A Look at the Problem
The latest release of test scores for the Standards of Learning (SOL'S)
Tests showed incremental improvements, but alarming differences still
exist among schools and school divisions. As anticipated, schools with
students from affluent neighborhoods outscored schools with students from
poor neighborhoods. The expectation that schools with high numbers of
students born and raised in poverty can produce the same test scores as
schools with high numbers of students born and raised in advantaged homes
is unreasonable. Yet, hard-nosed politicians have lost patience with
educators using socioeconomic status as the excuse for poor academic
achievement. They demand high standards and academic success for all
students. Until our system of public schools accepts responsibility for
increasing parental involvement, the solution to the vast disparity in
student academic achievement will continue.
Research studies for over thirty years have made the connection between
student achievement and socioeconomic status (Coleman, 1966).
Comprehensive studies reveal that the active ingredient of socioeconomic
status is the level and quality of parental involvement, beginning at
birth and continuing through adolescence. Henderson and Berla (1994) have
compiled the results of sixty-six studies that provide repeated evidence
that the most accurate predictor of student achievement is the extent to
which the family is involved in the child's education, not the family's
level of income.
Increasing parents' involvement in their children's education, starting at
birth and continuing through secondary school, is the foremost way to
significantly improve academic achievement in Virginia's schools. The
vast majority of children who are doing well in Virginia's system of
public education came to school ready to learn and have parents who are
actively involved in their education. Many of the children who did not
come to school ready to learn and did not have parents who were actively
involved in their schooling are performing poorly, despite expensive
remediation programs.
Educators and those responsible for education policy have known for a good
while that the largest barrier to reaching high academic achievement, for
approximately two-thirds of all students, is a lack of parental
involvement in these children's education. New compelling evidence proves
that parental involvement is even more crucial to a child's intellectual
development and academic success than believed even a few years ago.
Language and Brain Development
What we are finding out is that this parental involvement is most
important during the first thirty-six months of a child's life (White,
1993). Language and cognitive development are inextricably linked to the
quality of parenting the child receives. Fortunately this research also
indicates that merely talking and reading to infants and toddlers
significantly enhances language development and brain development.
Children are born with an abundance of brain cells and nerve cells called
synapses that connect the brain cells. The networking of brain cells is
dependent upon mental exercise. Unstimulated, many cells die. "However,
since infants and toddlers are dependent upon parents, older siblings, and
care givers for their experiences, the fate of a child's brain development
- what goes and what grows - rests with a parent," claims Jim Trelease
(1995), speaker and author of The Read Aloud Handbook (p. 62).
Except for a small number of children, who are born with a disability all
children enter the world with the genetic ability to learn 3,000+
languages. The language they learn is the language they hear. It is
really that simple. The largest part of school readiness (language and
cognitive development) is the sheer volume of language a child hears the
first three years of life. Engaging infants and toddlers in generous
doses of direct conversation on a daily basis is the foremost challenge we
face.
Hart and Risley (1995) have compiled years of research in their book
Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American
Children. They have documented startling differences in the amount of
interaction between parents and children. Advantaged children enter
school after hearing 45 million words in direct conversation. Most
children enter school after being exposed to 26 million words. Some
children, who often become identified as "at risk," hear only an average
of 13 million words. These differences in early family experiences
translate into striking disparities in children's later vocabulary growth
rate, vocabulary use, and intelligence and achievement test scores -
critical measures of a child's ability to succeed at school and ultimately
in the workplace.
Policy makers are now aware of the profound impact that parents and care
givers have on the brain development and language development of children
in their earliest years. Coupled with the knowledge that parents'
involvement in their children's schooling has a significant impact on
achievement, it is poor public policy to make little or no attempt to
increase parental involvement. Be it an economic imperative to spend
taxpayers' money efficiently or a moral imperative to ensure that all
children have an equal opportunity to succeed in school, accepting the
responsibility to increase parents' involvement in their children's
education must become a primary mission of public education. Once schools
accept responsibility for increasing parental involvement, continuous
improvement in student achievement is truly obtainable for all students
and all schools.
