PROPOSAL REPORT

TITLEPARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S EDUCATION

BYNURUL NADIRAH BINTI RAMLI

BACHELOR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONMANAGEMENT SCINCE UNIVERSITY

IntroductionTHIS STUDY BACKGROUND

There are some views in relation to a child's development and behavior. Every child has a

different development and behavior. This is influenced by the environment associated

with the attachment, autonomy, initiative, and self. Educators need to understand and see

the children in kindergarten institutions from a range of angles in order to address the

problems faced by children. This understanding will help to implement the program of

early childhood education more effectively.

There are several definitions of attachment or attachment based on a number of theorists

ethologi. Ethologi study is a study in relation to human and animal behavior in natural

conditions. Here are the views and definitions of attachment according to figures ethologi

members.

(a) Lorenz through observation studying the behavioral patterns of a group of geese. He

concluded that we would not understand the children if we do not observe his behavior in

their natural environment.

(b) John Bowlby has continued to study the Lorenz. He noted that young children form

attachments and intimate emotional attachment to parents or adults who replace real

parents.

Bowlby defines attachment behavior as any behavior that helps the baby closer to the

individual attachment. Attachment may also intended as a close and cordial relations

which create a strong and loving person with a different binding.

(c) a strong attachment relationship and high childhood will affect the lives of individuals

compared with a weak attachment relationship. The effect is as follows:

(i) Have a high self-esteem

(ii) To feel more accepted by family

(iii) To feel more accepted by peers

(iv) To feel more accepted by society

For example, a child who is too attached to his mother would find it difficult to part with,

especially when the mother would be sent to kindergarten.

2

COMMITMENTS parents with their children at home, especially when it is very

important and the research proves it brought significant improvement in the success of a

child.

International study of the 2009 International Student Assessment Program conducted by

the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that the way how to

involve parents spend with children at home affect its success.

This is supported by statistics that 52 percent of the time students spend at home and in

the community compared to only 15 percent of the time they are in school.

Data were obtained from a sample of student timetables 2011 Ministry of Education for

the use of pupils aged seven to 16 years based on 42 weeks in a school with an average of

5.5 hours in school every day, two hours a week curricular activities and sleep eight

hours a day.

3

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

PARENTINVOLVEMENTINPRESCHOOLEDUCATION 

CONCEPTOFPARENTING 

Parents are the first and longest gru for their children. In the normal process of

development, the mother father that much support perkembanganbahasa, social and

academic their children. There is positive evidence over the last 30 years that enunjukkan

that teach specific skills for parents can help in the development of children under their

care. 

Parent family is the basic unit and very important role in the formation of a family. To get

the family dynamic management, proactive danmenepati changing times. The role of

parents is very pentng and should be viewed as a macro and all this terlbat be

committed. In addition to family factors, environmental factors need diambi jug off. In

order medirikan a happy family and efficient, the concept of "let the curved bamboo

shoots" should be emphasized. Parents are one unit and must carry yarns proactive

management of science and humanity. 

Parenting is the hardest job of all, but most parents receive little or no direct formal

training in parenting skills. However, parents often dkritik for every mistake they

make. Psychologists have studied the practice of parenting to the parents. 

Family involvement can be seen in many ways depending on the context. Epstein

describes the theory peru cooperation exists between the school, family and

community. The following types of non-involvement hierarchy, but it is a framework for

linking kelarga, community members and professionals of early childhood education. Six

types pnglibatan by Epstein parents is: 

4

1 Parenting: helping families parenting skills and understanding of child development 

2 Communication: adopt various means of effective communication between schools and

families. 

3 volunteerism encourage voluntary berkhdmat family in many ways. 

4 Learning at home: involving family support learning activities at home. 

5 Make a decision: involving families in the management and organization persekolah

related. 

6 Collaborating with the community: coordinating community services for the common

good. 

Parenting principles should be viewed from a micro and makro.kemahiran parenting is

fundamental to the well-being of families, communities and countries. Eibubapaan not

limited to parents, but also the maturity and readiness erhubungkait with other institutions

to work together. 

PRINCIPLES

Parenting by giving happiness to the parents as well as challenging for parents to find

effective ways to communicate and educate their children. There are several principles of

parenting that can be used to help parents in carrying out their responsibilities. Positive

practices will bring a positive impact on children. 

STUDY OBJECTIVES / STUDY QUESTIONS AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF PARENTING

All children are born with a variety of potential to grow if given the right

encouragement. development for example, a lot depends to influence environment in

early childhood development. If these factors are not available at certain times of the

development of children happen. Earnings and less social status affects children's

5

achievement in school than children of young families such action in terms of

Creating a home environment that encourages learning

Setting high expectations for achievement and realistic tetapo child's future

in education children involved in school and society.

GOAL OF PARENTING

Studies show that there are some skills that parents need miiki so that they can develop

children's behavior effectively by selfishness. Among kemahiranya is:

Develop and clarify expectations Restraint when child show unwanted

behavior. Perform a positive action or egatif Being positive elada Shaping behavior

Motivate children positive behaviors.

Parenting is a complex process and need parental knowledge and parenting skills in

order to educate children with the best possible in the following aspects:

Child development Understand the development and growth of children

berkembangserta their needs in the life of every development. Know

themselves understand in terms of motivation, values and how they can deal with child

delinquency, and others. Skills and strategies parenting Parenting skills and strategies to

understand the specific needs of children anxious children and behavior enangan ana

during the process of parenting. How to communicate Understand how to communicate

with children, spouses and teachers effectively. How teach Learn how to teach concepts

and skills to children. Managing family Understand how to support their families and

manage seuah family. Getting help Recognizing the importance of getting help from

other people and how to get help when need it.

