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Federal
Title I legislation defines parent
involvement as: The participation of parents in regular,
two-way, meaningful communication involving students’ academic learning
and other school activities. The involvement includes ensuring that
parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning; that
parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s
education at school; that parents are full partners in their child’s
education and are included, as appropriate, in decisionmaking and on
advisory committees to assist in the education of their child.
The Six Slices of Parent Involvement
were adopted by Project Appleseed in 1996
from the framework developed by Dr. Joyce L. Epstein, director
of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's
Learning at Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The Center's
mission is research, evaluation, policy analysis and dissemination in
order to produce new and useful knowledge about how families, schools,
and communities influence student motivation, learning, and
development.
Six
Slices of Parental Involvement
Slice
1 -
VOLUNTEERING
GOAL: Recruit and
organize parent help
and support
SAMPLE
BEST
PRACTICES
Distribute Project
Appleseed's learning compact known as the Parental
Involvement
Pledge to recruit and organize parent volunteers.
Distribute Project
Appleseed's Parental Involvement Report Card.
The
Report
Card
is
intended
to
help parents evaluate their
contributions to their child's success at school.
Use the Parental
Involvement Pledge Volunteer Information Survey to identify all
available talents, times, and locations of volunteers.
School and classroom
volunteer program to help teachers and administrators students and
other parents.
Parent room or center for volunteer work, meetings, resources for
families.
Class parent,
telephone
tree, or other structures to provide all families with needed
information.
Parent patrols or
other
activities to aid safety and operation of school programs.
Findings from the U.S.
Department of Education's Prospects Study (1993) reveal that
students in schools with pledges or learning compacts in place perform
better than children in similar schools without them because of greater
reinforcement of learning at home. Furthermore, effects of the pledge
on student learning were stronger than effects from other forms of
school-home interactions.
Slice 2 - PARENTING GOAL: Help
all families establish home
environments to support children
as students.
SAMPLE
BEST
PRACTICES
School provides
suggestions for home conditions that support learning at each grade
level.
School provides
workshops, videotapes, and/or computerized phone messages on parenting
and child-rearing at each grade level.
Parent education and
other courses or training for parents (e.g., GED, college credit;
family literacy).
Family support
programs
to assist families with health nutrition, and other services.
Home visits at
transition
points to preschool, elementary, middle and high school; and
neighborhood meetings to help families understand schools and to help
schools understand families.
Slice 3 -
COMMUNICATING GOAL: Design
more effective forms of
school-to-home and home-to-school
communications with all families each year about school programs and
their children's progress.
SAMPLE
BEST
PRACTICES
Conferences with
every
parent at least once a year, with follow-ups as needed.
Language translators
assist families as needed.
Weekly or monthly
folders
of student work are sent home and reviewed, parental comments returned
to teacher.
Parent and student
pick-up of report card, with conferences on improving grades.
Regular schedule of
useful notices, memos, phone calls, newsletters, and other
communications.
Clear information on
choosing schools, or courses, programs, and activities within schools.
Clear information on
all
school policies, programs reforms, and transitions.
Slice 4 -
LEARNING AT HOME GOAL: Provide
information and ideas to
families about how to help
students at home with homework and other curricular-related activities,
decisions, and planning.
SAMPLE
BEST
PRACTICES
Information for
families
on skills required for students in all subjects at each grade.
Information on
homework
policies and how to monitor, and discuss schoolwork at home.
Information on how to
assist students to improve skills on various class and school
assignments.
Regular schedule of
homework that requires students to discuss and interact with families
on what they are learning in class (e.g., TIPS).
Calendars with
activities
for parents and students at home.
Family math, science,
and
reading, activities at school.
Goal setting for
students
with families each year, and for future plans for college or work.
Slice 5 -
DECISION MAKING GOAL: Include
parents in school
decisions, developing parent leaders
and representatives.
SAMPLE
BEST
PRACTICES
Active PTA/PTO or
other
parent organizations, school advisory councils, or committees (e.g.,
curriculum, safety, personnel, and other committees) for parent
leadership and participation (Go to http://www.projectappleseed.org to
start a parent group).
Independent advocacy
groups to lobby and work for school reform and improvements.
District level
councils
and committees for family and community involvement.
Information on school
or
local elections for school representatives.
Networks to link all
families with parent representatives.
Slice 6-
COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY GOAL:
Identify and integrate resources
and services from the community
to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning
and development.
SAMPLE
BEST
PRACTICES
Information for
students
and families on community health, cultural, recreational, social
support, and other programs or services.
Information on
community
activities that link to learning skills and talents, including summer
programs for students.
Planned service
integration of school in partnership with businesses, civic,
counseling, cultural, health, recreation, and other agencies and
organizations.
Service to the
community
by students, families, and schools (e.g., recycling, art, music, drama,
and other activities for seniors or others, etc.)