Research proves
that family-school connections can improve learning if they're created
with care
To
create the best possible leaning environment for children, schools and
families must chart a common course together. After 30 years of research
in this area, the importance of the family-school relationship in children's
learning can't be ignored. And while schools are depended upon to play
the leadership role in encouraging family involvement, they can't be
successful without gathering and using family input. Although there
is more to be learned about family involvement, this report shares current
research on three important areas:
-
What
kinds of involvement make the biggest impact,
-
What types of family activities can improve student achievement,
and
-
How
can we develop and maintain family-school partnerships that will
have a more direct impact learning.
To
truly succeed in a collaboration that will advance student achievement,
schools and families must plan the relationship in advance, engage in
ongoing dialogue and build trust over time, according to researcher
Dr. Sandra Christenson, professor at University of Minnesota's School
of Educational Psychology in the College of Education and Human Development.
"The dynamic aspect of this is critical for the family-school relationship.
"Neither
families or educators have the whole story -- they need to create together
the bigger picture about influences on influences on children's learning
and school performance and use this picture to design a coordinated
strategy for engaging students as leaner," she said, adding that there's
a lot of evidence that shows that all parents want their children to
do well in school -- regardless of their marital and economic status,
or race and ethnic background. And it's rare to find a teacher or school
administrator not selflessly dedicated to their students.
Why,
then, is it so challenging to develop family-school connections that
are comfortable on both sides and that advance student achievement?
Christenson believes much of the difficulty comes form not fully acknowledging
the complementary nature of the family-school relationship. Schools
are used to operating autonomously, so they sometimes have a narrow
view of how to involve families.
On
the other hand, families often have little time for interaction with
teachers and school staff. This is sometimes mistaken for lack of interest
in education by school staff. To create a win-win situation for student
leaning, both school staffs and families must develop more empathy for
the other's goals and constraints, and figure out a way to work together
that is both rewarding and respectful.
In
this report's question-and-answer interview, Christenson shares research
she's gathered during her career of almost 30 years of working with
families and schools.
Q:
What does research say about the factors that are most critical to children's
learning?
A: Children do their best when schools and families work consistently
toward common goals. From a review of more than 200 studies, we know
that family-school conditions associated with positive student performance,
such as grades, better behavior, task completion and so forth, include:
Standards
and Expectations- Expectations by teachers and parents are clearly
stated, there are specific goals and standards for desired behavior
and performance, and expectations and consequences are discussed and
understood.
Structure-
Both families and schools provide a consistent routine of events and
age-appropriate monitoring and supervision. At home, this includes
regular mealtimes and bedtimes. At school, students perform better
when they have a regular daily schedule, clear directions for homework,
and rules for behavior.
Opportunities
to Learn- A variety of learning options are available to youth
at home, at school or in the community. At school, this should include
a wide selection of reading materials, access to clubs and organizations,
varied teaching strategies and time to master new skills. At home,
this might include time spent with parents discussing current events
or playing a game together that reinforces a concept leaned at school.
Support
- Ongoing guidance is provided by teachers and parents to promote
student progress in school. This includes verbal support and praise,
regular explicit feedback, discussion about schoolwork and activities,
and instruction on problem-solving and negotiation skills.
Climate/Relationships
- Students experience positive, respectful communication at home and
at school, and there is a non-blaming relationship between home and
school. Consistency between home and school has a positive influence
on academic achievement. How adults at home, at school and in the
community help youth learn also influences academic performance.
Modeling
- Adults demonstrate desired behaviors and how they value learning
and working hard. Teachers establish and academically demanding classroom
that has clearly defined objectives and an orderly, efficient environment.
Parents or other adults read, ask questions about school, discuss
the importance of education, set long-term goals and are involved
with their childrenĖs schools.
Q:
What are the best ways for schools and families to ensure they're operating
consistently?
A: Good communication is critical to student success. According
to the US Department of Education, the most important is shared information
about students' progress, needs and interests, educational goals, behavior
and achievement expectations, curriculum and discipline, as well as
notices about classroom activities and events. This will prevent misunderstandings
and help parents reinforce school goals at home. (See recommends to
promote good two-way communication between school and home.)
Q:
How can schools encourage a "partnership approach" to family involvement?
