Family Engagement

Overview

A synthesis of research by Henderson and Mapp (2002) concluded that there is a positive relationship between family engagement and improved academic achievement. This is true across socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and educational background for students of all ages (Mapp, 2004). Today’s call for families to become more involved in their children’s education both at home and at school is not new. For decades, federal programs such as Head Start, Follow Through, Chapter One/Title One, and Special Education have mandated that parents/family be closely involved. Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) has shown positive effects on student achievement at the middle school level. Unfortunately, in many cases there is no partnership between home and school.

Family Engagement Is Needed

Some schools and teachers, however, have not made significant progress in reaching out to families. While some parents are informed about some things some of the time by some teachers in some schools, some families still feel “lucky” to be informed about or asked to participate in activities with their children. In addition, some schools and communities do not fully understand the problems parents and families encounter and the importance of reaching out to them in order to build the kind of relationships that engage parents as true, active partners early in their children’s education. Clark (1993) found that the way children spent their time at home was the strongest predictor of school success. Home learning activities such as homework, reading, and using the dictionary were common among high achievers.

Schools and school systems which are successfully involving families began by responding to the qualities, characteristics, and needs of the parents in order to overcome the barriers which interfere with communication. These barriers include parents’ level of literacy; language preferred for reading, listening, speaking, and writing; daily commitments and responsibilities that may affect the time, energy, and attention available to devote to school; and parents’ level of comfort in becoming involved in their children’s education.

Henderson and Mapp (2002) suggest the following action steps to establish effective family engagement programs:

  • Recognize that all parents, regardless of income, education level, or cultural background are involved in their children’s education and want their children to do well in school;
  • Link family and community engagement efforts to student learning;
  • Create initiatives that will support families to guide their children’s learning, from preschool through high school;
  • Develop the capacity of school staff to work with families;
  • Focus efforts to engage families on developing trusting and respectful relationships; and
  • Embrace a philosophy of partnership and be willing to share power with families. Make sure that parents and school staff understand that the responsibility for children’s educational development is a collaborative enterprise (Mapp, 2004).

Expected Benefits

The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) (1998) has identified the following benefits of family engagement in education:

  • When parents are involved, students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents’ education level;
  • The more extensive the parent involvement, the higher the student achievement;
  • When parents are involved in their students’ education, those students have higher grades and test scores, better attendance, and complete homework more consistently;
  • When parents are involved, students exhibit more positive attitudes and behavior;
  • Students whose parents are involved in their lives have higher graduation rates and greater enrollment rates in postsecondary education. Different types of parent/family involvement produce different gains. To have long-lasting gains for students, parent involvement activities must be well planned, inclusive, and comprehensive;
  • Educators hold higher expectations of students whose parents collaborate with the teacher. They also hold higher opinions of those parents;
  • In programs that are designed to involve parents in full partnerships, student achievement for disadvantaged children not only improves, it can reach levels that are standard for middle-class children. In addition, the children who are farthest behind make the greatest gains;
  • Children from diverse cultural backgrounds tend to do better when parents and professionals collaborate to bridge the gap between the culture at home and the learning institution;
  • Student behaviors such as alcohol use, violence, and antisocial behavior decrease as parent involvement increases;
  • Students are more likely to fall behind in academic performance if their parents do not participate in school events, develop a working relationship with their child’s educators, or keep up with what is happening in their child’s school;
  • The benefits of involving parents are not confined to the early years—there are significant gains at all ages and grade levels;
  • Junior and senior high school students whose parents remain involved make better transitions, maintain the quality of their work, and develop realistic plans for their future;
  • Students whose parents are not involved, on the other hand, are more likely to drop out of school; and
  • The most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which that student’s family is able to
    1. create a home environment that encourages learning;
    2. communicate high, yet reasonable, expectations for their children’s achievement and future careers; and
    3. become involved in their children’s education at school and in the community

(Schargel and Smink, 2001, pp. 52-54).

References

Clark, R. M. (1993). Homework-focused parenting practices that positively affect students achievement. In N. F. Chavkin (Ed.). Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 85-105). Albany, NY: State University of New York.

Henderson, A., & Mapp, K. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Mapp, K. (2004). Family engagement. In F. P. Schargel & J. Smink (Eds), Helping Students Graduate: A Strategic Approach to Dropout Prevention (pp. 99-113). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

National PTA. (1998). National standards for parent/family involvement programs . Chicago, IL: National PTA.

Schargel, F. P., & Smink, J. (2001). Strategies to Help Solve our School Dropout Problem . Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Family Engagement Resources

NDPC Materials

The 15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention Online Courses: Overview Course. (2017). National Dropout Prevention Center/Network.

The 15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention Online Courses: Family Engagement. (2017). National Dropout Prevention Center/Network.

Reducing Dropout Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. (2017). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Family Engagement as a Dropout Prevention Strategy. (2015). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

The Life-Changing Impact of Life Skills Instruction. (2014). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Making Sense of the Evidence: A Review of Dropout Prevention Strategies. (2014). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Strait, J. (Ed.). (2014).  NDPC/N Newsletter: Cultural Competence: A Look at Minnesota

Engaging Families and the Community as an Alternative to Expulsion: An Innovative Approach to Dropout Prevention. (2013). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Using Parent and Family Engagement as a Dropout Prevention Strategy. (2013). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

The 15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention. (2011). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Building the Foundation for School Success: Introducing The Parent-Child Home Program. (2010).  Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Family Involvement Makes a Difference. (2010).  Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (2010).  Video: Looking Back, Moving Forward: Families and Schools Together.

