The Home-School Connection

Lessons Learned in a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Community

Flora V. Rodriguez-Brown

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781135269586
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Bildung Allgemein

"In this unique contribution to the literature on parental involvement in culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Flora Rodríguez-Brown offers a critique of family literacy programs that lack a clear design for literacy activities relevant to community goals, offering an alternative model that is grounded within an abiding respect for the parents' role as the child's first, and ultimately, most important teacher."

Robert D. Milk, University of Texas, San Antonio

The Project FLAME program used as context for this book is a comprehensive family literacy model, supported by a strong sociocultural framework based on current research on cultural ways of learning and theories of multiliteracies and discourse. The model highlights the relevance of parents' knowledge, cultural ways, and discourses in sharing literacy knowledge with their children.

A pressing need exists for models and programs that effectively serve the educational needs of the steadily increasing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse students in U.S. public schools today. Addressing issues related to development, implementation, and effectiveness of a program model that fulfills this need, this book is an essential resource for educators, community workers, and researchers interested in the relevance of the home-school connection in relation to children's school success.

Part I
Parental Involvement and Family Literacy

Part I explains parental involvement and family literacy in order to lay a foundation for the later discussion of the home—school connection. The work of Joyce Epstein (1995) is central to any exploration of parental involvement. Epstein explains that the view taken by educators can determine the ways in which parents get involved with their children’s learning and with the schools. If teachers and school staff think of children as only students, they will also think of the family as a separate unit that is not involved in the education of the students. However, if they think of the students as children, they will more often consider both the family and the community to be potential contributors to the children’s education.

Chapter 1 begins with a definition of parental involvement and a look at research on the effectiveness of parental involvement and social and cultural differences. It also examines federal, state, and local policy regarding the obligations of school districts to provide programs that foster parental involvement. Finally, organizations that provide resources for developing and implementing a program of parental involvement are mentioned.

Chapter 2 defines family literacy as one kind of parental involvement and as literacy learning that occurs at home in culturally relevant ways that already exist in culturally and linguistically diverse families. McCarthey (1997) states that “access to literacy has been socially and culturally channeled, favoring the white, middle-class ways of making meaning at the expense of others” (p. 146). For students who are not members of the middle class, learning at school might be more difficult:

Although virtually all children in a literate society have numerous experiences with print before coming to school, race, social class and cultural and linguistic background play a role in children’s sense-making of those literacy practices.

(McCarthey, 1997, p. 146)

These views are shared by many other researchers and are central to the discussion of family literacy. Chapter 2 also describes programs identified as family literacy.

Chapter 1
Parental Involvement

Research, Policy, and Resources

Introduction

The home—school connection discussed in this book is two-way in that schools and teachers support parents with information and ideas about how to work with their children at home, while teachers become knowledgeable about parents’ cultural ways of learning, their knowledge, and aspirations for their children. As a result, teachers learn to see parents as resources in their homes, classrooms, and schools; and parents can work in partnership with the community and/or school personnel with the goal of enhancing the academic achievement of all children. In fact, effective education requires that schools and families work together and form partnerships where parents and teachers learn to respect and trust each other and to collaborate in the planning, development, and implementation of activities that support children’s learning both at home and at school.

Personal commitments and abilities might limit some parents’ involvement in school activities, but at home, all parents can provide some level of academic support to their children. Learning at home, one component of Epstein’s (1995) typology of parental involvement, is the focus of this book. It specifically discusses ways that parents can support literacy learning as their children prepare to enter school as well as during their school years. Literacy, because it is social in nature, is an area of the school curriculum in which parents can have more of an impact on learning, particularly at home. Before dealing with issues of family literacy and sociocultural practices involved in literacy learning, it is important to look at the larger picture of parental involvement. This chapter begins with a definition and then discusses the impact of parental involvement on learning, barriers to involvement, and current policy and practices for parental involvement.

Defining Parental Involvement

Parental involvement has many different meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. In general, the term is used to describe different forms of parental participation in their children’s education and with the schools. Researchers, policy makers, and teachers should be aware of the multiple meanings of the term so they can use the definition that best fits their context.

Attempts to define parental involvement have been influenced mostly by the work of Joyce Epstein, who has been researching this area for many years (1984a, 1984b, 1987, 1991, 1995). In the past, parental involvement in schools usually meant attending Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings and parent-teacher conferences. Some parents might help organize fundraising activities or serve as chaperones for field trips. However, Epstein (1995) expands the concept and identifies six types of parental involvement in schools: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. These categories are derived from Epstein’s research findings and are related to her model of spheres of influence, which deals with the overlap among schools, families, and communities. Epstein’s typology has been adopted by the National PTA (2003) as National Standards for Parental Involvement. These standards have been endorsed by more than 30 national and educational parental involvement organizations (see PTA Standards Handbook at www.pta.org).