PERSONAL CONTROL OF MOTHER AND FATHER

Self-control refers to the skill of a person to control emotions and behavior in a positive

way when faced with a situation in life. close control skills with a psychologist. Someone

who skill high self-control will look dirina as the ability and skills to challenge to

face. When the perception of the situation is positive then he can act with confidence,

6

quiet and decisions. In community rapidly developing not played parents are faced with

the challenge of new and more complex.Parents to act with confidence, calm and make

reasonable decisions. Parents respond to the challenges will affect the happiness of his

family. Problems in work that is not well managed. May be brought into the family by

not knowing da affect the relationship in the family. Skills of self-control is very

important to learn by their parents because they can: Membanu someone controlling

her emotions and act with confidence Help a person maintain positive communication

with other family members

Allows one to make effective decisions Prevent someone than about feeling depressed.

Dpelajari skills and self-control can be improved through the following

ways: Understand the advantages and disadvantages of the individual experiences

reflection or reflection leas.amalan learning helps a person examine the action taken

and its effects trick. Engage in various activities and situations that a person's

experience. A broad a mechanic and often successful confident of their abilities and

have high self-control to m engekalkan happiness. All parents have the desire and

ambition to be an excellent mother, but experience has shown that many parents feel

their performance as parents not secemerlang expected. In fact, many thought them

not have the ability to be an excellent parent and maintain happiness in the family.

7

I chose the title of parent involvement in children's education is right-I find that the

parents are very important in early childhood education. Parents need to know the

development of social, cognitive. Parents and teachers must work together to ensure that

wal education can help children growth and get a good education

I also create and select a topic from the basis of my experience as a preschool teacher. I

have been a preschool teacher for 12 years. From my experience and what I've seen

parents do not have the experience and knowledge to educate children at age 4 to 6 years.

Parents hand over all the duties of educating preschool teachers.

8

CHAPTER ONE

Problem Statement

According to the research of Epstein (2001) children learn and develop through three

overlapping “spheres of influence:” family, school, and community. Students who have

support from their parents at home show better performance at school, while students

lacking support are struggling. Getting parents involved in the education of their children

appears to be a crucial factor for the continuing educational development and success of

children in school. Although numerous research studies have been done concerning this

issue in education, additional research is indicated.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this research project is to gather more information on parental

involvement in education. In doing so, the researcher hopes to learn and grow from the

information gathered by this study. By doing this research study, information concerning

teachers and their own practices in the classroom will be obtained. This information will

enable the teachers/researchers to observe the dynamics of their own classroom, while

investigating how to develop parental involvement in their students’ education.

Encouraging parents to get more involved by helping their children learn at home, will

also benefit the larger school community. By the end of this study, we hope to “enhance

the lives of children as well as the lives of professionals” (Mills, 2007, p. 10).

Research Question

The following research question will guide the study:

How can parents be involved in their child’s education?

Rationale

Parental involvement may be an essential factor in the development of the

foundation in children’s education. In spite of this, many parents do not appear to be

getting involved in their children’s education. This lack of involvement may have a

9

negative impact on student performance in and out of the classroom and ultimately effect

their continuing educational development and success. Teachers need to play a major role

in connecting to the larger school community. This study will gather information about

effective parental involvement strategies and then use this information to develop an

action plan to utilize these strategies in classrooms, homes, and schools.

Definitions of Terms

Parental involvement- Parents help children meet the satisfactory level of academic

standards by interacting and being parts of their education. This can be observed when

parents assist with homework, when parents motivate and encourage their children, when

parents participate in school functions and when parents interactively communicate with

teachers.

Larger school community- includes interaction among students, teachers, and parents

Developmental education- the academic and personal growth through teaching to

improve children’s skills in order to be successful

Student performance- what students achieve at school based on their behavior and

academics

Active involvement- being involved with children in ways that include face to face

interactions such as tutoring, working on homework with children, and reading with

children

Passive involvement- being involved with children in inactive ways such as providing a

proper environment, providing school supplies for the child, and making sure the child

attends school

Assumptions

The following assumptions were made concerning teachers’ views of parental

involvement:

Teachers believe that students should be educated at home as well as at school.

Teachers need additional information on parental involvement.

Teachers believe that different home environments effect parental involvement.

Teachers believe that other educators will find this study important.

Teachers want to achieve their full potential as well as the potential of their students.

10

Teachers need and want feedback about their performance as professionals.

Working together enriches professional development.

All teachers want to improve.

Limitations

The study will be limited by the following limitations:

1. The research is limited by the personal bias of the researchers.

2. Time will be limited to three months as this is a requirement for a college course.

Researchers in this study are not yet permanently certified as teachers.

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of the researcher are limited.

Delimitations

This study will be further defined by the following delimitations:

Research will only focus on parents, teachers, administrators, and students affiliated with

6 YEARS.

11

CHAPTER TWO

Problem Statement

Parent involvement has been shown to be an important variable that positively influences

children’s education. More and more schools are observing the importance of parental

involvement and are encouraging families to become more involved. Due to this recent

trend, it has become essential to understand what is meant by parent involvement and in

what ways it has an influence on children’s education. This review of the literature will

examine parental involvement from the following perspectives: effective forms of

parental involvement, positive effects of parental involvement, barriers, parents, parental

involvement programs, and common characteristics of parental involvement programs.

Effective forms of Parental Involvement

An effective form of involvement is presented by Epstein’s model. Epstein (2001)

discusses how children learn and develop through three overlapping “spheres of

influence:” family, school, and community. These three spheres must form partnerships

to best meet the needs of the child. Epstein defines six types of involvement based on the

relationships between the family, school, and community: parenting (skills),

communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with

the community. Epstein emphasizes that all of these six types of involvement need to be

included to have successful partnerships.

Another effective form of involvement presented by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler

(1995) includes out of school or home-based partnerships as well as school-based

activities with parents and children. They discuss that when parents get involved (going

to school events, helping with homework) children’s schooling is benefited. Benefits

include knowledge, skills, and confidence.

Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) (2006) believes that children must have a range

of learning environments around them, or complementary learning. Such learning

environments include family, early childhood programs, schools, out-of-school time

programs and activities, libraries, museums, and other community-based institutions.

12

HFRP believes that complementary learning will provide a linking of consistent learning

and development. This linkage is similar to that of Epstein’s (2001) spheres of influence.

HFRP linking of community and Epstein’s spheres of influence are similar that they each

incorporate community, school and family so that they all effect one another.

In Cotton’s (2001) book, The Schooling Practices That Matter Most, there are signs that

the most effective forms of parental involvement are those where parents’ work directly

with their children. Programs that show the most effective results include tutoring,

working on homework with children, and reading with children. These active forms of

parental involvement have had a greater impact on achievement than passive forms of

involvement. Passive forms of parental involvement have still been shown to improve

children’s achievement, so they are better than no parental involvement at all.

The book expresses another effect of parental involvement is shown when the parent

intervenes at an early age. The earlier in a child’s life that the parents become involved,

the greater the effects will be on the child’s educational process. The effectiveness of this

approach has been shown through various childhood education

programs such as Head Start.

According to studies done by Reutzel and Cooter (1996) positive effects on parental

involvement were shown to increase when choices were provided to the parents. The

schools that offered a variety of ways for parents to get involved had an increased effect

on student achievement. Giving parents various methods or activities to involve them in

their children’s lives, increased the willingness and ability of parental involvement. This

increase in parental involvement has shown a consistent, positive relationship in students’

achievement and development in school.

Positive Effects of Parental Involvement

Research has indicated that parental involvement improves components of children’s

education such as daily attendance, cognitive and social skills or achievement, behavior

and attitude, confidence, and motivation (e.g. Cotton & Wikelund, 2001; Epstein, 2001;

ITS, 2004, Sheldon, 2003).

Positive Effects on Attendance

Many studies of students at all grade levels show that students with high attendance rates

are less likely to drop out of school and are more likely to achieve at high levels and

13

graduate from high school on time. In other words, students learn more and are more

successful if they have good attendance. With attendance being so crucial and such an

important issue in education, it has become a major objective for schools. In 1996-97, the

National Network of Partnership Schools invited various schools to investigative a

“Focus on Results” study. The aim was to learn whether and which family and

community involvement activities affect student attendance. Twelve elementary schools

were examined for this study. Each school was noted for their prior level of attendance

then several family involvement activities were put into place. They resulted in

significantly increased rates of daily attendance, reduced chronic absenteeism, or both.

This investigative study proposes that schools can improve or uphold good attendance by

executing family and community involvement activities (Epstein, 2001).

Positive Effects on Behavior and Attitudes

In Cotton’s (2001) book there was information on The National Network of Partnership

Schools conducted another “Focus on Results” study to learn whether school, family, and

community partnerships improve student behavior and attitudes at school. There were

two rounds of data collection involving forty-seven schools. The schools were from a

variety of locations including urban, suburban, and rural areas. Seventy three percent of

the schools were elementary and 27% were middle and or high school. Before the

partnership program was put into place, information was collected from the schools. The

quality of their partnership programs, their use of family and community involvement

practices, and also occurrences of student discipline actions were examined in depth.

After great analysis from one year to the next with improved quality of their partnership

programs, the study demonstrated lower levels of students involved in school discipline

actions. More specifically, the schools that improved their partnership programs had

fewer students who were sent to the principal, received detention, and who received in-

school suspensions. This research and findings recommend that larger school

relationships help improve students’ behavior in school.

14

Positive Effects on Cognitive and Social Skills or Achievement

Many studies highlight the point: parent participation in education is very closely related

to student achievement. A Stanford study found that using parents as tutors brought

significant and immediate changes in children's I.Q. scores. Other research projects found

that community involvement correlated strongly with school wide achievement and that

all forms of parent involvement helped student achievement. The Home and School

Institute (1985) concluded that parent tutoring brought considerable improvements to a

broad array of students.

Barriers

Socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status has been recognized as an influential factor concerning

parental involvement. “The Coleman (1966) report, which stated that the best predictor of

student achievement is the socioeconomic status of the parents, led to a flurry of

investigations on student achievement” (Bulach, et al., 1995) Muller(1991), in Schneider

and Coleman, (1993) stated that several researchers have found that parent qualities

typically associated with socioeconomic status are positively related to parental

involvement. For example, Lareau (1987) found that upper middle class parents were

typically engaged in school activities and influential in school decision, while working

class parents took on a more supportive role with respect to their involvement with their

children’s school.

As a result of his personal experiences, reading, and research, Motsinger (1990)

asserted that “the developers of Teacher Expectation Student Achievement (TESA)

workshops found that teachers do tend to give high achieving students more attention

than those who lag behind” (p.5). Underachieving children feel disliked by the instructor.

Parents then feel, “it is because we are poor (p.5).” and resentment grows. According to

Brantliner and Guskin (1987), some low income parents feel schools discourage their

involvement and view them as the problem, and they believe that stereotypes of poor

parents as inadequate care givers and uninterested in their children’s education persist

among educators. Although low income families may feel unneeded or unable to be

involved with their children’s school, Henderson (1988) states that children of low

15

income families benefit the most when parents are involved in the schools and parents do

not have to be well educated to make a difference.

Cultural background

The cultural background affects the relationship between home and school. As

cited in Rudnitski (1992), Litwak and Meyer (1974) found that “parents from racial,

ethnic and cultural minorities, especially those of low socioeconomic status, tend to feel

less affinity for the school than those in the mainstream middle class” (p.15). This shows

that schools in the United States have different values than those of the family as well as

inability to communicate with culturally diverse families effectively.

