Parent Involvement: Literature Review and Database of Promising Practices

Author: Caplan, J., Hall, G., Lubin, S., Fleming, R.
Publisher: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL)
Publication Date: 1995
Full text available online at: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/pidata/pi0over.htm

Abstract (written by WestEd)

Based on a review of the literature, more important than the particular strategies chosen to increase parent involvement in schools is how they are implemented. The database presents a sample of 27 promising programs for improving parent involvement, grouped and linked according to three categories: program magnitude (school, district, national, etc.); program focus/features (family literacy, parent education, parent/teacher relations, etc.); and target population (pre-K, elementary, middle, or high school). Parent involvement strategies seem to cluster around two approaches: at-school activities that support the teacher-parent relationship and influencing parents to encourage learning and value schooling in the home.

Supporting Teacher-Parent Relationships. Frequent and effective communications from teachers about classroom content and individual information about the child leads to parents following through on suggested activities, especially when teachers show enthusiasm for the activities.

Roles for Parents. Home visitations can increase volunteerism in school and on committees. Involvement in meaningful decision-making about school programs is linked to student achievement.

Parent Involvement Efforts. Parents can become involved in academics through social and recreational activities as a safe entryway. Schools need to provide childcare and sometimes transportation to increase school visitations and attendance at meetings. Teachers of young children are the most frequent users of parent involvement techniques; coincidentally, parent involvement practices decline at the middle and high school levels (resulting from adolescents wanting autonomy from parents, further distance to school, less teacher-student contacts, and no one teacher responsible for any student).

At the secondary level, parents can limit recreational TV viewing and ensure completion of homework. Dropouts tend to have disengaged parents or parents who respond to poor grades by punishing their children and who rarely discuss school issues. Most teachers feel parent involvement is important but feel it is not their responsibility.

Sometimes school culture and home culture collide, and miscommunication and wrong perceptions are the result. Feeling comfortable going to the school, knowing how to work with their children at home on learning activities, and feeling valued are keys to increasing parent involvement, especially for minority parents.