Higher levels of parental involvement will cause students' academic
achievement to increase. Higher levels of parental involvement will also
increase the expected level of schools' academic performance. By
seriously including parents in the education process of children, all key
players will know what must be done to guarantee academic success. All
key players will be working together and held accountable. It would
become clear to the community and most importantly to parents that their
efforts make a difference in their child's individual success and in their
child's school's overall academic performance.
Compiling Data on Measures of Parental Involvement
Daily Reading - Parents of elementary school students could be
asked, "How many days each week do you or another member of your family
sit with your child and read with him or her?" "About how many minutes do
these family reading sessions last?" Parents of middle and secondary
school students could be asked, "How many days each week do you make sure
that your child reads for at least twenty minutes?" Surveying could be
done at the beginning of the year, when parents are requested to complete
several forms for the school or it might be done in conjunction with the
issuing of report cards or during the mid-term examination period. These
data could also be reported directly by students or through sampling
techniques of parents and students.
High Expectations on Academic Success - A family practice that is
considered very important to students' academic success is discussion of
the importance of learning and doing well in school. The parental
involvement indicator might well be the frequency of such discussions.
Parents might be asked how often each week they talk with their child
about doing well in school. Another way of collecting the data would be
to ask each student on a predetermined day if a parent or adult talked to
them that morning or the evening before about doing well in school.
Management of Television Usage - Another parental involvement
indicator might be managed use of television. Research indicates that
regulating the use of television/ electronic games can have a positive
impact on student achievement. Generally, the more time that children
spend watching television, the less time they spend reading or doing
intellectually stimulating activities that lead to high achievement.
Consequently, gathering data from students on the amount of time they
spend watching television each day could be used to indicate the degree to
which parents regulate the amount of time their children are allowed to
watch television.
Homework and Studying - A suitable place to study and complete
homework has been shown to lead to academic success. A parental
involvement indicator might be to determine the number of children at each
school who are provided with or consistently use a suitable study area in
their home. Helping children with homework or helping them study for
tests could be measured as indicators of parental involvement. Again the
data could be gathered directly from parents or students or most likely a
combination of both.
The Research
A student survey has been designed that can capture the four main aspects
of parental involvement. Each classroom teacher prior to the start of the
instructional day may ask the four questions. The entire process takes
less than five minutes and provides a rich source of data to record
important aspects of parental involvement at the classroom, grade level,
and school wide basis. The questions are:
1. Did mom or dad or someone read to
you last night or this morning?
2. Did mom or dad or someone tell you
to work hard or be good in school
today?
3. Do your parents or someone at home
have rules for when or how long you
can watch TV?
4. Did mom or dad or someone check
your homework last night or this
morning?
Discussion of Survey Results from an Urban Elementary School
It was the night before the November 28 Parental Involvement Survey at an
urban elementary school and all over the school zone parents were reading
to their children for pleasure and in hopes of helping them do well in
life. More reading was taking place with children in the lower grades
than with those in the upper grades. Sixty-five percent of the school's
kindergarten children were able to listen to a story by mom, dad, or
someone providing care. Over half of the first grade children were read
to. Fewer than one in three third-grade students had someone reading to
them. Only one in ten fifth-grade students listened to a story or were
read to by a family member. Table 1 shows the number of students at each
grade level and how many of those students were read to by mom or dad or
someone the previous night or morning of the survey.
Table 1 Children Who Were Read To
|
Grade |
N |
Read to |
Percent |
|
K |
86 |
56 |
65 |
|
1 |
97 |
51 |
53 |
|
2 |
126 |
51 |
40 |
|
3 |
95 |
27 |
28 |
|
4 |
105 |
18 |
17 |
|
5 |
93 |
9 |
10 |
|
School |
602 |
212 |
35 |
Parents of students at this school consistently encourage their children
to be good and work hard in school. Overall, 79% of the students reported
being told to be good or to work hard in school. Upper grade students
were just as likely to hear their parents' or care givers' expectations as
those in primary grades. This was the one aspect of parental involvement
that remained consistent across the grade levels. Table 2 shows the
distribution of students who were encouraged to be good or work hard in
school. The percentage of third-grade students being urged to be good was
the highest of all grade levels and this percentage was high in each third
grade classroom as well. It would be interesting to ascertain if the
third grade teachers, as a grade level, have asked parents to pay
particular attention to student deportment or effort in school.
