FAMILY

INVOLVEMENT

Family involvement is important in so many

ways. Parents are the most influential people
in a childs life. They are a childs first and most
influential educator. Because of this it is crucial
that they remain involved in their childs
education. Children are more likely to value
education when an importance is placed on it
at home. Parents and teachers can also work
together and provide children with the best
possible environment to foster learning.

Family involvement promotes school success for every child of every age.
The evidence is clear: Family involvement helps children get ready to enter school, promotes their school success, and prepares
youth for college. This Research Brief presents findings from HFRP's ongoing, in-depth review of research and evaluated
programs that link family involvement in children's education to student outcomes.
Family involvement helps children get ready to enter school.
Research Findings:
Children whose parents read to them at home recognize letters of the alphabet sooner than those whose parents do not. 1
Children whose parents teach them how to write words are able to identify letters and connect them to speech sounds. 2
Children whose mothers use complex sentences in their everyday conversations achieve high scores on literacy-related tasks
in kindergarten. 3
Evaluated Program:

Raising a Reader
Raising a Reader is a program that provides books for children from birth through age 5 and encourages parents to read to
their children every day. When parents establish a reading routine with their children, they provide more family bonding time
and an opportunity for their children's vocabulary and preliteracy skills to grow. Six independent evaluations show that
Raising a Reader improves reading behavior and kindergarten readiness, especially for low-income, non-English speaking
families. Begun in California, Raising a Reader has spread to 24 U.S. states and three countries.

Family involvement promotes elementary school children's success.

Research Findings:
Children in grades K3 whose parents participate in school activities have high quality work habits and task
orientation.4
Children whose parents provide support with homework perform better in the classroom.5
Children whose parents explain educational tasks are more likely to participate in class, seek help from the teacher
when needed, and monitor their own work.6
Evaluated Program:

Families and Schools Together (FAST)

Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a program designed to build relationships within families and between families
and schools to address childhood problems such as school failure, violence, and delinquency. Five experimental studies
found that the program made a positive impact on elementary students' health, social skills, behavior, and academic
competence and on parents' parenting skills. Begun in Wisconsin, the FAST program is now implemented nationally in 45
U.S. states and internationally in five countries

Family involvement prepares youth for college.

Research Findings:
Adolescents whose parents monitor their academic and social activities have lower rates of delinquency and higher
rates of social competence and academic growth.7
Youth whose parents are familiar with college preparation requirements and are engaged in the application
process are most likely to graduate high school and attend college.8
Youth whose parents have high academic expectations and who offer consistent encouragement for college have
positive student outcomes.9
Evaluated Program:

Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE)

PIQE's 9-week training course for parents has successfully reduced high school drop out rates and college participation
for Latino youth living in California. Specifically, the children of parents who graduated from PIQE in one region of
California achieved a high school graduation rate of 93%, compared to the national high school graduation rate for
Latinos of 53%.10 Moreover, nearly 80% of the Latino youth whose parents participated in PIQE enrolled in college.
This surpasses the national average for college enrollment in the general population of 62%. PIQE is expanding to
Texas and Arizona.

Family involvement supports all children, especially those less likely to

succeed in school.
Research Findings:
Low-income African American children whose families maintained high rates of parent participation in
elementary school are more likely to complete high school.11
Low-income African American children with mothers involved in their education showed more self-control in
unruly and disorganized classrooms than children whose parents did not provide supportive relationships at
home.12
Latino youth who are academically high achieving have parents who provide encouragement and emphasize
the value of education as a way out of poverty.13
Evaluated Program:
Chicago Child-Parent Centers (CPC)
The CPC program served low-income preschoolers through third graders and promoted parent involvement
through home visits, classroom volunteer opportunities, workshops and courses, and parentteacher meetings.
Low-income children who participated in CPC were more prepared for kindergarten and less likely to be referred
to special education. They also tested higher in eighth grade reading, were more likely to finish high school, and
had lower rates of grade retention.14 Family involvement in the CPC program during the early years was
associated with greater parent involvement in the elementary school years, which in turn was related with positive
student outcomes in high school.15

GREAT
PARENTS
MEAN GREAT
SCHOOLS

FAMILY
INVOLVEMENT
MATTERS

VOLUNTEER AT
YOUR CHILDS
SCHOOL TODAY!

