Title: Internet Facilitates Parental Involvement in K-12 Schools
1The Internet and Improved Communication
- Facilitating Parental Involvement
2Is the Internet helping parents?
- Parental involvement improves academic
performance - Pressures on parents are pushing in the wrong
direction - Schools investments in Internet enables changes
- Home access to the Internet is high and continues
to increase - Schools content owners can now publish on the
Internet - Possible school initiatives to improve parental
involvement by improving communication using the
Internet
3Parental involvement improves academic
performance
- Student performance, measured by state criteria
testing, improves - When parents are involved
- in school activities,
- in homework,
- in reading, etc.
- When parents are empowered
- informed of school issues,
- helping make school decisions,
- participating in
- local voting,
- boards,
- committees, etc.
- (Griffith, 1996)
4Pressures on parents are pushing in the wrong
direction
- Factors related to parental involvement
- family economics,
- parental education,
- parental time constraints,
- a sense of disenfranchisement
- Pressures on parents
- 26 of Ohios families are headed by a single
parent (time and economics) - Ohios employment slightly less than national
average, and likely to lag for the next few years - time constraints on dual income parents
- (Beck, 1999)
- (Federal Reserve Bank Cleveland, 2005)
5Schools investments in Internet enables changes
Technology Expendituresby Category (National 2000-2001) Technology Expendituresby Category (National 2000-2001)
Networks 1.2 Billion
Hardware 2.0 Billion
Internet Services 700 Million
Software 500 Million
Service / Support 500 Million
Supplies 200 Million
Peripherals 200 Million
Professional Development 200 Million
Computer Training 100 Million
Other 200 Million
5.8 B
- Steady spending increases in technology within
schools 93 through 03 - Near universal Internet access now available from
school buildings - Near universal access available for teachers,
staff, and students within schools - Such access allows schools to use the Internet in
new ways to accomplish the teaching mission - (Angelo, 2002)
6Home access to the Internet
- Home computer ownership surpasses 80 nationally
- Home Internet access above 70
- Significant differences in both computer
ownership and Internet access by - Income levels
- Metropolitan non-metropolitan
- Age
- Education level
- Note Many parents have access to Internet from
work
Factor Home Internet Access
Household Income lt 30K 50 30-75K 63 gt 75K 87
Metro / Non-Metro Metro 75 Non-Metro 65
Age lt 65 72 65 53
Head of Household Education Level lt High School 18 High School 44 College 83
7Schools content owners publishing on the
Internet
- Internet Web sites have evolved past unchanging
web pages - Many schools still using old methods, with a
webmaster responsible for all pages - The people within a school that have content
can now publish - Teachers syllabus, work plan, weekly
assignments, resources - Administrators calendars, events, closings,
meetings - Coaches training schedules, teams, scores
- Boards, Committees, Boosters, Alum groups,
8School initiatives
- Schools are now in a position to effect changes
in parental involvement and empowerment - Improve communication to inform and engage
parents - Internet communication
- from teachers with parents provides information
needed to help their children - from administrators with parents provides
information needed to be empowered and engaged in
the school
9School initiatives
- Surveys
- National, or even State Internet usage data may
not reflect local conditions - If Internet not presently used determine
appetite in community by surveying home access,
usefulness, and desire - If Internet being used determine which features
used and not what additional information
desired, what can be done better. Specifically
teacher publishing, attendance and grades, school
issues - Review technology readiness
- Web Server, Web Software, network, training, web
site, graphics, navigation, help desk and support
services - Buy pieces and manage internally, use a service,
or combination
10School initiatives (Continued)
- In-Service sessions
- Teacher to teacher sharing sessions - what things
are being done that work well? what more can be
tried? review feedback from surveys - Training sessions or reviews
- Build and encourage a culture of communication
within the community - School personnel, parents, taxpayers, etc.
11School initiatives
- Communication requires a two-way effort
- Often have to listen as much as publish
- Benefits are multiple to parents, to teachers,
to schools - . and to students
12School Progress Checklist
- Parents Internet capabilities have been recently
surveyed - School web infrastructure (web server, Internet
connection, software, training, help desk, web
site) are all in place and current - Regular communication to parents informs them
about the web site and encourages use - Teachers, coaches, administrators, and other
content owners within the school know about,
are trained on, and use the web publishing tool
(s) - Grades, attendance, and other grade-book type
information is available to parents through the
Internet - A Culture of Communication is encouraged within
the school by the Superintendent, the Treasurer,
the Boards, Principals, and other staff - Regular sharing sessions are conducted which
allow teachers to share what works, and what
doesnt - Feedback from parents is sought after and
addressed with both a response and an action if
appropriate
13References
- Angelo, J. M. (2002). K-12 market trends.
District Administration, 38(4), 16. Retrieved
February 16, 2005, from Academic Search Premier
database http//search.epnet.com/login.asp?direct
truedbaphan6997592 - Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2004). Kids count
2004 data book online. Retrieved February 24,
2005, from http//www.aecf.org/kidscount/databook/
and http//www.aecf.org/cgi-bin/kc.cgi?actionpro
fileareaOhio - Beck, L. G. (1999). Parental involvement in
site-based management Lessons from one site.
International Journal of Leadership in Education,
2(2), 81-102. Retrieved February 16, 2005, from
Academic Search Premier database
http//search.epnet.com/login.asp?directtruedba
phan3859954 - Crespin, T. R., Austin, J. T. (2002). Computer
technology applications in industrial and
organizational psychology. CyberPsychology
Behavior, 5, 279-293. Retrieved February 16,
2005, from Academic Search Premier database
http//search.epnet.com/login.asp?directtruedba
phan7303526
14References
- Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. (2005).
Economic trends. Research Department of the
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. (ISSN
0748-2922). Retrieved February 23, 2005, from
http//www.clevelandfed.org/Research/ET2005/0205/t
rends.pdf - Griffith, J. (1996). Relation of parental
involvement, empowerment, and school traits to
academic performance. Journal of Educational
Research, 90(1), 33-42. Retrieved February 16,
2005, from Academic Search Premier database
http//search.epnet.com/login.aspx?directtruedb
aphan9611251616 - Mills, B. F., Whitacre, B. E. (2003).
Understanding the non-metropolitan-metropolitan
digital divide. Growth Change, 34, 219-244.
Retrieved February 16, 2005, from Academic Search
Premier database http//search.epnet.com/login.as
p?directtruedbaphan10531631
15References
- Woodard, E. H., Gridina, N. (2000). Media in the
home (Survey Series No. 7). The Annenberg Public
Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
Retrieved February 24, 2005, fromhttp//www.annen
bergpublicpolicycenter.org/05_media_developing_chi
ld/mediasurvey/survey7.pdf - Quang, D. T., Lee, S., Khoi, S. (1996). Ethnic
and gender differences in parental expectations
and life stress. Child Adolescent Social Work
Journal, 13, 515-526. Retrieved February 16,
2005, from Academic Search Premier database
http//search.epnet.com/login.asp?directtruedba
phan9706245167