According to Epstein, the various types of parental involvement provide parents with different opportunities to participate in their chil-dren’s schools through activities that are consistent with their own comfort level and availability, while still contributing to their children’s education. For example, some parents support their children by attending school functions, parent—teacher conferences, or other activities in the school, and by being responsive to schools. Parents also become involved in their children’s learning when they model behaviors such as reading and writing, monitor homework, interact with their children, and provide opportunities for learning at home and in the community. Parental involvement can include the role of volunteers and advocates in the school, as well as participation in school governance and decision making related to the development and planning of school activities and programs. Epstein finds that the greatest impact on student achievement comes from family participation in well-designed, at-home activities. This impact is effective across different families’ racial background and/or parents’ formal education.

Other researchers have investigated parental involvement and identified different components (Flaxman & Inger, 1992; Hester, 1989; Moore, 1991; Weisz, 1990). Weisz restricted his suggestions to roles that parents might assume as volunteers in school. Hester (1989) emphasized the importance of communication and identified four components for parental involvement: parents as teachers, parents as supporters of school activities, parents as learners, and parents as advocates. In 1993, The National PTA Board of Directors endorsed three types of parental involvement as follows: parents as the first educators in the home, parents as partners in the school, and parents as advocates for all children and youth in society.

More recently, Jones (2001) saw a need to redefine parental involvement. She felt that what schools have traditionally called parental involvement does not necessarily influence student achievement. Although classroom activities such as volunteering might be ideal for some parents, those with daytime jobs or young children at home are usually not available during school hours. Jones stated that parents who volunteer should participate in activities such as tutoring in support of children’s achievement. This type of involvement requires planning, should include many families, and needs to be ongoing.

For the purposes of this book, Epstein’s (1995) typology of parental involvement is used with the focus on learning at home.

Research

A look at research involving parental involvement can provide answers to questions such as the following: What does research tell us about the influence of parental involvement on student achievement? Why is parental involvement relevant to schools and communities? Is parental involvement a way to support children’s interest in schooling and a way to increase student achievement, or is it just an added responsibility for teachers and schools?

There are literally hundreds of documents on the subject of parental involvement including research reports, books, journal articles, expert opinions, theory papers, position statements, program descriptions, and guidelines for setting up programs. The types of parental involvement investigated include telephone and written home—school communications, attendance at school functions, parents serving as classroom volunteers, parent-teacher conferences, homework assistance/tutoring, home educational enrichment, and parental involvement in decision making and other aspects of school governance. Researchers focused on a variety of student outcome areas, including general achievement; achievement in reading, math, or other specific curricular areas; and an array of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.

Parental Involvement and School Achievement

Henderson (1987) reviewed 66 studies conducted in the area of school achievement and parental involvement. She found that when parents are involved in their children’s learning at home, children do better in school. Also, when parents are involved at school, their children go further in school, and the schools the children attend are better. In a meta-analysis of 2,500 studies, Walberg (1984) found that an academically supportive home environment is one of the first determinants of learning outcomes. The effect of what he calls “curriculum at home” (home learning activities that support school learning) is twice as large as family socioeconomic status.

Reynolds, Temple, Robertson, and Mann (2001) reported that parents’ expectations of their child’s educational attainment and satisfaction with the child’s education at school are the most consistent predictors of children’s academic achievement. Also, in a longitudinal study of the effects of parental involvement on elementary students’ achievement, Epstein (1984b) found significant increases over time, particularly in reading skills. Desimone (1999), using data from a longitudinal study done in 1988, found significant and meaningful differences between student achievement and parental involvement according to students’ race, ethnicity, and family income. This contrasts with Epstein’s (1995) earlier findings of no differences across race, ethnicity, and income.

Olmstead and Rubin (1983) evaluated the effectiveness of the Follow Through Program, one of the first U.S. government funded programs that supported learning at home. The program was based on home visits where paraprofessionals showed parents how to teach their children at home. Some of the behaviors taught in the training included: (a) explain to the learner what you are going to do; (b) give the learner time to become familiar with the materials; (c) ask questions that have more than one correct answer; and (d) entice the learner to ask questions and let the learner know when his/her answers are wrong. The researchers examined the relationship between parent behaviors taught in the program and their children’s achievement. They found changes in parental behaviors that positively affected children’s achievement. They also found a difference in parents’ behaviors between those who participated in the program and those in a control group.

More recent syntheses or reviews of literature related to parental involvement also have explored the relationship between parental involvement and school achievement (Baker & Soden, 1997; Boethel, 2003; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Jeynes, 2003; Mattingly, Prislin, McKenzie, Rodríguez, & Kayzar, 2002). All of these synthesis studies regard the relationship between parental involvement and achievement as encouraging, but state that there is still a need for further confirmation of this issue because of conflicting results. However, some of these studies warrant a closer look.

Baker and Soden (1997) reviewed 200 studies published between 1970 and 1996. Of these studies, 108 were related to relationships between parental involvement and children’s achievement, but only three used experimental designs. The results of these three studies showed some evidence of a positive impact of parental involvement on student achievement.