Table 2 Children Encouraged to be Good or to Work Hard in School
|
Grade |
N |
Be Good |
Percent |
|
K |
86 |
64 |
74 |
|
1 |
97 |
78 |
80 |
|
2 |
126 |
93
|
74 |
|
3 |
95 |
86 |
91 |
|
4 |
105 |
81 |
77 |
|
5 |
93 |
75
|
81 |
|
School |
602 |
477
|
79 |
Limits on watching television or what might be watched dropped off as
students progress up the grade levels. While 53% of all students reported
that their parents limit what they watch or how long, parental involvement
is highest at the kindergarten level (85%) and least at the fifth grade
level (25%). Table 3 indicates the number of children whose parents or
care givers have rules for when or how long they can watch television.
Table 3 Children Whose Parents or Care Givers Have Rules for Television
|
Grade |
N |
TV Limits |
Percent |
|
K |
86 |
73 |
85 |
|
1 |
97 |
58 |
60 |
|
2 |
126 |
66 |
52 |
|
3 |
95 |
55
|
41 |
|
4 |
105 |
43 |
41 |
|
5 |
93 |
23 |
25 |
|
School |
602 |
318 |
53 |
The percentage of parents checking homework decreases as children get
older. Only 47% of fifth grade students have their homework checked as
compared to 86% of the first grade students who have their homework
checked. Table 4 shows the variation between grade levels in the number
of children who have their homework reviewed by someone at home. There
were some differences between classrooms at specific grade levels. At the
fourth grade level, only 28 percent of the students in one classroom
reported that their work had been checked, while 100% of the students in
another classroom claimed their work had been checked.
Table 4 Students Who Had Their Homework Checked
|
Grade |
N |
Work Checked |
Percent |
|
K |
86 |
72 |
84 |
|
1 |
97 |
83 |
86 |
|
2 |
126 |
100
|
79 |
|
3 |
95 |
69
|
73 |
|
4 |
105 |
67 |
64 |
|
5 |
93 |
44
|
47 |
|
School |
602 |
435
|
72 |
Tables 5, 6, and 7 provide all of the data from the Parental Involvement
Survey administered at this urban school on November 28, 2000. Table 5
shows the exact count for each of the four aspects of parental
involvement. Table 6 shows the percentages by grade level, Table 7 shows
the percentages of students in each classroom at the school. Charts 1-6
were compiled from the data shown in Table 7.
More insight on the survey results will be gained as more elementary
schools complete the Parental Involvement Survey.
Conclusion
Parental involvement will not just happen. Schools need to actively
develop programs that will help parents and caregivers develop strategies
for engaging parents/ caregivers, and children in mutually beneficial
interactions, with emphasis on the importance of increasing children's
independence without decreasing the guidance as children grow and move
through the grades in school.
REFERENCES
Berliner, D. (1992) Educational reform in an era of disinformation.
Tempe: Arizona State University, Bureau of Educational Research and
Services, College of Education.
Bracey, G. (1995) The condition of public education in Virginia.
Richmond, VA: Virginia Education Association.
Campbell, J. (1995) Raising your child to be gifted. Cambridge, MA:
Brookline Books.
Canady, L. (1994) Presentation at the annual meeting of the Virginia
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Williamsburg,
Virginia.
Colemen, J., Campbell, E., Hobson, C., McPartland, J., Mood, A., &
Weinfield, F. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington,
DC: US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Henderson, A., & Berla, N. (1994). A new generation of evidence: The
family is critical to student achievement. Washington, DC: Center for
Law and Education.
Rich, D. (1987). Schools and families: Issues and action. Washington:
National Education Association.
Trelease, J. (1995). The read-aloud handbook. (4th ed.) New York: Penguin
Books.
White, B. (1995). The first three years of life. (Rev. ed.) New York:
Simon & Schuster.
Jamie Chapman holds a Doctorate in Education from Virginia Tech. He is
currently a UniServ Director with the Virginia Education Association. Lora
Friedman holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Florida.
She is currently Professor of Education at Christopher Newport University.
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