Welcome!

Post-It Notes:
Think of 3 words/phrases that come
to mind when you hear the words
Parental Involvement in Education.

If your word/phrase relates to
Class/School: Yellow
Home: Blue
Community: Pink
Urban Parent Perspective on the
Importance of Involvement in
Their Childrens Education
Roxanne Rideout

What does the phrase mean to you?

Parental Involvement
Teachers will discuss how local parents feel
about participating in their childrens
education

Teachers will apply information learned to
create action plans that will increase parent
participation both at home and in school

Purpose
Why Bother?
Experts suggest:
Family participation in education was twice as
predictive of students academic success as family
socioeconomic status (Michigan Department of
Education, 2002, p. 1).
there is little doubt about the positive influence of
parent involvement on childrens educational outcomes
and the overall effectiveness of schools (Cousins &
Mickelson, 2011, p. 2).
Research over the past 30 years has shown that
parents are critical contributors to student
achievement. Parent involvement has been positively
linked to indicators of teacher ratings of student
competence, student grades, and achievement scores
(Shah, 2009, p. 212).
*What the parents have to say
*Parents previous experiences with
schools, schooling, teacher, etc.
very bad experiences in New Jersey: in [this
school] very good experiences.
previous experiences pretty good.
have been good with the teachers and
people in the school.
very helpful with my child and me.
have had ups and downsthese past 2
years have been wonderful with teachers.

*What parental involvement means to
our schools parents:
have been up-to-date with my childs education
and success with his improvement and what he needs
help in.
participation of parents with children means
studying every day and be present in their activities.
to be involved in everything with the childs
education.
participation of parents is very important for the
education of my son - that helps much.
it helps me understand what my child is doing in
school.
School Environment
*Parents feel welcome here
33%
56%
11%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
School Environment
*Parents feel comfortable asking
questions and talking with office staff
and/or the principal
44%
45%
11%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
School Environment
*Parents feel comfortable talking with
their childrens teachers
44%
56%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
School Environment
*Parent comments:

The school environment is very good.
Organized, secure, good teachers and
principal.
Learning at Home
*Parents feel they can help with learning
56%
33%
11%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Learning at Home
*Parent comments:
I sometimes do not understand what they give; I
make my child read to me or to older cousins and I
help her with her homework.
I accompany all you do at school and at home.
I find it hard that sometimes I do not understand
what they give.
Some things are easy to explain and teach while
others are more difficult.
Home-School Communication
*Where parents get most of their information
about the school
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Home-School Communication
*The school or teachers keeps parents
informed on what their children are
doing at school
33%
67%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Home-School Communication
*Parents feel that teachers need to be
aware of problems at home that may
affect their children
42%
28%
14%
14%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
The Following Improve Communication
Between Parents and the School:
*Open House Activities
33%
56%
11%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
*Parent-Teacher Conferences
33%
56%
11%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
*PTO Meetings
22%
56%
22%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
*Monthly School Newsletter
33%
56%
11%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
I like to see and learn more about my childs ups
and downs in class/school year.
It is important because it is about my childs
education. ( x 3)
I want to know how my child is doing. Also, I want
to know her teachers.
I want to follow my daughter because it is the
base of life that they do well in school.


In-School Activities
*Families do attend because:


In-School Activities
*Families do not attend because:
I have no time.
Sometimes I cannot attend because of my
work schedule.
The time I have to study with my kids, they
wont let me.
Parents would like to volunteer:
*In their childrens classroom
63%
37%
Yes
No
Sometimes
Parents would like to volunteer
*to organize a PTO or school event
57%
43%
Yes
No
Sometimes
Parents would like to volunteer
*to participate on an advisory
committee
12%
63%
25%
Yes
No
Sometimes
Parents would like to volunteer
*in other ways
33%
67%
Yes
No
Sometimes
Parents are interested in attending a
session on how they can help their
children at home, to learn more
56%
44%
Yes
No
They would most like to attend:
88%
38%
100%
38%
38%
13%
25%
Helping with
homework
improving math skills
Improving reading
skills
English as a second
language
Using technology
Improving child's self-
image
Building their own
parenting skills
When Parents Would Like the
Meetings to Be Held:
29%

71%
After school
Morning before
school
Morning, during a
week day
Afternoon, during
a weekday

Parents would like to share
interest/hobbies/work experience with
students, teachers or other parents:


Every day for an hour, help the child with
homework and talk with him.

Parents would like assistance with:

ways to help my children achieve their goals
and how to help them learn better and become
successful
how to help my child in his education
reading to children who have low
performance


Resources/Services Parents Would Like
to Have Made Available at Our School:
I would like an after-school program to assist
him with the work, to understand it better.
Tutoring during and after school
After-school program
A special team: a team to teach better
reading to children
If Parents could change one thing about
our school to make it more inviting to
attend in-school activities:
I would say some of the staff membersSome
arent too welcoming and some just are not
good to communicate with.
It is good in this part.
Other Considerations
They said what??


speaking quickly to non-native speakers
using teacher lingo when speaking with
parents terms commonly used in our
profession are not necessarily familiar
to others:
DRA, MAP, SAT-RTI, benchmark,
Common Core , comprehension,
phonics, etc.

Other Considerations: Teachers
Bridging Cultures in Our Schools: New
Approaches That Work
Elise Trumbel
Carrie Rothstein-Fisch
Patricia M. Greenfield
Jigsaw
Count off by 5s
Form groups based on your number
Read assigned section
Discuss pertinent points
Place Post-It note on one part of your section that
stands out for you
Share out

What Can We Do?
Based on our parent survey results
Brainstorm:
Take 3 minutes to come up with as many ways as
you can to increase parental involvement
In-school activities/presentations
(can be parent-centered, such as parent
presentation)
(3 minutes for)
Classroom
(3 minutes for)
At home

Reflections

Please list 2 ways this training has impacted
your beliefs about parental involvement.

References
Big Education Ape. (2014, January 19). [Photograph]. Retrieved
from http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2014/01/engaging-
parents-in-school-going-beyond_19.htmlCatherine Compton-Lilly
in Education Week Teacher

*Bothell High School PTSA. (2012, November 15). [Illustration].
Retrieved from
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&so
urce=hp&biw=1252&bih=557&q=parents+in+school+involvement
&oq=parents+in+school&gs_l=img.1.3.0j0i5l2j0i24l2.3580.7971.0
.12322.17.17.0.0.0.0.303.2358.0j5j5j1.11.0....0...1ac.1.51.img..6.11
.2344.a_LJX78vGqc&gws_rd=ssl#imgdii=_

Cousins, L.H., & Mickelson, R. (2011, September 28). Making
success in education: what black parents believe about
participation in their childrens education. Current Issues in
Education 14(3), 1-16.



DBFE Fins Cast. (2013, November 8). [Illustration]. Retrieved
from http://dbfe.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/november-is-florida-
parental-involvement-month/

Michigan Department of Education. (2002, March). What research
says about parent involvement in childrens education. Retrieved
from
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Final_Parent_Involvement_F
act_Sheet_14732_7.pdf

Shah, P. (2009, March). Motivating participation: The symbolic
effects of Latino representation on parent school involvement.
Social Science Quarterly, 90(1), 212-230. DOI:
10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00612.x