Introduction
Parent involvement is referred to as “parents’ participation in the entire educational process (Dor & Rucker-Naidu, 2012, p. 246). In addition, it describes parents’ expectations and beliefs on improving their children’s educational performance based on home and school involvement (Dor & Rucker-Naidu, 2012). Although, parent involvement is viewed as very important, some teachers do not connect with parents beyond teacher and parent conferences. Some of the possible reasons for why teachers and parents do not connect as often are: “teachers are not sufficiently trained to work with parents, contextual and cultural contexts, teachers have negative attitude towards cooperation with parents and parent involvement declines as children gets older” (Dor & Rucker-Naidu, 2012, p. 247). The purpose of this study is compare American and Israeli teacher’s definition of parent involvement and examine their perspective and attitudes towards parent involvement (Dor & Rucker-Naidu, 2012).
Methods
The participants in this study were 56 teachers, in which 29 of them were American and 27 were Israeli. The teachers were all actively teaching at elementary and secondary public schools located in Hartford County, Maryland and north Israel. The teachers from Hartford County were “middle to upper class, had teacher tenure of 2-32 years and their ages ranged between 23-54” (Dor & Rucker-Naidu, 2012, p. 248). The teachers from Israel were “Jewish, middle class, had a teaching tenure
In other words, contributes to the enhancement of knowledge of the child and his or her growth in school. Research provides implication of parent involvement in schooling, such as the effects on students dependent on the relationship between home and school, related research on the topic (e.g. socioeconomic and race), the issues to producing involving parents, and, concluding, example models of parent involvement that have been
Collective research focusing on family-school partnerships provide an extensive examination of parent involvement. Smith et al., (2011) referred to parent involvement as school, family, and community partnerships for the purpose of shared expectations, responsibilities, interests, and correlating influences of family, school, and community. Epstein’s (2008) framework of parent involvement approached parent involvement typologies from an institutional perspective; the framework for this literature review was conducted with a parental perspective that may positively affect academic achievement among students in 6th – 12th grades attending high poverty, rural schools. An explanation of Epstein’s six categories of parent involvement follows:
During the placement I was able to spend time observing interactions between parents, children and staff. I witnessed many positive aspects in the schools approach to engaging parents and was particularly impressed by their open door policy for parents and the support provided to families in times of need by the learning mentors. As part of the admission process to the school, staff visit the parents and child at home and discuss the implementation of the home-school agreement (appendix 1.b). This agreement sets out the expectations of each of the parent, school and child in regard to their actions and attitude towards their time in school. This is often one of the first interactions teacher and parents have and Grayson (2011) suggests most teachers report these home visits to have a lasting positive effect on the child and parent-teacher relationship. During the school’s inspection in 2014 Ofsted identified relationships across the school and with parents as a key strength.
An obstacle I have witnessed in my school is the lack of parental involvement. Throughout this year, I believe the parents' investment in their children education has been disheartening. I can say in my own classroom, nearly one-third of student’s parents have no idea how they are doing in school academically. About one-sixth of student’s parents don’t sign daily agendas or notes that are sent home. Only about one-fifth of parents consistently attend school programs. My biggest concern is that too many parents are disengaged. Parent involvement can indeed make a difference in a child’s education. Students would perform better academically and behaviorally if their
Parents should always be an essential and ongoing part of school curriculum; just because their child starts school it does not mean they need to stop teaching them or not be a part of their child’s learning process (Lindberg, 2014). According to Lindberg, parent involvement is described as, “an ongoing and systematic approach involving such activities as providing knowledge and skills in needed matters in order to ensure and support both student’s academic and personal development, the establishment of ongoing and active communication with teachers and school administration, recruiting and organizing parents’ help and support by volunteering in the activities demonstrated in one’s school and classroom, and creating
According to Michael Seville, a writer for Eutopia Magazine, “… parental involvement is a key ingredient in how well a student learns.” The idea of parental involvement in their school is not a concept exclusive to charter schools. There are many traditional public schools that are launching programs to do just that. In Saratoga, California, an elementary school has made it mandatory for parents to volunteer and attend a seven-session STEP (Systemic Training for Effective Parenting) class. This class is designed to help improve the parent’s usefulness when they appear in class. According to the principal of the McAuliffe Elementary, Michael Kalb, even single working parents are able to find a few hours a month to help out, even if it is in the evening. Since the inception of this program, teachers have noticed more cooperative behavior of their students and a willingness that was not present before. These types of programs could be and should be incorporated into any traditional public school in any part of the country and would create a synergy within the school of parents, teachers, and students.
Parent involvement in schools is positive to the extent that the child is encouraged and getting help on their homework when they need it. If the child is neglected the influence that they need from their parents, they would think that there would be no use to study and get good grades. The letter from a ”Concerned Mother” and the article, ”In Defense of Helicopter Parents” by Lisa Belkin from the New York Times, show evidence of parent influence being beneficial to a child. The influence of parents will help encourage their children to not give up, causing their determination to grow. Parent involvement from an early age will affect how they grow up academically.
Parent engagement in schools is a shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage parents in meaningful ways, and parents are committed to actively supporting their children’s and adolescents’ learning and development. This relationship between schools and parents cuts across and reinforces children’s health and learning in multiple settings—at home, in school, in out-of-school programs, and in the
“Parent involvement is widely believed to be critical to children’s early academic development” as quoted in Parent Involvement in Preschool: Predictors and the Relation of involvement and Preliteracy development. Despite alike documentation that involvement may contrast in preschool rather in later years, astonishing not enough is known about the later years.
The symbiotic relationship between teachers and parents is crucial to the educational success of a student. Parents must be involved with their child’s education through consistent attendance of IEP meetings and advocate for their child and their needs at school. Teachers can encourage parent involvement through, traveling notebooks home and note home programs which establish an open line of communication between teacher and parent. Parent-teacher conferences are a great way for teachers and parents to be involved in the success of the student's educational experience.
Yes Freda parental involvement is critical through out the world for any school. According to research family factors plays a major role in teacher’s ability to teach students. Coupled with, principals and teachers agree that what is going on at home impact a student’s propensity to learn. Especially, when some teachers and administers try to work with children in less than ideal family environments, we can only do so much. Particularly, when parents are often not willing to partner with the schools to provide for the children. On a high note the earlier in a child’s educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects. Also the most effective forms of parent involvement are those that engage parents in working directly
Parent involvement is necessary for students to succeed. Some cultures tend to view teachers as the experts and leave educational decisions to them. This can give the false impression that parents do not care about education. In American culture, parents take a more active role in their child’s education. They might volunteer in classrooms and help out when needed.
The first question asked of the teacher and administrator focus group focused on the meaning of parent involvement to parents. JP, the school counselor, replied, “There is a group of parents who expects their kids to be taken care of 100% in their growth of education and socialization.” CS, a middle school, teacher followed up the response of JP by stating, “Unfortunately, I think a majority of our parents want 100% as far as us (teachers) taking care of everything. A few of our parents don’t have that expectation, but, for the most part, a majority of them do.” The teacher and administrative focus group members contended that parents should be informed and involved, but, parents have the mindset that their responsibility is to get their child to school with their books and homework and that the remainder of the educational process is totally the school’s responsibility.
Parental involvement in education is a vital essential for creating a cooperative environment for the student to thrive and succeed in. When a student knows that he or she is receiving support both inside and outside the school, the chances of that child becoming responsible for and active in their education are more likely. I know that there can be difficulties including parents for many reasons. Such parents may be too busy, uninterested or just feel helpless. However, as an educator, I will still have an obligation to reach out to these parents and assist them.
Parent Involvement has been an issue in the United States since before the turn of the