are more
and General Counsel), 634 South lumbia, MD 21044. (301) 997- likely to be at risk than theircoun-
Spring Sul 11 th Floor, Los 9300 or I -800-NETWORK. terparts in cities and suburbs.
Angeles, ( A 40014. (213) 629- NCCE seeks to improve public
Parent Training and Infor-
2512. This civil rights organiza- education for all children through
mation Centers, and Technical
tion conducts a Parent Leader- increased involvement of parents
Assistance to Parent Projects
ship Program for promoting the and citizens in the community.
participation of Latino parents as
(Mildred Winter, Executive Di-
National Council of La Raza rector), 95 Berkeley Street, Suite
leaders at their children's schools.
(Raul Yzaguirre, President), 810 104, Boston, MA 02116. (617)
The program involves a twelve-
First Street NE, Suite 300. Wash- 482-2915. The Office of Special
week course, including parent-
ington, DC 20002. (202) 289- Education Programs supports a
teacher conferences and meet-
1380. This research and advo- network of sixty Parent Training
ings with school district off cials.
cacy organization works on be- and Information Centers in all
National Black Child Devel- half of the U.S. Hispanic popula- fifty states and Puerto Rico to
opment Institute (Evelyn K. tion and provides technical assis- enable parents to participate more
Moore, Executive Director), 1023 tance to community-based orga- effectively with professionals in
15th Street NW, Suite 600, Wash- nizations. NCLR's Project EX- meeting the educational needs of
ington, DC 20005. Operates a CEL is a national education dem- children with disabilities. Tech-
comprehensive tutoring and onstration project that includes nical Assistance to Parent Projects
mentoring program for low-in- tutoring services and parental
(TAPP) provides technical assis-
come, elementary school age education.
tance and coordination to the sixty
black children entitled "Each One,
National Research and De- PTICs and to developing minor-
Reach One: The Spirit of Excel-
velopment Center on Families, ity programs in urban and rural
lence" in Greensboro, North
Communities, Schools, and locations,
Carolina. and Detroit, Michigan.
Children's Learning (Don
The goal of the project is to instill Tucson Dropout Prevention
Davies and Joyce Epstein,
the values and teach the basic Collaborative (Ralph Chavez,
Codirectors), Boston University,
skills that children need for aca- Coordinator), TUSD Starr Cen-
605 Commonwealth Avenue,
demic success and serve as a ter, 102 N. Plumer, Tucson, AZ
Boston, MA 02215. (617) 353-
bridge between home and school. 85719. (602)798-2047. The Tuc-
3309. Funded in 1990 by the U.S.
National Coalition of Title I/ Department of Education's Of- son Dropout Prevention Collabo-
Chapter I Parents (Robert fice of Educational Research and rative functions as an advisory
Witherspoon, Executive Direc- Improvement in cooperation with board to the district's dropout
tor), National Parent Center, the U.S. Department of Health prevention coordinator. Part of
Edmonds School Building, 9th and Human Services, the center the collaborative is the innova .
and D Streets NE, Washington, will carry out research in family tive parent leadership program
DC 20002. (202) 547-9286. This involvement and related issues. called Commadre Network.
150 Appendix
PP
PP
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AT RISK
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