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ERIC ED424933: Parents as School Partners Dissemination Kit. PDF

58 Pages·1996·2.7 MB·English
by  ERIC
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 424 933 PS 027 039 TITLE Parents as School Partners Dissemination Kit. INSTITUTION National Council of Jewish Women, New York, NY. Center for the Child. SPONS AGENCY Danforth Foundation, Clayton, MO.; General Mills Foundation, Wayzata, MN.; Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI. PUB DATE 1996-00-00 NOTE 57p.; Funding also received form the Kalman & Ida Wolens Foundation. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Jewish Women, 53 West 23rd Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10010; Tel: 212-645-4048; Fax: 212-645-7466; Web site: http://www.ncjw.org; e-mail: [email protected] PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Academic Achievement; Administrator Attitudes; Educational Policy; *Elementary Secondary Education; *Family School Relationship; Focus Groups; *Information Dissemination; Literature Reviews; Parent Attitudes; Parent Participation; *Parent School Relationship; *Parents; Partnerships in Education; Principals; Superintendents; Teacher Attitudes; Teachers ABSTRACT Parents as School Partners is a volunteer research initiative of the National Council of Jewish Women and its research institute, called the Center for the Child. This initiative focuses on parent involvement to promote children's school success. This document contains a project overview and six accompanying reports providing a detailed presentation of the project's activities: (1) surveys of 193 school district superintendents regarding the existence of parent involvement policies and the types of programs being enacted to implement these policies; 33 focus (2) groups with parents, teachers, and principals about what parent involvement means to them and what they need to make it work; (3) a compilation of replicable school-based programs for enhancing parent involvement; (4) a literature review of over 200 articles on the impact of parent involvement on children's school success. The findings provided a broad description of current issues in the field of parent involvement and revealed that although there was widespread consensus among parents and educators that parent involvement is critical to children's school success, parents and schools do not share a vision of how to educate children. Both parents and teachers identified a need for open dialogue between homes and schools, especially for interactions that are positive and not problem-focused. Professional and inservice training for teachers on working with families is not widely available. The findings reported that most model parent involvement programs require parents to conform to school practice rather than training educators to accommodate to the culture of parents, or to incorporate parents' views. The six accompanying reports include, "Program Compilation: Replicable Programs to Enhance Parent Involvement"; "Literature Review: A Critical Review of the Research Evidence"; "Parent Focus Groups: Voices from the Field"; "Teacher Focus Groups: Voices from the Field"; "School Principal Focus Groups: Voices from the Field"; and "School District Superintendents Survey: Parent Involvement Policies, Programs, & Practices." (Author/KB) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0 This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 4:1110 )(Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this akj6:4, document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. As _ are_ ners _ A PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY R,c(w3 e;1 BEST COPY AVAILABLE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 2 -- Parents As School Partners P - vw vo 4111100r v. 4.0 s' -Alb 1:ecr 1M- 11.._ 241 _if- r ):: -AKAmit -nk' na-likw - u NCJW CENTER FOR THE 7110.. 13EST COPY AVAILABU Parents As School Partners 3 0 ( ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Project Overview 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Parents As School Surveys of 193 school dis- Partners is a volunteer trict superintendents research initiative of the regarding the existence of National Council of Jewish parent involvement policies Women (NCJW) and its and the types of programs applied research institute, being enacted to imple- the Center for the Child. ment these policies. This action/research project Thirty-three focus groups focuses on parent involve- with parents, teachers, and ment to promote their chil- principals to hear from the dren's school success, a topic "voices in the field" what that has received significant national attention. parent involvement means to them and what they Parents As School Partners is unique in its simulta- need to make it work. neous consideration of policies, programs, practice, A compilation of replicable school-based programs and research to determine the status of current for enhancing parent involvement. knowledge in the field of parent involvement. As the start of its long term commitment to this A critical and scholarly literature review of over 200 articles on the impact of parent involvement issue, in the spring of 1995 NCJW launched Parents on children's school success. As School Partners with funding from the Danforth Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the The knowledge gained from these activities pro- Kalman and Ida Wolens Foundation, and General vides an in-depth investigation of what we do and do Mills