The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
IST-CEFC-05e

Bibliographic reference :
Carey, N., Lewis, L., Farris, E., & Burns, S. (1998). Parent Involvement In Children’s Education: Efforts by Public Elementary Schools (NCES 98-032). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. [On line]
<http://nces.ed.gov/>
Consulté le 27 avril 2007

Abstract :

This report, published in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics, presents data drawn from a statistical survey conducted during the 1995-1996 school year and involving a sample of 300 public elementary schools. The report deals with the efforts expended by these schools to encourage school-family partnership.

Efforts by Schools to Communicate
Most schools (83% to 85%) reported communicating on a regular basis in writing with parents on issues such as school curriculum, student progress or school performance. A proportion of 72% of schools also reported communicating by telephone with parents to inform them about their children’s progress.

In addition, a proportion of 82% to 89% of schools helped parents to support their children at home by providing them with information on homework help and the development of study skills, along with home learning activities, as well as information on health care, nutrition and family services offered by the community.

A proportion of 64% of schools reported arranging home visits to an average 15% of the school’s families. This practice was the most common in disadvantaged environments. For the most part, visits were from teachers or school counsellors. Some schools also offered the services of interpreters at school meetings or parent-teacher conferences to ease the language barrier between the language spoken in school and that of parents.

Efforts by Schools to Offer Activities
During the 1995-1996 school year, most schools held activities intended to encourage parent involvement such as parent-teacher conferences (92%), back-to-school nights (97%), arts events (96%) or athletic demonstrations (85%). More than half the schools reported that parents were more likely to attend activities involving interaction with their children’s teachers. Parent involvement varied based on the characteristics of each school, especially in terms of poverty level and school composition. For instance, the involvement rate in schools with a low concentration of poverty was 72%, 48% for schools with a moderate poverty concentration and 28% for schools with a high poverty concentration.

Although schools recognized the important role of parents, few of them considered the input of parents during decision-making processes regarding activities, discipline, curriculum, special programmes, and so on. In schools that established decision-making structures to include parents (e.g., governing boards in Quebec), the input of parents was more likely to be considered.

Parent involvement would also take the form of volunteering in class or at school. A proportion of 90% of schools reported having provided parents with this opportunity during the 1995-1996 school year. Some schools even created resource centres to meet the needs of parents (35%).

Barriers to Parent Involvement
Barriers perceived by schools as likely to impede parent involvement included the lack of time on the part of parents (perceived by 87% of schools), lack of time on the part of staff (56%) and lack of staff training in working with parents (48%). Socio-economic, cultural and language differences, along with the attitudes of certain parents towards the school (12 to 23%) and that of staff towards parents (18%), also proved to be barriers to school-family partnership.

Links :
http://nces.ed.gov/

Key Words :
School-parent Communication, Parental Presence in School, Parent Involvement, School Activities, Extracurricular Activities, Decision-making, Volunteering, Poverty Level, Ethnic Minority, Newsletter9

Monitored Countries :
United States