PERSONAL STORIES

Ariel is a third grader at a local elementary school. She loves math and science but struggles in reading and writing. When
Ariel started preschool her parents say that was her first real introduction to literacy. They did not spend time at home
reading because they felt Ariel would get the help she needed when starting pre-k. In preschool Ariel always loved the cents
such as art and science. During story time her teacher always had to get on to Ariel for being disruptive and when asked a
comprehensive question she rarely knew the answer. In kindergarten her teacher noticed her lack of letter recognition and
reading skills. After working with her all year Ariel was barely at the appropriate readiness level for the first grade. In first
grade her teacher noticed Ariels struggle and suggested to the parents ways to help Ariel. They blew it off at first thinking
she was just a little slower at learning the material and thought the teacher was not doing her job. At the end of the year
Ariel was still barely where she needed to be in order to continue to the second grade. Ariels second grade teacher also
noticed her struggles early on and made the same suggestion to the parents. Willing to try anything now the parents began
reading to her every night and finding activities to do at home to practice writing. Now in the third grade Ariel is reading
easily at a third grade level and sometimes choose fourth grade level books to read for fun. Ariel is not yet where here
teacher feels she can be but is positive she will get there soon.
-Christy

My brother was born premature, and

in school he struggles with certain
subjects. My mother realized that he
needed extra help in school. He started
receiving special services, and she
realized that it still wasnt enough. My
mother started to insert herself into
the classroom, and became involved
with the teacher. They would
collaborate together, and as time went
on, my parents realized that there was
a major difference in his grades,
behavior, and attitude towards school
as a whole. I think that if my mother
did not get involved in his classroom/
school and collaborate with his teacher,
he would have had a hard time in
school for years to come. My mother
remains involved with the school,
always helping out in the classroom,
and devotes time to helping my
brother after school.
-Bri

My son has always had a difficult time in school. In Kindergarten I was told he
was immature. Against my better judgement I sent him on to first grade. I
believed he was at a disadvantage because he had not gone to preschool and
that was the only thing that was holding him back. When he entered first grade
he had a very difficult time. I chose to keep him in first grade the next year.
Once again he had problems but he progressed enough to move along to
second grade. Second grade was difficult but he managed to make it to third
grade. In third grade I was determined to help him. I became very involved in
what was going on at school. I spoke with his teacher frequently. She was the
first person to reach out to me and tell me that she thought there was more
going on with my child other than the fact that he was immature for his age.
She suggested I take him for some testing. We discovered that he had
Aspergers Syndrome. If it were not for my persistence and involvement in
school and the teachers strong desire to help then we may not have ever
gotten our answer. I believe by being involved it was easier for his teacher to
talk to me about something that might otherwise been very hard to talk about.
-Ginger

4/15/2015
NEA Family Involvement Group
1234 School Street
Jonesboro AR, 72401
Dr. Smith Superintendent
5678 Elm Lane
Jonesboro AR, 72401
Greetings,
Our office is striving to reach all superintendents of the surrounding school districts. We are writing this letter to inform you of the importance of family
involvement within your school. We are asking for your support in forming workshops that will train and educate parents of family involvement. We believe
that parents have the desire to help their children succeed yet lack the needed skills to do so.
These workshops will consists of training that will help promote how to give proper assistance to children on furthering their education. We will teach the
importance of reading with your children, print rich environments, participation in school activities, and how to properly assist with homework assignments.
We are looking at scheduling these workshops once a month on Saturdays. These one day workshops will last for several hours. We are looking for volunteers
to help promote these shops and to help teach the courses. We as an organization can send a packet of ideal information to provide in the meetings each
month.
NEA Family Involvement Group appreciates all help that can be given. We ask for a response as soon as possible but before June 1, 2015 so we can begin make
arrangements for the following school year. You can mail information the address above, call 870-555-5555, or email neafamilyinvolvment@gmail.com
Best wishes and thank you for your time!

John Doe
President and CEO
NEA Family Involvement Group

While home involvement is most

important, your involvement with
the school is also critical to your
childs success. How can you get
more involved with your childs
school life?
MAKE SCHOOL IMPORTANT
Talk positively about school
with your child. Send your
child prepared for school each
day with pens, pencils,
notebooks, and homework
completed. Make school a
priority by ensuring they are at
school every day.

SHOW YOUR CHILD THAT YOU

CARE
Have a conversation with your
child about school and
homework regularly.

Join the parent-teacher

association.
Attend open houses and back-toschool nights.
Read the school newsletters.
Participate in after-school events.
Get to know your childs teachers.
Support your child in school
activities.
Volunteer to assist with school
functions and extracurricular
activities.

PROS
Enhances academic performance.
Leads to better classroom behavior.
Lifts teacher morale.
Benefits both parents and students.
Positive relationships.

CONS
Parents can feel out of the loop.
Helicopter parenting.

REASONS PARENTS GIVE FOR NOT BEING INVOLVED:

Work: Parents just dont have the time, due to their work schedule.
Kids: Some parents have children in different schools and cannot be present in all
schools.
Home: Have too many things to do at home to visit school during the day.
Parents: Some parents feel like it is not their job to be involved in their childs
education, thats what the teacher is for.

Websites
http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/engaging-parents
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/may94/vol51/num08/Why-Some-Parents-Don't-Come-to-School.aspx

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