In their synthesis of research on parental involvement, Henderson and Mapp (2002) examined 51 studies published between 1995 and 2002. Following their analysis, the authors concluded that:

Taken as a whole, these studies found a positive … relationship between family involvement and benefits for students, including improved academic achievement. This relationship holds across families of all economic, racial/ethnic, and educational backgrounds and for students at all ages.

(p. 24)

Mattingly et al. (2002) selected 41 studies for their synthesis. Only four experimental studies met their criteria. Of those four studies, only two, done in the 1970s, showed an increase in achievement among children whose parents participated in an intervention program. This is another example of conflicting results.

Parental involvement in minority families was discussed by Jeynes (2003) in a meta-analysis of 20 studies that involved African American, Latino, and Asian American families at different income levels. Looking at the relationship between parental involvement and school achievement of children from those families, Jeynes found some variations across populations but concluded that parental involvement had a significant impact on the achievement of the minority children included in the studies.

Another study that looked at the achievement of Mexican American children found similar results. In a longitudinal study, Keith and Licht-man (1994) reported a significant influence of parental involvement on the achievement of Mexican American children.

Finally, a synthesis by Boethel (2003) included 64 studies that examined issues of diversity in relation to student achievement and family, community, and school connections. The synthesis discussed the role of minority and/or low-income families in supporting their children’s school achievement. It also addressed barriers to parental involvement for minority and low-income families. The synthesis produced these seven main findings, which are summarized below:

1. In spite of the fact that all families have high aspirations for their children, there is limited research that shows a relationship between parental high aspirations and student achievement.
2. Minority families are actively involved in their children’s schooling, although their involvement might be different from that of white, middle-class families.
3. Reports from schools and families about parental involvement are inconsistent.
4. Research studies have identified barriers for minority families to becoming involved with their children’s schooling. These barriers include contextual constraints, language differences, cultural beliefs, and lack of knowledge, among others.
5. There are limited and inconsistent research findings as to whether an increase in parental involvement leads to improved academic achievement.
6. Some intervention strategies show promise in enhancing parental involvement, but there is not much research available in this area.
7. According to some studies, it is necessary to address the complexity of interactions between family, community, and schools as a way to close the achievement gap among minority and low-income populations.

The purpose for describing the results of different research syntheses on parental involvement, using a variety of selection criteria for the data involved in the analysis, is to allow common findings to surface. Although results of studies are sometimes contradictory, the general tendency is toward a positive relationship between parental involvement and school achievement. Positive effects can occur across race, socio economic status (SES), and other sociocultural variables, as previously reported by Epstein (1995).

Effective Parental Involvement

Some researchers have looked at kinds of parental involvement, especially within ethnic and economic subgroups. Others, however, also investigated the effectiveness of types of involvement to determine which ones make the most difference in student achievement. Vandergrift and Greene (1992) believed that effective parental involvement should have two components: parents as supporters of the educational process, and parents as active partners with schools. In addition to defining parental involvement at the school level, Cochran and Dean (1991) stressed the importance of providing examples of effective parental participation in meaningful interactions with children and in decision making.

With regard to effective parental involvement, Epstein (1986) stated, “Research suggests that although parents’ educational backgrounds differ, more—and less—educated parents have similar goals as the school for their children’s education” (p. 125). Research conducted by Epstein (1984a) with Title I data showed that the most effective parental involvement occurs when teachers involve parents in helping their children with learning activities at home.

Research also has shown that the more intensively parents were involved in their children’s learning, the more beneficial the achievement effects. Another finding was that the earlier parents started participating in their children’s learning, the more powerful the effects on their children’s future achievement (Cotton & Wakelund, 1989). Active parental involvement (parent-child interactions where the child was learning cognitive concepts and skills in a playful, culturally relevant manner) produced greater achievement benefits than passive participation (signing forms, calling the school, attending parent-teacher conferences) (Henderson & Berla, 1994).

Some studies showed that parents were willing to help their child but did not know exactly what to do. In these cases, mediation from the teachers resulted in more effective parental involvement. A survey of 2,317 elementary and middle schools (Dauber & Epstein, 1989) found that the strongest and most consistent predictors of parental involvement at home and at school were the specific school programs or teacher practices that encouraged parental involvement in school and guided parents in how to help their children at home. In this study, parents in general said they wanted to support their children’s learning but they wanted the school to show them specific ways to do so.

In a qualitative study of parental involvement, Goldenberg (1987) found that low SES, culturally, and linguistically different families were capable of helping their children learn to read by directly helping with the school curriculum. The study showed that many parents tended to use their own cultural ways of learning while teaching their children at home. Goldenberg sta...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part I Parental Involvement and Family Literacy
• Part II Project FLAME
• Part III The School-to-Home Connection
• Epilogue: Reflections on the Road Traveled
• Appendix: Sample Lesson from Project FLAME Manual
• References