National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (2010).  Video: Parent-Child Home Program.

Engaging Families in the Pathway to College. (2009).  Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Smink, J., & Schargel, F. P. (Eds.). (2004).  Helping Students Graduate: A Strategic Approach To Dropout Prevention. Larchmont, NY : Eye On Education.

Kaye, C. B. (1998).  Parent Involvement in Service-Learning. Linking Learning with Life.

Mansbach, S. C. (1993).  Family Literacy’s Approach to Dropout Prevention  . Solutions and Strategies.

Publications

McQuiggan, M., & Megra, M. (September 2017). Parent and Family Involvement in Education: Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016. American Institute for Research.

Wood, L., & Bauman, E. (2017). How Family, School, and Community Engagement Can Improve Student Achievement and Influence School Reform Literature Review. Nellie May Education Foundation.

The National Academies of Medicine. (2016). Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0–8.

U.S. Department of Education. (2016). Family Interventions For Youth Experiencing or At Risk of Homelessness.

Boots, S. W., Romano, G., & Hayes, G. (2016). Engaging parents, developing leaders: A self-assessment and planning tool for nonprofits and schools. Baltimore MD: The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/AECF-EngagingParentsDevelopingLeaders-2016.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2016). Family Interventions for Youth Experiencing Homelessness or At Risk of Homelessness.

Epstein’s Framework of Six Types of Involvement

Summers, J. (2014).  Rich Kid, Poor Kid: For 30 Years, Baltimore Study Tracked Who Gets Ahead.

Duckenfeld, M., & Reynolds, B. (2013).  School Climate Practices for Implementation and Sustainability  . New York.

Noel, A., Stark, P., Redford, J., & Zukerberg, A. (2013).  Parent and Family Involvement in Education, from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012. National Center for Education Statistics.

A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act . (2010).   U.S. Department of Education.

Supporting Families and Communities: Reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (2010).   U.S. Department of Education.

Bridgeland, J. M., DiIulio, Jr., J. J., Streeter, R. T., & Mason, J. R. (2008).  One Dream, Two Realities: Perspectives of Parents on America’s High Schools . Washington, DC : Civic Enterprises.

Caspe, M. S., Lopez, E. M., & Wolos, C. (2007).  Family Involvement in Elementary School Children’s Education  . Family Involvement Makes a Difference. Cambridge, MA : Harvard Family Research Project.

Henderson, A. T., Mapp, K. L., Johnson, V. R., & Davies, D. (2006).  Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships. New York, NY : The New Press.

Kakli, A., Kreider, H., & Little, P. (2006).  Focus on families! How to build and support family-centered practices in after school.

Caspe, M. S., Traub, F. E., & Little, P. (2002).  Beyond the Head Count: Evaluating Family Involvement in Out-of-School Time . Issues and Opportunities in Out-of-School Time Evaluation. Cambridge, MA : Harvard Family Research Project.

National Center for Education Statistics (2002).  Efforts by public K-8 schools to involve parents in children’s education: Do schools and parents agree?    Washington, DC : NCES.

Connect for success: Building a teacher, parent, teen alliance. (2001).   Belmont, MA : Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. (RNT).

National Parent Teacher Association (2001).  National standards for parent/family involvement programs.

Henderson, A. T., & Berla, N. (1995).  A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. Washington, DC : Center for Law and Education.

Websites

Families’ Responsibilities to Their Schools
Provides a great overview of why school success is a joint effort between schools and families; provided by the University of Illinois Extension

National Center for Families Learning
Educator resources, tips, and tools related to working with adult learners, K-12, English language learners, and research related to literacy and families learning

Harvard Family Research Project
working since 1983 to help stakeholders develop and evaluate strategies to promote the well being of children, youth, families, and their communities; within three areas that support children’s learning and development: early childhood education, out-of-school time programming, and family and community support in education

National Parent Teacher Assocation (PTA)
the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the United States

Parent Involvement Matters

The Center for Parent Leadership

The SEDL National Center for Family and Community Connections With Schools

Family Engagement – Related Webcasts

Archived Solutions to the Dropout Crisis webcasts are available at the links below. Building the Foundation for School Success: Introducing The Parent-Child Home Program . (2010). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis

Engaging Families and the Community as an Alternative to Expulsion: An Innovative Approach to Dropout Prevention . (2013). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Engaging Families in the Pathway to College . (2009). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Family Engagement as a Dropout Prevention Strategy . (2015). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Family Involvement Makes a Difference . (2010). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

The 15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention . (2011). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

The Life-Changing Impact of Life Skills Instruction . (2014). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Making Sense of the Evidence: A Review of Dropout Prevention Strategies . (2014). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Reducing Dropout Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students . (2017). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

Using Parent and Family Engagement as a Dropout Prevention Strategy . (2013). Solutions to the Dropout Crisis.

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