A: It's important that families and schools work together as partners
- not as professionals and clients. The traditional family involvement
approach placed a lot of emphasis on involving parents in ways to address
a school's agenda. This resulted in such jobs as volunteering, fundraising,
or helping in classrooms or making sure homework gets done at home.
While all these are important functions, research indicates that a partnership
approach to family involvement is more expansive and more effective.
And unfortunately, you don't reach many families via the traditional
method.
In
the partnership approach, there are many options for families to contribute
to children's school success, and the contributions of families are
valued, even when they are not perceived as directly meeting a current
need of a school. It's based on recognition by families and educators
that must share information and resources. Typically, a partnership
approach for children's learning and shared accountability. Since none
of these can be achieved without cooperation, the emphasis is on relationships.
The ultimate, common goal is to provide students with consistent messages
about their schoolwork and behavior.
An
example of such an approach is a teacher sending a letter home to parents
suggesting ways they can help with their children's homework. Parents
usually want coaching in this area, and teachers can learn effective
ways to provide such coaching. Another example of the partnership approach
I action is a teacher inviting parents to suggest the best way to reach
or teach their children.
Q:
Does family involvement really improve student achievement?
A: Benefits for all stakeholders, including students, teachers,
parents and schools, have been described in many research reviews. Research
indicates that each group benefits from home-school partnerships designed
to enhance children's learning:
Students
show improvement in grades, test scores, attitudes and behavior; they
complete more homework, are more engaged in classroom learning activities
and have higher attendance rates, and fewer suspensions. More students
pursue education options after high school;
Teachers
are recognized by parents for better interpersonal and teaching skills,
are evaluated more positively on their teaching performance by principals
and indicate more satisfaction with their jobs, requesting fewer transfers;
Parents
show a greater understanding of the challenges of schools, improve
their communication with their children in general and about school
work in particular, increase their communication with educators and
are more involved in learning activities at home;
Schools
are rated as more effective and can offer more successful school programs.
They are more effective in preventing problems, such as violence or
drug abuse, when families are working as partners.
Q:
What are good ways for parents to support their childrenĖs learning?
A: We know home support for leaning is positively and significantly
correlated with students' school performance, regardless of income level
or cultural background. Although there is no exact prescription, three
factors in homes have been strongly associated with student achievement.
They include:
-
Strong,
consistent values about the importance of education,
-
Willingness
to help children and intervene at school, and
-
Ability
to become involved in the education of one's children at home, at
school or both
Research
has suggested four important ways families support learning: setting
clear expectations, talking with students about school, providing learning
materials and providing learning opportunities outside of school. There
is evidence that high-achieving urban K-12 students spend approximately
20 hours a week involved in constructive learning activities outside
of school.
Q:
How is family involvement and student success affected by income?
A: Research shows that regardless of educational level, income
status or ethnic background, parents want their children to be successful
in school. Many parents are uncertain about how to help their children
with schoolwork, how to support their children's schooling and what
their role should be in their children's education. Many parents say
they would spend more time on activities with their children if educators
gave them more guidance. We know that "what parents do to support learning"
predicts scholastic ability better than "family status" variables. "Social
class or family configuration" predicts up to a fourth of the variance
in achievement, while "family support for learning or interaction style"
predicts more that half of the variance in achievement. There is moderate
to strong positive correlation between income level and student achievement,
but this is substantially reduced when home support for leaning is also
considered. This is why it is critical that we involve all families
in student learning and not remain content to involve only those who
are easily reached.
Educators'
use of the student' socioeconomic background as an explanation for various
levels of student achievement is simply not acceptable. National researcher
Joyce Epstein has demonstrated that school practices for reaching out
to uninvolved families is a strong predictor of parent involvement.
We canĖt let school staff preconceptions get in the way of trying to
involve all kinds of families, including low income, single-parents,
and minorities who are sometimes stereotyped as too busy or disinterested
in education. Most importantly we, as educators, must recognize the
strengths of families.
Q:
How do negative parent/teacher perception affect the ultimate success
of family-school partnerships?
A: Parent/teacher perceptions - if negative assumptions - build
walls. If such a situation exists, the issue generally stems from a
lack of time available for problem solving and dialogue. Our data from
a national sample of parents indicates that parents want schools to
create more time for teachers to meet individually with parents. Parents
overwhelmingly desired this; however, this was not perceived as readily
realistic for schools to do.
