The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
CS-CEFC-21e

Bibliographic reference :
Raffaele, L.M., & Knoff, H.M. (1999). Improving Home-School Collaboration with Disadvantage Families: Organizational Principles, Perspectives, and Approaches. School Psychology Review, 28(3), 448-466.

Abstract :

The benefits of parental involvement in school for students have been well established, more particularly for students whose families are socially or economically underprivileged. However, partnership between these families and the school seems less likely to occur if crucial steps are not taken to ensure cooperation.

This literature review first presents the different types of parental involvement and the barriers likely to limit involvement. Then, the authors of the article discuss how the school may encourage cooperation through the development of a strategic plan based on an ecological perspective. Lastly, the relevance of involving a school psychologist in the coordination of efforts is emphasized.

Parental Interest and Involvement
Parental involvement may take various forms, ranging from homework monitoring to involvement in school decision-making processes. The sharing of responsibilities between these two entities is a feature of school-family partnership and is facilitated when parents and teachers share a similar cultural background.

Several barriers may prevent some parents from becoming involved, particularly disadvantaged parents. These barriers may be related to parents’ lives, the structure of educational systems or, more often than not, a problem of interaction between the two (e.g., psychological or cultural barriers).

It is often presumed that parents who are less involved have no interest in school, but research has shown that such is not the case. The best predictors of parental involvement are school programmes and teaching practices meant to encourage cooperation. Parents are interested, but it is the responsibility of the school to initiate cooperation.

Core Beliefs and Organizational Principles
The authors identified beliefs that educators must share to ensure effective school-family cooperation, which must: (1) be proactive and non-reactive (welcoming all families, not only those whose children are experiencing difficulties); (2) be sensitive to the cultural background of families; (3) recognize and value parents’ contribution; and (4) foster parental empowerment through communication based on mutual respect.

School-family partnership is a feature of effective schools. Four principles underlying effective cooperation were identified in this review:
1) The need to implement an ecological perspective;
2) The need to understand how parents view education and their children’s school, and how parents’ needs correlate with their children’s education;
3) The need to identify the true motivation of schools for wanting to improve cooperation and their commitment to the process related to staff knowledge, skills and resources;
4) The need to have an ongoing strategic planning process that guides cooperative efforts, assesses these efforts and adapts processes as needed.

Ecological Perspective
Establishing a school-family partnership is not the sole responsibility of educational players. In an ecological perspective, cooperation is viewed within an overall context encompassing the educational system, family environment and community (establishments, demographics, interactions).

Strategic Planning
Planning is a vital step in ensuring the success of interventions aimed at home-school cooperation. By building on an ecological perspective, the authors outlined a five-stage plan: (1) The pre-planning stage of the planning process (e.g., painting a picture of the situation by assessing parents’ needs); (2) Re-defining the organization’s direction (e.g., putting a work team together); (3) Developing the strategic mind-set; (4) Implementing goals, objectives and strategies according to the plan; and (5) Reassessing and institutionalizing the change process.

School psychologists are considered as educational players particularly well positioned to coordinate the implementation of such a project (e.g., sound understanding of child development, psychology of groups and change processes).

Lastly, two programmes that proved successful are presented: Building Communities of Learners and School Development Program (Comer). These programmes share the fact that through their implementation, strategic plans were developed to carry out interventions that changed players’ attitudes towards the situation, from blaming parents to being willing to encourage their involvement.

Links :

This journal is also available in electronic format. Publisher’s Website Address:
http://www.nasponline.org/publications/spr/sprmain.aspx

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Key Words :
Ecological Perspective, Parental Involvement, Socio-economic Status, Underprivileged Environments, Cultural Barriers, Strategic Plan, Organizational Change, School Psychologist, Educational Inequalities, Literature Review, Newsletter12

Monitored Countries :
United States