What Research Says About Parent Involvement:
•School age children spend 70% of their waking hours (including weekend and holidays) outside of school.
• The earlier in a child’s educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects.
•The most effective forms of parent involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities at home.
•When parents are involved students have: higher grades, test scores and graduation rates, better school attendance, increased motivation, better self-esteem.
•Family participation in education was twice as predictive of students’ academic success as family socioeconomic status.
• The earlier in a child’s educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects.
•The most effective forms of parent involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities at home.
•When parents are involved students have: higher grades, test scores and graduation rates, better school attendance, increased motivation, better self-esteem.
•Family participation in education was twice as predictive of students’ academic success as family socioeconomic status.
Types of Parent Involvement
There are more than one way to be an involved parent. Parent involvement truly begins at home, where something as simple as managing Homework time can make a world of difference. These are Epstein's 6 types of Parent Involvement:
1.Parenting Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families.
2.Communicating
Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.
3.Volunteering
Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.
4.Learning at Home
Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.
5.Decision Making
Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.
6.Collaborating with Community
Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.
1.Parenting Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families.
2.Communicating
Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.
3.Volunteering
Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.
4.Learning at Home
Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.
5.Decision Making
Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.
6.Collaborating with Community
Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.
Major Factors in Parent Involvement
•Parents’ beliefs about what is important, necessary and permissible for them to do with and on behalf of their children
•The extent to which parents believe that they can have a positive influence on their children’s education.
•Parents’ perceptions that their children and school want them to be involved.
•The extent to which parents believe that they can have a positive influence on their children’s education.
•Parents’ perceptions that their children and school want them to be involved.