Also in Rudnitski (1992), Liontos (1991) writes that

Low income, culturally different parents have traditionally been marginalized through an

inability to communicate with schools and through the inflexibility of the school as an

institution. This tradition has fostered the feelings of inadequacy, failure, and poor self-

worth which are cited as reasons for low participation of parents from marginalized

groups (p.15).

It is proven in this research that these traditions of ineffective communication and

cultural differences are the factors that prevent parents from becoming involved in their

children’s education.

Language

A language barrier happens when a lack of English proficiency prevents communication

between immigrant families and the school system. Ascher’s (1988) work discussed the

language barrier that affects Asian/Pacific American parents. Since English is not the

native language of this group, parents think their language skills are so poor that they

cannot be useful as participants in assisting their child in school. “Involving parents from

any background is no easy task and in light of cultural and language differences,

linguistic minority parents present a special challenge” (Constantino, et al., 1995, p.19).

In a study by Zelazo (1995) it was found that more English than Spanish speaking parents

are involved at the school site as volunteers and in attending school meetings. “Parents

whose English proficiency is limited may find it difficult or intimidating to communicate

16

with school staff or to help in school activities without bilingual support in the school or

community” (Violand-Sanchez, 1993, p.20). Lack of language skills became an

intimidating factor when parents and schools could not communicate effectively.

Parent literacy

Students cannot expect parental support in their home schooling when their

parents are not literate. As stated by Liu (1996), “Students’ academic performance at

school is closely related to the family literacy environment and their parents’ educational

levels” (p.20). Children need families that can provide literacy rich environments that

often foster readers in the school (Edwards, 1995). Unfortunately, not all students can

have literacy rich environment at home because many parents did not receive an adequate

education and therefore are unable to provide academic support for their children. This

issue is severe with many parents whose English proficiency and education level is low

(Liu, 1996). Parents who dropped out of school needed to support the family or care for

siblings. Limited schooling impaired parental help on homework beyond the primary

level. A compound problem exists when the dominant language in the home conflicts

with assignments in English (Finders and Lewis, 1994). If parents are not literate, they

cannot assist their children with school work at home.

Family structure

These days, the changing structure of the family affects parental involvement and student

achievement. According to Lee (1991) the structure of the American family has

undergone significant changes over the past thirty years, and as a result of this, it is clear

that many children experience multiple family compositions resulting from the transitory

nature of the modern family. Students who have complete families may have problems

that effect parental involvement, but according to Motsinger (1990), “having two parents

will give a student a 200% better chance at success in school.” This does not mean that

students who do not have two parents cannot succeed, but they have a more difficult time

or have to struggle harder to succeed.

Working parents

17

I found that working parents can still participate in parental involvement

programs, but it is harder than those who do not have a job. Unfortunately, many parents

hold down two or three jobs in order to cope with economic realities, and quite frequently

work schedules prevent these parents from attending meetings and other events at the

school (Onikama, 1998). According to King(1990), “in the United States, more than half

of the women with children under six years of age are in the labor force” (Onikama,

1998, p.21). How can educators effectively involve working parents in children’s

education, especially in families where both parents are working, is a major issue today.

As stated by Onikama (1998), working class parents want their children to do well, but

tend to give educational responsibility to the teacher.

Teacher attitudes

Teacher attitudes can be one of the barriers in parental involvement. According to

the State of Iowa Department of Education (1996), “School staff interest may vary in

terms of commitment to family involvement, and may generate mixed messages to

parents” (Onikama, 1998, p.2). Many schools believe that classroom learning is best left

to the professors. They also argue that involving parents is a time consuming “luxury”

that places yet another burden on already overworked teachers and principals

(Henderson, 1988). These worries make parents feel that the teachers don’t want them

around, which drops off the level of parental involvement.

Parents

When discussing parental involvement, the most commonly appearing-word will

be “parents”. Before introducing parental participation strategies, it is necessary to define

the meaning of “parents”. As Lockette (1999) mentions, “When we use the term

‘parents’ involvement, we need to remember that ‘parent’ can also mean other adults who

play an important role in a child’s life” (p.1). Lunts (2003) includes parents, guardians,

stepparents, siblings, members of extended family, and any other adults who might carry

the primary responsibilities for a child’s health, development and education into the

meaning of “parents”.

18

In the article by Bal and Goc (1999), they indicate that:

Numerous methods to increase parent involvement have been suggested. Such strategies

include increasing communication between teacher and parents, involving parents with

limited English proficiency, providing information regarding how parents can enhance

learning at home, and encouraging parental academic engagement at home (p. 17).

In spite of this fact, many teachers still show their concerns about the lack of parental

involvement at schools and its negative effects on students’ academic performances on

grades. Parents are also dissatisfied that they are not well informed about their students’

behaviors or test grades conducted in the classroom and admit that they are not actively

involved in these school activities and it affects on their own students’ performance.

Knowing about the most state-of-the-art strategies of parental involvement and taking

them into practical actions are essential not only for parents and their students but also for

everybody who is involved in education such as teachers, educators, practitioners, and

community.

Parental Involvement Programs

Preschool Programs

Rioux and Berla (1993) indicate in their book, Innovations in Parent and Family

Involvement, that:

In the nearly thirty years since Head Start’s beginnings, the unparalleled establishment

and expansion of new programs for very young children underscores how much it has

become fixed in the public mind that young children – all young children – must have the

services and support they need if they are to develop fully (p. 11).