Parents
and teachers don't always view each other as being on the same team,
and they have a tendency to blame each other when things are not going
well for particular student. Both fall into the to trap of expecting
the other to perform only their traditional roles: teachers focus on
preparing kids to learn.. In reality, students do better if parents
and teachers stop their respective blaming and focus on problem solving
together. Roles donĖt have to be as rigid when both parties are working
toward improving student achievement.
Q:
What are other barriers are there, and how can they be addressed?
A: National research demonstrates that parent involvement in
education drops off dramatically at the secondary level, and many educators
believe that high-school students don't want their parents involved.
However, a 1994 study by Epstien show that 82 percent of high school
students agreed that parent involvement was needed at the high-school
level, and 80 percent of parents indicated that they wanted to be more
involved. Fifty percent of students indicated that they wanted their
parents involved, but only 32 percent of teacher felt it was their responsibility
to involve parents.
Other
barriers for successful home/school relationships fall into three categories:
barriers for parents, educators and the family school relationship.
For
educators, these barriers include: the use of negative communication
styles regarding students' performance, stereotypes of families doubts
about individual families' ability to address school concerns, lack
of training for working with parents as partners as partners, fear of
conflict with families, and lack of finding for family outreach programs.
For
families, these barriers include: feeling of inadequacy and passivity
toward school personnel, linguistic and cultural differences that lead
to confusion about school policies and practices, as well as economic,
emotional and time constraints.
For
the family/school relationship, barriers include: limited time for communication
and meaningful interaction, communication primarily during crisis, and
limited time for building trust. We face attitudinal barriers caused
by psychological and cultural differences, as well as barriers to effective
interaction, such as infrequent contact, limited collaboration skills
and knowledge, and few opportunities for meaningful dialogue. We also
often lack a routine communication system. ItĖs important to keep in
mind that these barriers are not insurmountable; they can be addressed
if schools and families develop a plan for doing so together.
Q:
How can schools make their environments more supportive of home school
partnerships?
A: Epstein has developed a model of six types of key activities
to foster successful family-school partnerships; they include parenting,
communicating, volunteering, home learning activities, shared decision-making
and governance, and community support. The list of principles below
describes ways schools can organize their efforts around these key activities.
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The
atmosphere of the school building and general climate is open, helpful
and friendly to parents.
-
Communications
with paretns - whether about school policies and programs or about
their own children - are frequent, clear and two-way.
-
Parents
are treated by teachers as partners in the educational process.
-
Parents'
are treated by teachers as partners in the educational process.
-
The
school recognizes its responsibilities to forge a partnership with
all families whose children attend, not simply those most readily
available.
-
Those
school principal and other administrators express in their words
and deeds a philosophy of pertnership with all families.
-
The
school encourages volunteer support and help from all parents by
including projects that can be done from home & during non-work
hours.
-
The
school provides oppurtunities for parents to meet their own needs
for information, advice and peer support.
-
Parents'
views and expertise are sought in developing policies, solving school
wide problems and in decision-making.
-
Schools
recognize that they play a leadership role in helping parents provide
a home environment conductive to children's learning.
It's
clear from the research that parents can be actively involved in education
without coming to school. In fact, research shows that parent involvement
at school can't be equated with parent in schooling and learning.
Getting
hooked on schools
The
bottom line, according to Christenson, is that if schools reach out
with sensitivity, people will be hooked on being involved in their children's
schools. "We need to change our school practices to be more family centered,"
she says. "We have to make sure our approaches are responsive to the
needs of families and left them know their support can make a difference
in the academic achievement of their children. Family involvement won't
necessarily turn a low achiever into a high achiever, but it will help
all children do better at school. In fact, positive family-school relationships
have been identified as an important protective factor for children,
particularly those living in high-risk circumstances.
"Most
of all, we need to work are ways to build trust between school staff
and families so they can collaborate more successfully. And we must
remember that trust is highly affected by the satisfaction form a relationship,
not the frequency of interactions. If they have a solid relationship,
teachers can help parents show that they value their children's education.
And motivation is something every parent can help provide."
