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PARENT INVOLVEMENT

 

Parent/Family involvement is the participation of parents in every facet of the education and development of children from birth to adulthood, recognizing that parents are the primary influence in their children's lives. Effective parent involvement takes many forms, including:

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Communicating

• Parenting

• Student learning

• Volunteering

• School decision making and advocacy

• Collaborating with the community

 

(National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, National PTA, 2004)

RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT: HIGHER STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT • Students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents’ education level. • Students have higher test grades and test scores, better attendance, and complete homework more consistently. • Students have higher graduation rates and greater enrollment rates in post secondary education. • Student achievement for disadvantaged students improves dramatically.

 

RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT: STUDENT BEHAVIOR • Students exhibit more positive attitude and behavior. • Students have more self-confidence and feel school is more important. • Student behaviors such as alcohol use, violence, and other antisocial behaviors decrease.

 

RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT: CULTURE • Children from diverse cultural backgrounds tend to do better when parents and professionals work together to bridge the cultural gap between home and school. • The school’s practices to inform and involve parents are stronger factors in whether parents will be involved in their children’s education than are parent education, family size, and marital status. • Successful schools engage families from diverse backgrounds, build trust and collaboration, recognize and respect and address family needs, and develop a partnership where power and responsibility is shared. • For low-income families, programs offered in the community or at church or through home visits are more successful than programs requiring parents to come to the school.

 

RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT: AGE • Parent involvement clearly benefits students in the early years, but continued parental involvement shows significant gains at all ages and all grade levels. • Middle school and high school students make better transitions, maintain the quality of their work, and develop realistic plans for the future.

 

RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT: SCHOOL QUALITY • Schools with parent-teacher organizations have higher student achievement. • Improved teacher morale and higher ratings of teachers by parents. • When schools are held accountable, school districts make positive changes in policy and practice, improve school leadership and staffing, secure resources and funding to improve the curriculum and provide after-school and family support programs. • Schools have more support from families and more respect in the community. • Schools make greater gains on state tests.

 

(National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, National PTA, 2004)

Parents are a child's first teacher.

“Parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers. Parents often replace spending time with their children with spending money on their children. It is important to remember, children need your presence, not your presents.

 

” National PTA, 2000

By working together with the schools, parents and families can have an even greater influence. They can encourage their children to excel, build self-esteem, and reinforce skills being taught through the schools.

“Schools with strong community partnerships show some common patterns that have led to increased test scores through a type of beneficial chain reaction.

 

” Thomas Hatch, 1998

PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT:

HIGHER STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

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• Students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents’ education level.

• Students have higher test grades and test scores, better attendance, and complete homework more consistently.

• Students have higher graduation rates and greater enrollment rates in postsecondary education.

• Student achievement for disadvantaged students improves dramatically.

 

(National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, National PTA, 2004)

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