Different kinds of preschool programs are created and developed: “Head Start”,

“Parents as Teachers”, “Even Start Program”, “Family Education Program”, and “Home

Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters”. Major components for these programs

are “Home Visit”, “Parent Classes including GED”, “Family enrichment activities” and

“Early Childhood Education”. Each program has slightly different goals and systems

based on its community’s needs and the level of living conditions, but there are two

common goals for the preschool programs. One of the most popular and well-known

program is the Head Start. Rioux and Berla (1993) mentions in the book that “The goals

19

of the Head Start Program are to provide comprehensive educational services for

preschool-age children and their families and to improve the nutrition and physical and

mental health of the children and their families” (p.17). Besides focusing on children’s

education and development, another common characteristic of the preschool programs is

that “Parenting” and “Employability”. In the “Even Start Program”, it well explains

about “Parenting” as below:

Once a week, an Even Start Family Mentor visits the home in order to assist the parents

in learning how to provide educational experiences for their preschool-age children. The

visit begins with a general conversation about what is going on in the home with the

family. A story is read by the mentor or parents to the children. Language lessons are

designed for the educational needs of each family (p.34).

Through the “GED Program”, “ESL (English as a Second Language), and “Plan

Now Families”, parents are able to receive various sources of help depending on their

needs. The book indicates that “Volunteers trained by the Larimer County Adult Literacy

Coalition conduct classes to prepare parents who have not graduated from high school for

the GED test.” Hispanic families get ESL classes and the schools have a chance to help

parents who are working in low-income jobs look for a better job after completing

necessary job trainings.

In spite of these advantages, most programs are suffering from the lack of budget

and participation from the majority of the low-income families. “Lack of transportation”,

“limited media opportunities” are prevalent barriers for these programs.

Programs in Elementary schools

The elementary schools are the place where the most active parent-teacher

involvements take place. Rioux and Berla (1993) say that “It is hoped that the training

for more parent involvement at the elementary school level will carry over into middle

school and high school where parent participation tends to decline” (p. 81). Parents as

Educational Partners, Parent Institute for Quality Education, and Parents, Teachers &

Children Working Together are the part of those examples and Parent Coordinator,

Parent Meeting, and Parent Volunteers are played roles as one of the major components”

(p. 62 - 65).

20

One of the successful programs is the Family-School Meetings and the book puts

different types of problems by indicating the positive effect of the program as:

The Family-School Workshops are also considered an effective way of dealing with

problems individual students may be having. At the beginning, there was opposition

from both teachers and parents to having students present at the meetings. Both groups

were accustomed to talking about the child’s problems without his/her presence. As

parents and teachers see the positive outcomes of this process, as they see that the child’

problem is alleviated, they become supportive of the process” (Rioux and Berla, 1993,

p.88).

One of the distinguished features of the Elementary Programs is that Parents’

roles are emphasized in many aspects. As briefly mentioned in the book, Parent

Coordinator is mainly “One of the supports for the parents: orienting new parents to the

school, assisting parents with a concern or complaint to resolve the situation, and placing

all volunteers” (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.96). Parents are also encouraged to be involved

in making decisions or organizing and monitoring school systems though the chances of

various workshops and committees. Committees include “Fund Raising, Hiring,

Curriculum, Program Evaluation, Building and Grounds, Bilingual, School Literary

Magazine, Arts Collaborative, and Race and Class” (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p. 94).

Another aspect of elementary programs is to focus on immigrants and parents

who did not get proper education to help their children’s works with the proficiency level

of English. For example, the Families Together program in Oakland, California provides

many programs for immigrants and refugees. They support them with ESL Classes,

Primary Language and Literacy Support, and special services such as translation,

providing interpreters between families and schools, and referrals for legal help and

social and mental health services.

The last aspect of parent involvement programs is that the more parents are

involved, the better performance students show at schools and the better relationships

between teachers and parents. In FOCUS -Focusing our community and uniting for

success in Wapato, WA, outcomes and evaluations are made by saying that:

Changes in teachers’ attitudes and behavior have been noticed. Staff members are more

cordial – they assist, welcome, or smile at parents who are in the school. The bilingual

21

teachers who do the presentation in Spanish at the FOCUS meetings have developed

some very good relationships with the Hispanic parents (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.152).

In one of Rioux and Berla’s research programs, Sterne Brunson School

Development Program, he/she says that:

Teachers’ attitudes are changing toward more acceptance of parents’ strengths and

weaknesses. Many teachers go to their students’ homes to find out why a child is not in

school. Parents feel more at ease in the school; they no longer feel inferior to the

teachers, who are open and responsive to them. Parents attend and speak at school board

meetings more frequently than in the past. Improvement in students test scores and in

social behavior has bee evident partly as a result of this program (p. 128).

However, still many programs experience insufficient funds, so most of them

depend on replying on funds from local businesses and organizations.

PTA – National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs

According to the PTA (Patent-Teacher Association) website (www.pta.org), they

introduce themselves as the “Best Resource for the Parents” as below:

As the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the nation, National Parent Teacher

Association (PTA) reminds our country of its obligations to children and provides parents

and families with a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child while providing the

best tools for parents to help their children be successful students (The National PTA

www.pta.org. (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.pta.org/about_pta.html).

The PTA provides nine diverse programs to the schools and parents through the

national-wide, state-wide or local associations and organizations as below:

PTA Goes to Work - provides youths with chances of experiencing “valuable resources

for employment, training, and career information”.

Building Successful Partnerships – is one of the PTA’s parent involvement programs and

its purpose is to provide schools and parents with updated information about child’s

development and education. The trained presenters deliver speeches or presentations

around the nation throughout the year and since 2000, over 800 presenters completed this

program though the PTA.

Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence Certification – is a program for schools to be

certified in parent involvement programs “based on the National Standards for

22

Parent/Family Involvement programs”. If other schools are interested in benchmarking

this program, it is helpful for them to use these outcomes to enhance their programs.

Reflections – PTA’s Official website explains about “Reflections” that:

The annual arts program allows more than 700,000 children and youth to express

themselves through musical composition, photography, visual arts, and literature. For

many school districts with limited funding, this program provides great value to the

students and school community at no cost to the district”

(http://www.pta.org/local_leadership_subprogram_1116958614281.html).

Phoebe Apperson Hearst-National PTA excellence in Education – the purpose of this

program is to encourage local PTAs to award its efforts and ongoing contributions in

parent-teacher involvement programs.

