Research Setting And Context Of Public School

Many schools want to incorporate a powerful and positive parent involvement community, yet face a challenge in how to implement effective strategies to involve parents in helping students reach academic achievement. I believe parents want the very best for their child, even if they do not know how to go about helping their child reach success. Students come to school with countless attributes that I may or may not acknowledge, yet parents know the many accolades about their child that I must embrace. As I build a partnership with families, we become a partnership in their child’s education. We begin to collaborate to ensure the student maximizes

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

Although it is important for families to be involved with their child’s school, school personnel should also strive to create a positive interaction with families of students. Carl Dunst (2002) states that school and parent collaboration is necessary, and if schools take on a more family-centered approach, it will help create a supportive environment and help to strengthen a family’s capacity to enhance and promote a child’s development and learning.

Parent, Family, Community Involvement in Education Parents, families, educators and communities—there’s no better partnership to assure that all students pre-K- to high school—have the support and resources they need to succeed in school and in life.

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.

Epstein (1995) has developed a framework of six types of family involvement, which as described by Bull et al. (2008), is a useful tool for understanding how building these effective partnerships between the school, teachers, families/whānau and communities can be beneficial to the students learning. These six principles are the “overlapping spheres of influence” that acknowledge that the educators, parents and community members have an effect on the student and share responsibility for the student’s academic and social growth. Epstein’s work widely influences many schools across the United States of America (Grant & Ray, 2010).

Observations were conducted for more than 80 hours and included community and school events, staff and grade level meetings, leadership meetings and academic activities. The interviews were given to gain an understanding of the culture, curriculum and programs used at the school and leadership qualities.

The last merging theme is barriers that inhibit parent involvement. This teme addresses the research question, “ How do parents and faculty describe parental involvement for students in grades 6th-12th attending a high poverty, rural school?” Participants consistently identified barriers in the district that directly affects their involvement and th descriptions they provided Parents may not be able to volunteer, be directly involved, assit their child with homework, attend meetings, or fulfill obligations of active parent involvement due to possible barriers. Based on the perceptions of administrators, teachers, and parents, the barriers preventing parent involvement for the district in this study include educational, psychological, cultural, and work barriers.

Parent involvement in a child’s education is vital to their success. Many students do really well in school while others fail. There is an obvious correlation between the accomplished children and their involved parents.

Parental involvement in schools is not always an easy task yet, it is very beneficial for everyone involved in a child’s educational development. Students must see that parents have an invested interest in what transpires at school. When parents are involved at schools they become more aware of how to best help their child at home. In addition, “students are more inherently interested in learning, and they experience higher perceived competence” (Gonzalez,-DeHass, Willems and Holbein, 2005, p. 117). Parents and teachers must create a positive partnership or teamwork to show the student the importance of learning in and outside of school. Overall, schools, parents, teachers and students benefit from positive parent involvement leading students to become successful life-long learners.

Over the past few decades, we have seen a push for increased family involvement in their child’s education. Research over the past thirty years continue to correlate higher student achievement with family involvement, improved school motivation, decreased drop out statistics, and increased postsecondary success. Antunez (2000) reports that students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, racial background, or parental education level, when families are involved in learning. It is imperative that schools today reach out to families in order to best support students. However, it is no secret that parent participation comes in many forms with varying levels of contributions and challenges. One challenge is when a family’s values do not align with the schools. Kalyanpur, Harry, and Skrtic (2000) address the idea that parent participation is based on ideals that are highly valued in the dominate culture, but those ideals may not be found in varying culture groups. When ideals, values, and norms clash, there tends to be divide that causes angst among many. In special education, one occasionally encounters a competitive and divisive split between the school and the parents. This split becomes even deeper when schools are blind to various cultural and racial expectations and values. In order to truly meet students’ needs, it is imperative that school districts implement best practices when working with students of diverse backgrounds while fostering a reciprocal

Parents see lots of problems with getting involved in their child’s education. Some point to their own demanding schedules and say they don’t have extra time to volunteer or even attend school activities, much less get involved in bigger ways. Others said it is very uncomfortable they feel when trying to communicate with school officials, whether that’s due to language or cultural differences or their own past experiences with school. Some say they lack the know-how and resources to help their child, or they express frustration with school. Some parents complain that they rarely hear from the school unless there is a problem with their child’s behavior or performance. Some families criticize school personnel for not understanding the difficulty of single parents, grandparents, foster parents, or other caregivers. Others say they lack transportation to attend school events or have no child care for younger siblings. While some school have made great strides in engaging parents and other in the educational process, there is still much more that can be done. Parent, family, and community involvement in education correlates with higher academic performance and school improvement. When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer,

Sample selection. The sample for this dissertation was drawn across two levels. First, the research was conducted on an eligible sample drawn from all public school districts across the state of Minnesota. Second, a volunteer sample was drawn from

schools within a single school district in a mid-sized southern metropolitan city. The authors used the School Community Survey (SCS) to ask demographic questions and 65-questions in the “teacher section” to gather information that describes the school community from the viewpoints of parents, students, teachers, principals. The findings suggested that SCS measures consistently measured teachers’ perceptions and that those measures can be joined to develop summary measures of overall perceptions. The study further states that linear regression analyses using robust clustered standard errors recommends there are significant differences in both the individual, institutional, teacher perceptions. This study serves as a good source to study teachers and parents ' perceptions as it relates to parental involvement.

Interviewee number five is a white male who workers for a farmer and is also a school board member. He regularly attends school functions and votes in the school elections. He currently does not have any children in this school, however, his three children graduated from this district. I chose to interview him, because he would have insight knowledge of how to school works.