Foundation. Four preliminary activities were not know about parent involvement, what policies conducted to make a significant contribution to the and programs are being enacted, and what they are field of parent involvement. These activities involved likely to mean in the lives of those most affected. both researchers at the Center for The six accompanying reports provide a more the Child and volunteers in 52 detailed presentation of each of the project activi- NCJW Sections around the ties which together make up the Parents country: As School Partners project. The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 90,000 member volunteer organization with a onehundred year history of community service, advocacy, research, and education. NCJW's Center for the Child was founded in 1983 to conduct research to improve programs and policies for children and their families. Working together, NCJW Sections and the Center for the Child can make a difference in the lives of women, children, and families. For more information, please contact Dr. Amy Baker, Director, NCJW Center for the Child, 53 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010 Ph: (212) 645-4048 Fax: (212) 645-7466 4 Parents As School Partners 0 0 0 Parent Involvement: Challenges and Opportunities 0 0 0 The data collected from the four Parents As School Partners activities provides a broad mapping of current issues in the field of parent involvement. Ten major themes emerged which deserve special attention as they point to directions in future programs and practice. There is widespread consensus among parents, educators, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers that parent involvement is critical to children's school success. , While parents and schools share a common mission of educating children, they do not share a vision of how to accomplish this goal. There are inherent tensions in the roles and responsibilities of parents and teachers. Parent involvement theory and exemplary parent involvement programs recognize the value of creating meaningful partnerships among homes and schools in order to enhance parent involvement. These partnerships recognize and value the unique contribution of homes and schools to the education of children. There is a need for more open dialogue between homes and schools, especially interactions that are positive and not problem-focused. Parents and teachers want more opportunities to talk about how parent involvement feels to them and how it can be enhanced. Professional and in-service training for teachers on working with families is not yet widely available. Parent involvement requires effort on the parts of teachers and parents who do not have regularly scheduled time in their daily routines for parent involvement. There are many institutional and personal barriers to effective home-school partnerships. There are few opportunities for personal and individualized contact between parents and teachers. A-3C2E ACANO Most model parent involvement programs require parents to conform to school practice rather than training educators to accommodate to the cultures of or incorporate the views of parents. Less is known about the effectiveness of specific types of parent involvement for enhancing children's school achievement than commonly has been assumed. ../ Thanks to the following NCJW Sections who participated in the Parents As School Partners Project Akron (OH) Gr. Kansas City (KS) Gr. Rochester (NY) Baltimore (MD) Kendall (FL) Sacramento (CA) Chicago (IL) Long Beach (CA) San Jose (CA) Cleveland (OH) Los Angeles (CA) Seattle (WA) Concordia (NJ) Louisville (KY) Gr. Somerset (NJ) Contra Costa (CA) Marin County (CA) South Cook (IL) Gr. Dallas (TX) Gr. Miami (FL) South Suburban (MA) Gr. Danbury (CT) Mid Bergen (NJ) St. Louis (MO) Gr. Detroit (MI) Milwaukee (WI) Stamford (CT) Edison (NJ) Gr. Minneapolis (MN) Gr. Syracuse (NY) El Paso (TX) Mt. Diablo (CA) Gr. Teaneck (NJ) Essex (NJ) Nashville (TN) University (FL) 4 Evanston-Niles (IL) Gr. New Haven (CT) Valley (AZ) Hollywood (FL) Gr. New Orleans (LA) West Morris (NJ) t* Houston (TX) New York (NY) West Virginia (WV) Howard County (MD) Northern Virginia (VA) Gr. Westchester (NY) Jacksonville (FL) Peninsula (NY) Worcester (MA) Pittsburgh (PA) k Special thanks to the NCJW Gr. Miami Section (FL) for helping underwrite these materials. Z1 Zi S. " pi,VJ '...- 1,1 f 70# V / I tc` We would like to gratefully acknowledge the following foundations for their support: Danforth Foundation W.K. Kellogg Foundation General Mills Foundation Kalman & Ida Wolens Foundation The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the funders. National Council of Jewish Women 53 West 23rd Street, 6th floor New York, NY 10010 Ph: (212) 645-4048 Fax: (212) 645-7466 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.ncjw.org 6ortyl A A 4 el4L, I. 3 Or t4w cs7 Q. ri cy ,01( ; I tt folt d 0 P f c-7 / oi... e,_ c 5"-----!-2 d;;- ?.; I'S c/p 9 ii\,_ cy, , <, ,(9 <-3 ,N:\-7), ',11"1<.-.,\. 