Back-To-School – offers students and parents to be familiar with changes in school

systems and be ready for the next school academic year.

After School – enriches students to make-up their academic weaknesses or overcome

difficulties through resources and extra helps from teachers and educators.

Teacher Appreciation Week – is for encouraging teachers who are the main resource for

students’ success and for having a chance of appreciating their efforts and contributions

in every spring.

School/Community Workshops – covers various topics such as bullying, drug abuse,

child’s nutrition and prevention of school violence to help parents and communities be

aware of its dangers and solutions.

The National PTA programs are made based on “The National Standards for

Parent/Family Involvement Programs”. Six standards are 1) Communicating, 2)

Parenting, 3) Student Learning, 4) Volunteering, 5) Decision Making and Advocacy, and

6) Collaborating with Community. Lockett (1999) summarizes these six standards as

below:

Communicating – Lockette (1999) mentions in her article that “Communication between

home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful. Communication is the foundation

of a solid partnership. When people communicate effectively, positive relationships

develop and greater progress can be made”. Communication occurs between “parents

23

and teachers”, “parents and school administrators”, and “parents and community”

through conferences, workshops, and “Back-to-School Night” (p. 4).

Parenting – in Lunt’s article, She (2003) gives very clear definition of parenting by

saying that:

This category includes the basic responsibilities of families – such as providing housing,

health care, nutrition, clothing, and safety, and creating home conditions that support

children’s learning (e.g., purchasing necessary books and other school supply, providing

a place to study, etc.). Parenting also implies that parents are warm and responsive to

their children, communicate with them and support their development (p. 2).

Student Learning – “Many parents want to help their children with homework and school

projects, but they just don’t know what is most helpful or appropriate” (Lockett, 1999, p.

4). Therefore, teachers and schools help parents know how to “foster learning at home”,

“monitor homework and progress”, and “give feedback to teachers” (p. 4).

Volunteering – volunteering can be the most effective and convenient way for parents to

be involved in school participation. Many schools and teachers want parents to be

actively involved with school events and this is more stressed in the elementary school

levels. In the book, Innovations in Parent and Family Involvement, Rioux and Berla

(1993) indicates that:

In the addition to traditional activities such as providing support services for various

school events, tutoring, and assisting in the classroom, parents are actively involved in

decision making, serving on school committees, and being consulted regularly on all

aspects of school governance (p. 70).

School Decision Making and Advocacy - Lockett (1999) emphasizes the important of

parents participation in decision-making and support for school governance by saying

that:

Parents should be partners in collaborative decision-making processes on all issues

affecting students – from school curriculum and course selection, to discipline policies

and overall school reform goals. The most important factor in effective decision making

is building a foundation of trust and respect between educators and parents (p. 5).

24

For example, Advocate Training Program offers a chance for parents to know

about proper ways to understand school policies and how to advocate school systems and

disciplines.

Collaborating with Community - Lockett (1999) says that “Community resources are

used to strengthen schools, family, and student learning” (p. 6). However, many parents

do not know how to efficiently use these sources; schools should provide opportunities

for them through workshops or fairs. Inviting businessmen or seniors who are skillful in

certain areas or taking students to the real job field and giving experiences of work are

good examples of collaborating with community.

Connecting Family and School by Using Telecommunication Technologies

Lunts (2003) insists that “Web technology has much more potential to establish

better family-school interactions” (p. 7). Since internet is getting the most convenient

and best way to communicate and interact with others, modern schools cannot avoid

adopting this technologies and try to create more effective ways to reach out parents and

communities. According to Lunts’ article (2003), “Hot lines and help-lines, Automated

calling systems, Voice mail and voice messaging systems (VMS), E-mail, and Cable

channels and teleconferencing” (p. 3) are these examples.

These technologies have many advantages. First, technology can be more

convenient than other traditional ways, such as Home Visits and Parent Conferences to

involve parents in school. Internet or e-mails are common ways to communicate and

parents are also familiar with the use of these technologies. It does not require much

effort to use technology, therefore, even busy parents can easily participate in school

surveys or on-line conferences. Secondly, these technologies are easy to operate, so most

parents, including seniors, are able to use these systems easily. Schools first should

instruct directions and instructions to parents, but once these systems are set up, teachers

and parents can freely communicate without the usual concerns about scheduling. This

efficiency helps both schools and parents save expenses as well as time in the long term

and help develop a better relationship between schools and parents. Bauch (n.d) indicates

that “Among the advantages of VMS is that they are able to provide almost universal

(available to most families) and frequent communication between schools and families,

two ideal qualities of family-school connections” (p. 3).

25

However, in spite of the fact that schools and parents are well aware of its

efficiency and necessity of using modern technologies, still many concerns remain. First,

the first disadvantages (with the exception of teleconferencing technology), is that

telecommunication technologies cannot support the richness of face-to-face interaction

(Bauch, 2000). Limited languages can be a problem in most international cities. If a

classroom is extremely multicultural, a teacher may not be able to provide messages in all

languages spoken by families (McAfee, 1997). Expenses are a big barrier for most

school districts. Even though e-mails and internet are prevalent, installing and

maintaining these systems or databases need a lot of costs. Moreover, in case of the on-

line conferencing or cable channels, as Lunts (2003) indicates, this type of

communication is not widespread.

Common Characteristics

As common characteristics of parental involvement programs, Rioux and Berla

(1993) come up with ideas such as Charismatic Leader, External Model, and Funding.

Especially, in case of a leader, Rioux and Berla (1993) say that “These charismatic

leaders energize others and form staffs who want to be trained, work hard, and serve

families” (p. 330). Secondly, “developing parents’ educational, employment, language,

and social skills” (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p. 333) should be emphasized. Rioux and

Berla give us a clear example by saying that:

The child’s view of himself/herself is greatly influenced by the things that are going well

or poorly in his home. If his parents are unemployed, underemployed, poorly educated,

and socially isolated, the self-esteem, motivation, and optimism of the student about

school and the future are affected (Rioux and Berla, 1993, p.333).

