Parental involvement in the classroom.

Improving parental involvement with public schools can improve schools. Parental involvement is highly important for pushing the public school systems to higher standards. Also, research reports that engaging parents in an active role in the school curriculum can open alternative opportunities for children to succeed in academics. This report will present information that addresses the amount of contact that parents have with school and the amount of time they volunteer in the classrooms. To develop effective parent-involvement programs, which range from greater support for the school programs to improved student achievement, researchers must investigate how to help school leaders identify practices and policies that encourage parent trust and involvement in the process of schooling.

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Because of the rapid advance of the high standards, accountability, and testing movements in schools throughout the nation, there will be a need to engage families and communities as partners. Schools success and community success are linked. Schools are seldom able to be much better than their neighborhoods and surrounding communities. Neighborhoods and communities are seldom able to stay healthy without good schools. Schools should be active partners with parents. Parents are an important part of the process of improving schools, as is giving parents an effective voice in decision making in the schools. Schools and teachers have long recognized the need to establish cooperative links between school and family. Collaboration between parents and schools has taken on increased importance as society recognizes the need to help parents with the difficult responsibility of educating their children. Extending efforts to build partnerships in parental involvement may spark strategies that will benefit students.

Getting Parents Involved

Nistler and Angela (2000) focused on how a parent-student program could work with low-income urban parents. The authors developed a program involving parents and students from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m. on designated Fridays. This study focused on first grade students for two different school years. Approximately one-third of the parents had no high school diploma. The program had four phases. The first phase consisted of parents and students reading poems aloud in the class. The second phase consisted of parents and students reading and singing the alphabet song. The third phase consisted of parents and students participating in various literacy and math programs. Finally, the last phase consisted of a parent-teacher conference. During year one 96.5% of the students had a parent or a representative to attend. During year two 94.5% of the students had a parent or representative present. The authors found if they removed barriers such as babysitting and transportation, the parents showed for class. Soon, the program had a sense of ownership for the parents. Even if the parents lacked "knowledge, they were still interested and wanted to take part in the school program.

Simmons-Morton and Crump (2003) conducted a study with students in grades sixth through eighth in four middle schools in suburban Maryland school district. The students were surveyed at the beginning and end of each grade level investigated. A Liken-type survey instrument was used to assess student background, psychosocial, school, and parent variables and involvement in problem behavior. Only social competence and parental involvement were independent predictors of both school adjustment and school engagement. School climate was not associated independently with either school adjustment or school engagement. Depression was associated with school adjustment, but not associated with school engagement. Moreover, parental involvement was a better predictor of school adjustment and engagement than other measures of parenting behavior, including monitoring and expectations.

Munoz (2000) studied the differences in student learning on reading and mathematics related to parental volunteerism in Kindergarten. The results of the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) indicated that parental volunteerism in Kindergarten raised reading test scores, but it did not have an impact on mathematics test scores. Children benefit significantly when adults take strong interest in their education as most other studies show. Positive contributions can often show up in unforeseen ways.

When parents get involved in the classroom they send a valuable message to their child. They show that they truly care about the children's success and the resulting benefit is that students' feel more confident. A study by Adunyarittigun (1997) was one of the most important indicators of a relationship between parent volunteers and reading performances. Pelco, Ries, Jacobson, and Melka (2000) studied ten students. There were four fourth and six sixth grade students from various socioeconomic backgrounds. The Burns/Roe Informal Reading Inventory was used as a measure of the students' word recognition ability and comprehension skills. Measures did show poor aspects of reading ability and low motivation in the ten students. The Reader Self-Perception Scale (RSPS) was used to determine how students felt about themselves as a reader. Parents were given a similar author-developed Liken scale questionnaire to determine parent's thoughts about their own child as a reader. Adunyarittigun found that parental involvement influenced the students' self-perceptions as a reader and also increased the students' desire to read. The parents had served as models of good reading habits and held strategic reading discussions. But more importantly, had given positive feedback and encouragement to the students.

Fan (2001) tried to define the effects that parental involvement had on students' achievement. This study was to examine the parental involvement over a four-year period of the high school level to determine what implication that might hold. The measure of students' academic achievement was determined by test scores and school grades. This study claimed that grade specific scores and/or subject specific scores may be preferable over tests such as the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), which are more general and standardized. This study used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, This study administered three types of questionnaires per student (student, parent, and teacher). Tests were then distributed to determine achievement in the areas of reading, mathematics, science and social studies. The study did follow-ups in 1990, 1992, and 1994.

High school volunteerism is vastly different from the elementary grades. Rarely is a parent seen in a volunteer capacity inside the classroom. The majority of the parent volunteer tasks at this age pertain to extracurricular activities or to parent teacher organizations. However, this study did show that parent volunteers do continue to have an impact on students' outcomes. Fan's (2001) study did show that a parent's educational aspirations can significantly influence the academic achievement of students.

Encouraging Parental Collaboration with Schools

Principals and teachers together can establish new approaches to encourage parental joint efforts to increase student learning. Finding realistic and workable ways to involve parents and other community representatives in planning, establishing policy, and making decisions regarding mainline educational issues can create a positive atmosphere and make changes for higher academic standards.

