What does parental involvement mean?

Child Trends Data Bank, in an article titled Parental Involvement in Schools, seems to define Parental Involvement as time the parent spends at the school.

Parental involvement in school, as measured by attendance at a general meeting, a
meeting with a teacher, or a school event, and by volunteering or serving on a committee,
rose significantly between 1999 and 2003.

(Showing up at Open House Meetings, volunteering, joining a committee.)

The US Department of Education,  Title IX, Section 9101 (32)  defined it this way:

(32) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT- The term parental involvement' means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring —

(A) that parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning;

(B) that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school;

(C) that parents are full partners in their child's education and are included, as appropriate, in decision making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child;

(D) the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118.

Section 1118, referenced above, states:

SEC. 1118. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.

(a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY POLICY-

(1) IN GENERAL- A local educational agency may receive funds under this part only if such agency implements programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in programs assisted under this part consistent with this section. Such programs, activities, and procedures shall be planned and implemented with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.

(2) WRITTEN POLICY- Each local educational agency that receives funds under this part shall develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written parent involvement policy. The policy shall be incorporated into the local educational agency's plan developed under section 1112, establish the agency's expectations for parent involvement, and describe how the agency will —

(A) involve parents in the joint development of the plan under section 1112, and the process of school review and improvement under section 1116;

(B) provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance;

(C) build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong parental involvement as described in subsection (e);

(D) coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under this part with parental involvement strategies under other programs, such as the Head Start program, Reading First program, Early Reading First program, Even Start program, Parents as Teachers program, and Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, and State-run preschool programs;

(E) conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the schools served under this part, including identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized by this section (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background), and use the findings of such evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies described in this section; and

(F) involve parents in the activities of the schools served under this part.

That's a whole bunch of gobbledy-gook to most people and few will read it let alone understand it.  The general public has been content to let the experts, the educators, figure it out and decide what is needed.




Why am I doing this?

Marion County School Board Strategic Plan

After a bit of time off, tonight I thought "It's a new year.  We've got a new Superintendent of Schools.  Time to check out what's going on."

So we race down the information super highway to the exit that is marked Marion County Public Schools Superintendent's Office.  We've all been reading the newspaper accounts of the appointments.  We know he's been busy getting his team together and laying the foundation. 

I look forward to reading the new Strategic Plan.  I found a link on the Superintendent's Page to the Marion County School Board Strategic Plan.  This document is a foundation.  It communicates the principles and values that the education system in our county will stand upon to reach our goals.
It's dated 2009 - 2012

As I said, I look forward to reading the new Strategic Plan.  

In the meantime, though, since this is the one we've got at hand, let me share some points of interest.

Page 2 of the document lists "Our Core Values" and includes this sentence: "Learning takes place at home, in school, and in the community."

I can agree with that.

Under "Our Area of Focus" we have a section titled "Engage family, school and community partnerships to raise and maintain student achievement."  Here we find a bullet point that states:

The district will use a variety of formats to communicate with parents and the community.

If you're at all familiar with this blog, you'll not be surprised to know that I am disappointed that very infrequently are the classroom homework and assignment pages that exist for each and every teacher in the Marion County Florida Public School system among the variety of formats used to communicate with parents.

I do look forward to reading the new Strategic Plan

Parental Involvement - Deal or No Deal?

The Research page at "I Care"-The Parental Involvement Place has, among other things, the following to say about parental involvement:


Most parents want to be involved in their children’s education. According to Epstein, “family requests for involvement are constant.” Studies show that the majority of parents “want to know how to help their children at home and what they can do to help their children succeed.” Research suggests that “the most effective forms of parental involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children in learning activities at home.” The earlier in a child’s education this process begins, the more effective it will be.


Learning at home requires every teacher to understand the important connections between what is taught and learned in school and what is encouraged, practiced, discussed, and celebrated at home (Epstein, 2001).


In another study, Epstein (1982) found that teacher leadership in parent involvement in learning activities at home contributes independently to positive changes in reading achievement from fall to spring, even after teacher quality, students’ initial achievement, parents’ education, parents’ improved understanding of the school program, and the quality of students’ homework were taken into account.

To the best of my understanding, school districts everywhere had been given a mandate by the federal government regarding parental involvement.  Each district, or school, could come up with their own plan on how they would increase parental involvement, but it had to be measurable.  Federal funding required this.

Under these circumstances, the education professionals understandably often decided that what was easily measureable was the number of names on a sign-up sheet for their open-house type meetings, SAC meetings, as well as the number of parent-teacher conferences that were held.

So this seems to have become what our school system means when talking about the importance of parental involvement.

I can attend all the meetings you want.  I can even bring my neighbors.  But not one meeting is going to help my child, or yours, understand the classroom materials any better - and THAT is what is really important, isn't it?

Each school receives a grade (It makes me smile to see the marquees outside schools proudly proclaiming "We're an A school!").  These grades are based, in part, by the percentage of students earning good marks in fundamentals such as reading and math.

Attending your meetings might meet your requirements for receiving funding but it does nothing to help my child when she seems to be floundering in math.

I will continue to attend your meetings.  I have not missed one yet.  In return, please accept that I am of the opinion that “the most effective forms of parental involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children in learning activities at home.” and simply make sure I am aware of what my child is to be working on for your class.

Deal?
 

WELL DONE Juleah Medina, 1st grade teacher, Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary

Ms. Medina makes it easy for the parents of her first grade students to be involved in their childrens lessons and classwork.  Here is the newsletter dated November 19, 2012 - yesterday - Monday. It's current!

In fact, on this page are links to all the newsletters since school started.  What luck for the parents (and children!) who want to keep up with, and get the most benefit from, the lessons in the classroom.

Thank you Ms. Medina.

WELL DONE Shirley McDonell, 1st grade teacher, Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary

If parents of the first graders in Mrs. McDonells class want to help their children study and get the most out of their lessons they are so darned lucky! 

We have hit the jackpot with Mrs. McDonells class web page.  What's happening in Language Arts? Science? Social Studies? Math?  It's all here!  What a wonderful tool for these parents. 

Thank you, Mrs. McDonell.

I know it takes effort to keep webpages updated so please know that it IS appreciated.