Most programs emphasize the importance of early childhood by believing that

“quality efforts at an early age will yield the largest gains in the future” (p. 334).

Therefore, many programs are designed to focus on improving interactions between

young children and their parents. Educating parents and involving them in the schools

are one of the common characteristics of parental involvement programs. Besides

providing ESL classes or GED classes who need further education, teaching parents

about the qualities of being good parents and helping them to be more involved at schools

are very important factors of having successful programs. It also implies the parents’

26

more active participations in governing schools, rather than school-dominant decision

making processes.

Summary

Many researchers have identified effective parental involvement programs:

Epstein (2001) defines six types of involvement that are effective forms of connecting the

larger school community: parenting (skills), communicating, volunteering, learning at

home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Hoover-Dempsey and

Sandler (1995) include out of school or home-based partnerships as well as school-based

activities with parents and children. Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) believes

that effective parental involvement includes children having a range of learning

environments around them, or complementary learning. Cotton’s (2001) book, The

Schooling Practices That Matter Most, suggest the direct help from parents is a major

benefit over passive learning.

The research reviewed for this study has indicated that parental involvement improves

components of children’s education such as daily attendance, cognitive and social skills

or achievement, behavior and attitude, confidence, and motivation. Many studies have

been conducted that illustrate this information such as a study done by Reutzel and

Cooter (1996) and “Focus on Results” done by the National Network of Partnership

Schools (1996).

As barriers that block parental involvement, there are several aspects of obstacles: the

socioeconomic status has been recognized as an influential factor concerning parental

involvement. The cultural background also affects the relationship between home and

school. As cited in Rudnitski (1992), Litwak and Meyer (1974) found that “parents from

racial, ethnic and cultural minorities, especially those of low socioeconomic status, tend

to feel less affinity for the school than those in the mainstream middle class” (p.15).

Parents’ lack of English proficiency prevents communication between immigrant families

and the school system. Parents’ academic level affects students’ school performance and

family structure like working parents play a role as struggles that today’s parental

involvement has. Besides parents’ problems, teacher inactive attitude also drop off the

level of parental involvement.

27

Understanding parental involvement can reach further to the broad range of parents and

teachers. They are not only restricted in biological parents and home-room teachers, but

also a group of people involved in a child’s education and development can be

understood in parent-teachers involvement programs.

Parental involvement programs are getting developed in more productive and parents’

friendly ways. Still programs mainly focus on the child’s early education, but many

different approaches are used to reach up to middle, high school, and even district-wide

communities. Many schools are trying to put efforts in developing relationships between

parents and schools by using electronic methods such as e-mails, voice mail systems, and

on-line conferences.

Most parent involvement programs have common characteristics such as

enthusiastic leaders, educating and involving parents in the schools with necessary

support for them, and paying attention to the early age children. It still has a long way to

go, but as many scholars indicate, the more the schools have parents involved, the better

children we have in the future.

28

See Appendix A

Analysis

After reviewing the questionnaires, it seems that the teachers and administrators have an

extensive list of sixteen different effective strategies that they have implemented. This

shows that they are trying, through various means, to include parents in their child’s

education both at school and home. Many of the strategies are common such as sending

notes home while other strategies are unique such as invitations created by the student.

On the other hand, the teachers and administrators also addressed strategies that have

failed. This list is not very extensive, with only four indicated. If sixteen strategies have

been effective and only four ineffective it seems as though parental involvement should

be fairly high. From reading the questionnaires, this is not the case. Question #2 provided

an extensive list of ways parents could be more involved. This leads me to believe that

teachers and administrators may lack in self evaluation. Sometimes it is easier to see or

recognize the positives.

Summary

The evaluation of the questionnaires focused on five main elements: how parents are

involved, how parents could be more involved, effective strategies, ineffective strategies,

and personal beliefs as to why parents are not involved. The questionnaire addressed

theoretically-supported issues because I wanted to know if, in reality, participants had

similar beliefs and effectiveness in influencing the involvement of parents. I used open-

ended questions to provide rich, qualitative information about these issues.

The questionnaire was used as a tool for me to gather information. With participants

being asked to evaluate specific involvement strategies based on the effectiveness of

each, I hope that it helps them to modify, and if necessary, replace with an effective

alternative.

29

Appendix A

Questionnaire Results

1) How are parents involved in their children’s education in your school?

-calling the teacher

- fundraising events

-looking for weekly letters to sign and return

- correct all failed papers and get signed by parent

-coming to the school to volunteer

-chaperoning or attending parties/concerts/parades/festivals/assemblies

-bringing in supplies or snacks

-attending conferences

-supervising and checking homework

-attending curriculum night and PTA

2) How could parents be further involved in their children’s education?

-asking the teacher for and doing activities at home

- family bingo night (game for grades K-2)

- classroom story time

- hoops for facts (game for grades 3-4)

-learning new methods for teaching math and literacy skills

-helping with homework

-responding to phone calls home

- returning notes or forms

- more attendance at PTA, conferences, open house, or registration

- “Three for Me”-a school-wide program asking parents to volunteer three hours to

child’s school

- Consistent form of discipline when homework is not done

3) Effective strategies that you have implemented in your classroom to increase parental

involvement in children’s education.

30

- have the student create and take home an individual invitation to our class

- call the parent and personalize your invitation to them. Let them know how much

you’re looking forward to meeting with them.

