By Patricia A. Edwards

Ideas for effectively involving parents and the community in children‘s education
My President’s Messages this year revolve around several key issues, including working with families. This column describes a series of strategies for working with families and provides a framework for thinking about and defining parent/family involvement.

The issue of how to work with families is universal. As I have traveled throughout the United States and to countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, China, New Zealand, Germany, and several African nations, educators have wanted to talk with me about this topic. There is often agreement and laughter when I say that parent/family involvement is high in terms of rhetoric and low in terms of practice.

Involving the whole village
If the conditions are right, all children can learn and succeed. The sad truth, however, is that conditions are far from right for many children. Some children live in tension-filled homes. Some lack adequate food and medical care. Others spend too much unsupervised time at home. And some parents and guardians simply do not have the skills to adequately support their children in school.

Because some children lack the support they need, many school professionals try on their own to help. However, responding to children’s physical and emotional needs can pull teachers away from their instructional responsibilities.

One solution that would decrease the burden on school professionals and increase support for children and their families is developing partnerships with people and organizations within the community. Here are some steps for getting started.

Define parent involvement. According to Carol Ascher (1988), the term parent involvement “may easily mean quite different things to different people.” You need to decide what it will mean in your school. For instance, you need to ensure that the teacher’s and school’s definition of family involvement do not conflict. In a broad sense, parent involvement includes home-based activities that relate to children’s education in school. It can also include school-based activities in which the parents actively participate, either during the school day or in the evening.

Consider the needs. Before launching any program, first consult with a group of parents to identify the needs of the children and their families. Remember that any programs your school offers to benefit adult family members also will have positive effects on the children in the school. When the parents or guardians receive support, they become empowered and develop more self-esteem. This affects the way they interact with their children.

Ask questions. As. J.L. Epstein noted in a 1988 issue of Educational Horizons, “Schools of the same type serve different populations, have different histories of involving parents, and have teachers and administrators with different philosophies, training, and skills in involving parents.” Epstein’s observation should encourage teachers/schools to consider several questions:

• What is our school’s history of involving parents and families?
• What is our school’s philosophy regarding parents’ involvement in school activities?
• What training and skills do we need for involving parents in school affairs?

Create a demographic profile. This is a short questionnaire that compiles information about the school’s families. There are two different types of demographic profiles—one is conducted at the school level and the other at the classroom level (Edwards, 2009). Gathering this information has several benefits:

• Allows teachers to develop tailor-made, parentally appropriate activities.
• Helps educators see the history of parent involvement at the school/classroom level.
• Allows educators to see whether parent involvement has been effective.
• Gives teachers a way to pinpoint where problems may be occurring.
• Allows teachers to interact with families in a way that is specific to their needs.
• Provides teachers with an in-depth look at the strengths of a family/community.
• Gives teachers real data and removes the guesswork/judgments/assumptions about families.
• Allows teachers to connect with families on a grade-by-grade basis.

Account for parent differences. I have coined two terms I think educators should consider: differentiated parenting and parentally appropriate (Edwards, 2004). I proposed the concept of differentiated parenting as a way to urge schools to remember when designing programs for parents that one size does not fit all. While all parents want their children to succeed in school, their perspectives and abilities affect their capacity to support their children in particular ways. With this in mind, I have used the term parentally appropriate to stress that “tasks and activities must be compatible with their capabilities” (Edwards, 2009).

Set your scope and sequence. In constructing a scope and sequence, it is vital to help teachers and parents “get on the same page” by organizing and coordinating parent informant literacy groups, which will make school-based literacy practices and skills more accessible to parents. In essence, the goal is to make the school’s “culture of power” (Delpit, 1995) explicit to parents so that they can familiarize themselves with school-based literacy knowledge (McGill-Franzen & Allington, 1991).

You need to have a clear plan and a set of goals that you would like to achieve at your grade level and decide how parents can assist. In your discussions with your grade-level colleagues, you should address three significant issues: parent capability, parent responsibility, and parent willingness. This will allow you to design programs and activities that meet parents’ needs and abilities.

Raise awareness. Once you’ve identified the needs of your school’s families, make community members aware that they can help. Make announcements on local radio stations and cable TV channels. Place ads in local newspapers. Meet with the “movers and shakers” of the community—political leaders, religious leaders, business owners, or influential parents.

If you follow these steps, you can truly begin to tap the power of parents in ways that will benefit your entire school community.

References
Ascher, C. (1988). Improving the school-home connection for poor and minority urban students. The Urban Review, 20 (2), 109–123.
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The New Press.
Edwards, P.A. (2009). Tapping the potential of parents: A strategic guide to boosting student achievement through family involvement. New York: Scholastic.
Edwards, P.A. (2004). Children’s literacy development: Making it happen through school, family, and community involvement. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Epstein, J.L. (1988). How do we improve programs for parent involvement? Educational Horizons, 66 (2), 58–59.
McGill-Franzen, A., & Allington, R.L. (1991). Every child’s right: Literacy. The Reading Teacher

, 45, 86–90.

President Patricia A. Edwards is a Distinguished Professor of Teacher Education and a Senior University Outreach Fellow at Michigan State University.

Tapping the power of parents (December 2010/January 2011). Reading Today 28(3), 18–19.