Miedel and Reynolds (1999) conducted a thirteen year longitudinal study in the Chicago Public Schools. This study focused on the association between reports of parental involvement in early childhood intervention and children's reading achievement in kindergarten and eighth grade as well as rates of grade retention and special education placement through age 14. This study traced the scholastic and social development of participating children, contributions of family, and school practices. Survey questions were answered about their child's early childhood education, school experiences, and their participation in early childhood programs a decade earlier. Kindergarten reading achievement was measured using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS Early Primary Battery, Form 7 Level 5). The eighth grade reading achievement was measured using the ITBS Level 13/14. The reading comprehension subtest was used for this study. Retention rates were determined by school records. Special education placement was also determined by school records.

Results from the multiple data colleted showed that the frequency for which a parent reported being involved in kindergarten was positively associated with kindergarten and eighth-grade reading achievement, and retention rate. Logistic regression indicated that the number of activities in which a parent reported being involved was not significantly associated with special education placement (p<.001). However, parent involvement decreased the child's years in special education (p<0.5).

Although the relation between family factors and children's success is complex, the positive influence of parent involvement promoted a family-school partnership that increased constructive child outcomes. Parents may not be able to increase children's IQ, but they can monitor their children's educational progress and intervene when they begin to falter.

An interesting study by Thurston and Navarrete (2003) reported the concern of the impact of poverty on children's development and learning. This study of low-income rural mothers in four states investigated the differences of school involvement for mothers with children with and without special needs. This research involved 263 women in economically poor families from four states: Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. The alarmingly high fifty-four or about 40% of the rural poor mothers in this study reported having at least one special needs child. Mothers were nearly unanimous in their interest in getting involved with their children's schools, but this study reported they were not comfortable around teachers. Poor parents are far less likely to be involved in school-based activities and far less likely to meet with educators due to this sense of intimidation and past negative experiences. School personnel must understand that low-income mothers are likely to have little formal education and poverty and rural living may be a greater hardship than having a child with a disability.

Conclusion

Improving parental involvement can better schools. Parental involvement is highly important for pushing the system for higher standards and engaging parents in an active role in the school curriculum can open alternative opportunities for children. These are just some of the benefits of parental involvement. The best educational results occurred when school and families collaborate. The role of parents is strengthened when they meaningfully participate in their children's educational achievements. The amount of contact that parents have with school and the amount they volunteer can be influenced positively by more proactive communication by the school. To develop effective parent-involvement programs, which range from greater support for the school program to improved student achievement, researchers must investigate how to help school leaders identify practices and policies that encourage parent trust and involvement in the process of schooling. Likewise, encouraging pre-service education for teachers on family involvement would help improve teacher training for successful methods of family involvement. When parents and the educational system join together with researchers and developers to implement a system that reflects not only sound instruction but also evidence-based practices, resources can be directed systematically toward ensuring positive outcomes for children and families.

Some recommendations for developing a parent-school collaboration program should focus on the following:

* Creating more frequent opportunities for positive communication among the school, parents, and community.

* Reduce the barriers that prevent parental involvement (provide babysitters or child care to allow parents the ability to attend school related activities; schedule requested parent-teacher conferences during times that are favorable to the parent's schedule).

* Provide formal educational workshops for parents that will serve to increase the parent's ability to be more aware of their children's academic potential and aspirations.

References

Adunyarittigun, D. (1997). Effects of the parent volunteer program upon students' self-perception as a reader. (Report No. CS012713). University of Maryland College Park. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED404617).

Fan, X. (2001). Parental involvement and students' academic achievement: A growth modeling analysis. Journal of Experimental Education, 70(1), 27-53.

Miedel, W. T., & Reynolds, A. J. (1999). Parent involvement in early intervention for disadvantaged children. Journal of School Psychology, 37(4), 379-401.

Munoz, M. A. (2000). Parental volunteerism in kindergarten: Assessing its impact in reading and mathematics test. (Report No. PS030368). University of Louisville, KY. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED464745).

Nistler, R. J., & Angela, M. (2000). Stopping the silence: Hearing parents' voices in an urban first-grade family literacy program. Reading Teacher, 53(8), 670-681.

Pelco, L. E., Ries, R. R., Jacobson L., & Melka, S. (2000). Perspectives and practices in family-school partnerships: A national survey of school psychologists. School Psychology Review, 29(2), 239-254.

Ramirez, A. Y. (2001). Parent involvement is like apple pie: A look at parental involvement in two states. High School Journal, 85(1), 1-9.

Simmons-Morton, G., & Crump, A. D. (2003). Association of parental involvement and social competence with school adjustment and engagement among sixth graders. Journal of School Health, 73(3), 121-126.

Thurston, L. P., & Navarrette, L. A. (2003). Rural, poverty-level mothers: A comparative study of those with and without children who have special needs. Rural Special Education Quarterly 22(1), 15-23.

Sandra M. Machen, Graduate Student, Secondary Education. Janell D. Wilson, Ph.D., Professor, Secondary Education, Charles E. Notar, Ed.D, Assistant Professor, Secondary Education, Jacksonville State.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Janell D. Wilson at [e-mail].