0 CO v 0 S "se 7-) 71-7/71\7-2,`" j-T Fx"-} IP ' 44.10 - Nrrtio. p 7 , 0=110.1... Special thanks to the NCJW Gr. Miami Section (FL) for helping underwrite these materials. The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 90,000 member volunteer organization with a onehundred year history of community service, advocacy, research, and education. NCJW's Center for the Child was founded in 1983 to conduct research to improve programs and policies for children and their families. ProgranrCompilation: Weplicable Programs To Enhance Parent Involvement The Issue 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 There is widespread consensus that To address this need, the NCJW Center for the Child identified and parent involvement is a key compo- nent for the school success of researched promising parent involve- America's children. Based on this ment programs for school districts around the country. The program com- belief, policies are being enacted to promote and increase parent involve- pilation was one of four activities of Parents As School Partners, NCJW's ment at all levels of schooling. volunteer research and action project Therefore, schools will be seeking exploring parent involvement to pro- innovative programs to foster school- home partnerships. mote children's school success. Procedures O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Programs were considered for inclu- gathered to determine if it could be through rigorous program evaluation sion in the compilation if they could be considered "promising" for implemen- was not considered a criteria of promis- implemented by schools, were for tation by schools based on its current ing programs. While this would be school-agecrchildren, and aimed to use and a well-documented set of pro- ideal, too few of the programs were rig- increase parent involvement. gram materials. It is important to note orously evaluated to meet that criteria. Information about each program was that having demonstrated effectiveness oo oo o o oo 000 The Findings 00000 o o o o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o a Five types of school-based programs to provide parents with skills and strong emphasis on parental involve- for improving parent involvement were information to increase involvement ment in every aspect of the program. in their children's education. identified: OTHER PROGRAMS: MULTI-COMPONENT CURRICULUM MODELS: Programs which did not fit into any PROGRAMS: Programs with a fully developed cur- other categories. These programs aim riculum in which parents and chil- Programs which have many compo- to train teachers, enhance parent dren work together to improve the nents, including parent workshops, volunteerism, increase school-home child's skills and abilities. These pro- home-based materials, and a parental communication and bring books into grams deliver materials to parents decision-making component. the home. through workshops or home visits, or by sending them home with children. HOME-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS: The chart on the following pages pro- Programs which are not vides basic information about these promis- PARENT WORKSHOPS: curriculum-based, but which aim to ing programs. improve the school climate with a Programs which consist of workshops Highlights There are few parent involvement programs for parents of children older than elementary school-aged. Few parent involvement programs have been rigorously evaluated. Most parent involvement programs aim to change parents' behavior. There are few parent involvement programs for training teachers or changing the way that schools and parent interact. Parents As School Partn4rs cas Ut, Program Compilation: Freplicable Programs To Enhance Parent Involvement 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Curriculum Models 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DURATION PROGRAM CONTACT PARENT INVOLVEMENT GRADE PROGRAM YEAR Virginia Schmidt Parents learn a variety of 5-12 Yrs 17 books Bowdoin 1975 Webster International Inc. parent involvement lessons, Method I/II (800) PARNTED cognitive skills, how children learn, and emotional and social (800) 727-6833 needs of children. Duvall County Board of Ongoing Parents receive calendars from K-6th Calendar of 1992 Education, Michael Walker school with daily learning Skills (904) 771-2417 activity suggestions. Parent-child, parent-school, 8 2 1/2-hour Family Service America Prek-3rd Families and 1988 parent-parent,.parent-team, Linda Wheeler, Director sessions with Schools and parent-community monthly follow- Together (414) 359-1040 interactions. (414) 359-1074 (fax) (FAST) up sessions K-9th Virginia Thompson, Parents learn how to work with Family Math 3-6 1981 child on math activities. Director 2-hour sessions (510) 642-1823 Dorothy Rich, Ongoing Parent learn in workshops how Elem. 1988 Mega Skills Home School Institute & Mid. to use "recipes" of home learning activities with child. Focus on life (202) 466-3633 skills for academic achievement and emotional growth. Adrienne Adams, Parents are trained to use Parents and 2 3-hour Elem. 1982 Instructional Technology & Mid educational software to use at Computers sessions Detroit Public Schools home with child. Teaching (313) 596-3534 Students (PACTS) lst-3rd Parents are trained to interact Pam Lott, Ongoing Parents as 1986 positively with their children Grandview Consolidated Educational and to work with their children School District Partners at home. (816) 761-7246 (PEP) Parents learn in workshop Karen Sullivan, Parents on 1 3-hour 4-14 Yrs workshop how to help children Active Parenting Press Board succeed in school. (800) 825-0060 7th Parents study with child one Push for June Brown, PUSH-EXCEL 10 weeks hour per weeknight. (312) 373-3366 Excellence K-8th Children interact with parents Karen Clark Salinas, Teachers Ongoing 1988; John Hopkins University or other family members to share Involves 1995 Parent in (rev) ideas and to complete homework. (410) 516-8818 Schoolwork as Parent& As School Partners 4, 10 3

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