Parental Involvement in Education

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Parental Involvement in Education

• Jeff Stahl

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Introduction

• There are many things that society today deems
  important money, social class, religion all of
  these things can effect a childs learning
  environment, depending on where they place their
  motivation. However, the most effective source of
  motivation for a learning child is their family,
  mainly their parents.
• Parental motivation and involvement in schools
  has been proven to be a significant precursor to
  student achievement.
• Involved parents also stimulate better attitudes
  in their children, more confidence, and increased
  effort.

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Importance of Parental Involvement

• The most consistent predictors of childrens
  academic and social adjustment were parent
  expectations of their childs educational
  attainment and satisfaction with their childs
  education at school. (Reynolds)
• Student achievement improves when parents
  express high (but not unrealistic) expectations
  for their childrens achievement and future
  careers

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The Great Shift

• The reasons for this decline in parent
  involvement just as teens are entering middle and
  high school is two-fold. First, maturing children
  have a growing need to develop a sense of self
  and independence that is separate from their
  families. They begin to weigh choices and
  consequences, make more decisions on their own,
  learn from their mistakes, and establish their
  own set of values to guide their decisions and
  actions. They begin refusing help from their
  parents and dont want them along when theyre
  with friends.

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The Great Shift cont.

• Second, parents roles begin changing, too, in
  order to allow for their childrens self-identity
  development. While parents continue to offer
  support and love, they begin stepping back a
  little in all aspects of their childrens lives
  in order to show their respect for their
  childrens growing independence. Parents must
  begin to let adolescents make their own
  choicesgood and badand have them take
  responsibility for their actions and decisions.

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Changes In Attitude

• The decline in parent involvement in middle and
  high school years also can be attributed to
  changes in attitude. Young people make it clear
  they dont want their parents playing the same
  large role in their upbringing and schooling that
  they once did. Many parent-student activities
  that children find acceptable in elementary
  school, like registering for classes, attending
  school events, or walking to and from school, are
  seen as student-only events by middle and high
  school students.

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Examples of Research Studies

• Involvement and student educational achievement
• Recent research proves that the type of parent
  involvement that has the most positive influence
  on a child is a direct participation in their
  studies and school activities.
• Sports
• Clubs
• Dances, concerts, fund raisers, etc.
• Teacher web pages involving parents viewing
  grades, assignments, progress at home aided
  parents in keeping communication lines open
  between home and school. Research showed and
  increase of achievement levels among involved
  students.
• One research study showed a reduction of student
  GPA when parents were more involved at home, but
  and increase in student GPA when parents were
  more connected with the school.

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Parent Involvement Studies Types of Parents
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Authoritative Parents

• Establish a balance between making demands and
  being responsive to their childrens specific
  needs. These parents give their children
  encouragement and embody positive attitudes
  towards work and effort.
• Result their children receive the motivation
  they need when they receive good or bad grades.
  These children also feel more comfortable asking
  for help when they need it most.
• Children of these parents tend to do better while
  in school

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Authoritarian Parents

• Tell their children what to do, and not to argue
  with them.
• Result children get punished for bad grades
  which often make them feel uneasy when asking for
  help even worse, may exhibit rebellion against
  parental authority.
• These children often display loss of confidence
  and motivation without continuous positive
  reinforcement.

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Permissive Parents

• Feel that their childs life should be their own
  responsibility and are often expressing an I
  dont care attitude towards achievement.
• Result student motivation is completely based on
  observation and peer influences.
• These parents are not necessarily neglecting
  their children, or being uncaring.

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Minority or Low-income Parents

• Minority or low-income parents are often
  underrepresented among parents involved with
  schools. There are many different reasons
• Lack of time
• Lack of energy
• Embarrassment or shyness about ones own
  educational level or linguistic abilities
• Lack of understanding about school structure
• Perceived lack of welcome by teachers or
  administration
• These misunderstandings need to be resolved with
  effort on both sides of school doors
• Parents can make a difference regardless of
  educational levels.

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Ways to Improve Parent Involvement
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Characteristics of parents with successful
children

• Establish a daily family routine
• Monitor Out-of-School activities
• Model the value of learning, self-discipline, and
  hard work be a good example!
• Express high but realistic expectations for
  achievement
• Encourage childrens development and progress in
  school
• Encourage reading, writing and discussions among
  family members
• Keep lines of communication open
• Support their future

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Parents should play four key roles in their
childrens learning

• Teacher
• Parents support a home environment that
  encourages learning and strengthens what is being
  taught in school it is important to provide
  positive character development.
• Supporter
• Parents contribute influences to the school, back
  up administrative and teacher decisions when
  necessary, enrich the curriculum, and provide
  extra services to the students.
• Advocates
• Aid the negotiation of the education system and
  receive fair treatment, and work to maximize the
  responsiveness to all stakeholders.
• Decision-makers
• Participation in school board and advisory
  councils, curriculum committees, and management
  teams an overall participation in joint effort
  and problem-solving towards a common positive
  goal.

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Closing

• Parent involvement is important, but not the only
  way to improve student achievement.
• It is important to give children a well rounded
  lifestyle
• Positive living environment
• Encouraging parents
• Interest in what they are doing
• Positive peer influences
• Good teachers and supportive administration
• Children are our future, what is most important
  for them, should be most important for you