- send home a letter at the beginning of the school year to welcome them

- create and send home a classroom newsletter each week

- send home “literacy bags” with books and a feedback

- call each parent at least once a month with problem and positive feedback

- provide parents with information about how and when to contact you

- ask parents how they would like to be involved

- provide easy two-way communication between the classroom and home

- send a personal thank you note after an event attended by parents

- talk to parents in the hallways at school

- talk to parents during car duty

- talk with parents during registration and open house

- start a conversation with a parent with a positive comment about the child

- establish positive relationships with parents at the beginning of the year

- have parent-teacher conferences

-invite parents to PTA meetings

4) Strategies that have failed to involve parents.

- offering trainings and workshops for parents

- sending home guided reading books

- not acquiring positive parent-teacher relations

- assuming parent has skills to be involved at level you are expecting

5) Beliefs as to why parents are not involved in their children’s education.

- the parent is intimidated by the school setting due to low level of education and/or a

poor socioeconomic background

- the parent had bad experiences in school

- the parent’s work schedule does not permit at-school participation

- the parent doesn’t have transportation

- the parent is busy with pace/stress of every day life

- the parent doesn’t have a phone

31

- the parent doesn’t know what to do at home with the child

- the parent has limited skills or doesn’t feel competent

- the parent doesn’t want to bother because she doesn’t really care about her child’s

schooling

- the parent’s participation isn’t mandatory

- the parent thinks that it is the school’s responsibility to educate the child

- the parent was never asked

- the parent and teacher have not created a positive relationship

32

References

Ascher, C. (1988). Improving the school-home connection for poor and minority urban

students. Urban Review, 20, 109-123.

Bal, S. A., Goc, & J. D. (1999) Increasing Parent Involvement to Improve Academic

Achievement in Reading and Math (Master’s Dissertation Abstract, Saint Xavier

University, 1999).

Balach, C. R., Malone, B., & Castleman, C. (1995). An investigation of variables related

to student achievement. Mid – Western Educational Researcher, 8 (2), 23-29.

Bauch, J. P. (n.d.). Parent involvement: Partnerships with technology. Transparent school

model.

Bauch, J. P. (2000, April). Electronic parent involvement? New developments with

phones, e-mail, and the internet to link schools and homes. The paper prepared for the

10th Annual international Roundtable on School, Family and Community Partnerships.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

Cotton, K. & Wikelund, K.R. (2001). Parent Involvement in Education: The Schooling

Practices That Matter Most. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

Edwards, S.L. (April 1995). The effects of parental involvement on academic

achievement in elementary urban schools. ERIC Document ED 398331.

Epstein, J. L. & Sheldon, S.B. (2001). Improving student attendance: Effects of family

and community involvement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American

Sociological Association, Washington, DC.

Fiders, M. & Lewis, C. (1994). Why some parents don’t come to school. Educational

Leadership, 51, 50-56.

Henderson, A. (1987-88). The evidence continues to grow: Parent involvement improves

student achievement. (Research Abstracts, 1987-88, effective schools 2, Abstract No. 4)

Henderson, A. T. (Oct. 1988). Parents are a school’s best friend. Phil Delta Kappan. 69

(2). 148 – 153.

Hoover-Demsey, K. V. & Sandler, H. M. (1995). Parent Involvement in Children’s

Educations: Whey Does It Make a Difference? Teachers College Record, 97: 310-331.

33

Institute of Applied Social Sciences (ITS) (2004). Parental Involvement and Educational

Achievement. British Educational Research Journal. 31(4), 509-532.

Liu, P. (1996). Limited English proficient children’s literacy acquisition and parental

involvement: A tutoring / family literacy model. Reading Horizons, 37 (1), 60-74.

Lockette, C. (1999). Proceedings of at the National Conference of the Center for the

Study of Small/Rural Schools 9th. Memphis, TN: March 25 – 27, 1999.

Lunts E. (2003). Parent Involvement in Children’s Education: Connecting Family and

School by Using Telecommunication Technologies, Retrieved October 2, 2006, from

http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/win2003/involvement/3.html

McAfee, O (1997, July). The potential of communications technology. M. Philipsen,

(Ed.) Parent involvement in the schools: Ideas that work, (pp. 35-45). Hot topics series.

Phi Delta Kappa.

Motsinger, H. (1990). Positive parent involvement is possible if…. (Report No. RC 018

240), Tucson, AZ: Speeches Conference Papers. (Eric Reproduction Service No, ED 337-

332.

Onikama, D. L., Hammond, O.W., & Koki, S. (May 1998). Family involvement in

education: A synthesis of research for pacific educators. ERIC Document ED 420 446.

Reutzel, R., & Cooter, R. (1996). Teaching children to read: From basals to books.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Rich, D. "The Forgotten Factor in School Success: The Family; A Policymaker's Guide."

District of Columbia: The Home and School Institute, 1985. 72 pages. ED 263 264.

Rioux, J. William; Berla, Nancy (1993). Innovations in Parent and Family Involvement

Eye On Education INC.

Rudnitski, R. A. (April 1992). Through the eyes of the beholder: Breaking economic,

ethnic and racial barriers to parent involvement in a school – university partnership.

ERIC Document ED 347 930.

Schneider, B., & Coleman, J. S. (1993). Parents, their children, and schools. Westview

Press, Inc.

Sheldon, S. B. (2003). Parental Involvement in Education. Encyclopedia of Education.

Ed. James W. Guthrie. Vol. 5. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002.

p1844-1847. 8 vols.

34

Stahl, G. (2002). National PTAs National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement

Programs.

Violand-Sanchez, E., Sutton, C. P., & Ware, H. W. (Feb. 1993). Fostering home school

cooperation: Involving language minority families as partners in education. ERIC

Document ED 337 018.

Weiss, H., Caspe, M. & Lopez, M.E. (2006) Family Involvement in Early Childhood

Education. Harvard Family Research Project, Cambridge, MA.

Zelazo, J. (April 1995). Parent involvement in a two – way bilingual school. ERIC

Document ED 383 219.

35

LITERATURE REVIEW

36

37