Family Involvement in School
Stategies to Increase Family Involvement
- Start out strong. Involve parents in the decision-making process from the beginning of the year.
- Allow parents to take leadership roles and help plan activities. Know your community and be respectful to all families regardless of socioeconomic class, education, race, or culture.
- Provide opportunities for parents to visit your school and provide feedback.
- Provide translators for parents who speak other languages.
- Invite parents or family members to read in their own language. Produce written materials in the languages represented in your school(s) or area.
- Use videotapes, cassette tapes, and/or home visits to reach parents who may experience challenges with literacy.
- Have activities or meeting at times that likely to be convenient for family members (i.e. evenings or Saturdays).
- Advertise family involvement events; include that it is a free event.
- Offer refreshments/healthy snacks or a light meal during meetings. Provide transportation assistance if needed.
- Invite the extended family to participate.
- Provide a place for young children to go to while parents are involved in adult education programs, such as homework help or activities versus just daycare.
- Collaborate with other organizations.
- Keep the lines of communication open. For example, have one person serve as a contact for parents who can listen to the needs and feedback from the families that you serve.
- Solicit donations from your community for materials to be given to the entire family.
- Offer incentives and reward family involvement.
- Develop a team and a plan that is focused at promoting family involvement.
Adapted from Greenlee G., Laws, H.P., Edwards, P., & Goldman, E. (1998, winter) and Family literacy: Tapping into the Power of the Family.
Resources
- NEA - Help for Parents
A in depth resource for parents on how to help their children achieve and succeed in school. It covers reading and as well math and science. - School Success Info
For many parents, it is hard to know how or where to start. This website is here to help those parents find answers. - Parents involvement helps in child's education
A brief article covering Family Involvement and it's importance. - Middle Web
Parent involvement during the middle school years is just as important in a child's success at school as it is in earlier grades. - Helping Children Succeed in School
Learn practical steps to help children be successful in school, gain skills to communicate effectively with their child's teacher and school personnel, help children gain skills for optimum learning, and identify resources to gather more information related to school success. - National PTA
Each of the 10 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed, below, contains a variety of articles and ideas for parents. - About.com's bit on Parental Involvement
A collection of links pertaining to parent involvement in their children's education (K-6) - Parental Involvement in Education
NW Regional Educational Library - A research paper regarding Parental Involvement in Education. - Texas Schools
A report exploring the variety of ways that mothers and fathers can be involved in their children's education. - Family Involvement in Children's Education
This Idea Book describes how some schools and their communities have overcome key barriers--finding the time, increasing their information about each other, bridging school-family differences, improving schools, and tapping external supports to strengthen school-family partnerships. - National Institute for Literacy: A Child Becomes a Reader, Kindergarten through Grade 3
Mothers, fathers, grandparents, and caregivers, this booklet is for you. Your role in setting your child on the road to becoming a successful reader and writer does not end when he or she begins kindergarten. - National Institute for Literacy: Helping Your Child Learn to Read
Describes the kinds of early literacy activities that should take place at school and at home to help children learn to read successfully. It is based on the findings of the National Reading Panel. - Project Appleseed
A checklist for an effective parent-school partnership.
