The Rewards of Parent Participation

1. The Rewards of Parent Participation Article Written By: James P. Comer Presentation Written By: Lori Mackowski

2. 1968-1969The Yale Child Study Center School Development Program was instituted in the King Elementary School in New Haven, Connecticut. -This school was comprised of mostly poor families and African American families. -There were 300 students at the time and only 15 parents attended the school winter holiday program. -More than 400 parents, students, and friends attended this same program 3 years later.

3. -This program has effectively changed the way schools operate in more than 1,000 schools since 1968. -The program did not force parents to become more involved. This school program first began slowly. Initially, a five person team provided mental health and social services to the families of King Elementary School. -Eventually parents began to trust the school. Staff began to do the same. -Parents, students, and staff began to work together to create a stronger community.

4. Parents Felt Welcome -Parents can feel intimidated in a school environment. -However, the feeling of comfort and the notion of collaborative effort caused these parents to be more concerned about their child’s education. -Parental Participation rose when conscious efforts were made through this program to interest, invite, and encourage parents to share their own ideas and inspirations. -Major factors that keep parents away from school involvement and functions: *Race *Religion *Ethnicity *Stress *Economic status

5. The Solution -Severely dysfunctional schools have respect issues which in turn causes school personnel and parents to blame one another for downfalls. -Teacher and parent uncertainty of more parental involvement in schools is still a main concern with this program. -Surprisingly, these teachers also wanted to succeed in this program. -The solution is to have parents involved in such a way so as to make the teachers more comfortable. Research found the teachers do not want to feel like the parents are watching their every move.

6. The Link *Healthy Development and Academic Learning -Child development is the link between parents and educators. The Child Development Perspective focuses on a student’s: *inherent beliefs *values *attitudes *Students gather these ideas from their parents. -Children tend to imitate what they see their parents do. Parents help their children grow on “crucial developmental pathways” including social-interactive, ethical, psycho-emotional, physical, linguistic, and cognitive (Comer, Joyner, Ben-Avie, 2004). -The interest in school and learning is usually acquired through meaningful interactions with others.

7. The Parent Team -School Development Program Schools have a parent team. The representatives of parents on the School Planning and Management Team create activities that support instruction, social, and positive school relationships. *These activities have a reason. *They are not purely for entertainment for students. Topics accomplished through the team: *Child rearing *Work readiness *Back-to-school *Holiday events *Access to out of school services -A staff liaison has a very important job in schools just beginning the program.

8. Staff liaison? -The reason for this staff liaison is to help parents learn to communicate effectively. -Schools with undereducated families many times do not possess these skills and the confidence to participate in these programs. -The staff liaison helps the parent team to work with teachers to *set priorities *weigh benefits *consequences of *make decisions proposals *interact constructively with staff members -However, the intentional desired outcome is sometimes not reached in these schools. Therefore, in this program, each unique school is given realistic expectations.

9. Participation GoalsStudents, staff, and parents benefit Three levels of goals accounts for realistic expectations. Level 1 monitoring their children’s homework, attending parent teacher conferences, supporting fundraising activities, school concerts, awards ceremonies Level 2 parents are volunteers in daily school affairs (field trips, office support, library assistants) Level 3 parents help make decisions on the School Planning and Management Team

10. Benefits -In one school a parent suggested a march on city hall as a solution to the overcrowding in schools. A veteran parent helped to point out the negative consequences of such an action. Instead a letter was sent to the superintendent and mayor which in turn yielded a prompt and positive response from officials. -Research has proven that “parent participation in school improves the academic achievement of students (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). -Another example is when parents criticized a teacher for their discipline measures. The experienced parents in the program helped the parents to focus more on their children instead of the school.

11. Continued Progress -The School Development Program has encouraged some parents to further their education. Parents have: *Finished their highschool education *Pursued a college degree *Even a master’s degree -The program had instilled confidence to achieve and build on newly acquired or innate skills. The program served to be a motivational tool.

12. My Opinion Where would we be without our parents? Our parents have: *Guided us *Increased our confidence *Encouraged us *Been positive role models *Some parents have been disappointed so many times that they do not hold high standards for their children. They have been let down and they feel that their children will probably be let down. Sometimes parents do not know where to turn. Aggression or detachment behaviors are used to convey their beliefs. This negative attitude sometimes transfers to their children. A school that is truly concerned about parental well being will have significant student educational and healthy developmental growth.