EXCERPT FROM ANNE HENDERSON 2007 TESTIMONY

Link School Events to Learning

The more that programs and activities for families are linked to what their children are learning and doing in class, the greater impact they will have on student achievement.

Think about all the things schools put on for families: fun fairs, back to school nights, PTA meetings, family fun nights, science fairs, and so on. In general, when these programs and activities focus on helping parents understand what students are learning, what the standards say students should know for their age and grade level, and how they are being taught, they have significantly more impact on student achievement.

Workshops, learning kits, family math and reading events, and other learning activities also are a good investment. Learning what their children are doing in class, practicing learning activities with their children, then borrowing materials such as math and science kits to use at home, all contribute to student learning.

The most powerful link to learning is close, regular communications between teachers and families. A study of 81 high-poverty Title I schools by Westat and Policy Studies Associates (2001), for example, found that three practices of teacher outreach to families lead to a 40-50 percent faster gain in both reading and math among third to fifth grade students:

1. Meeting with families face to face
2. Sending materials on ways to help their children at home
3. Telephoning both routinely and when their child was having
problems.

If schools could do only this . . . they would be using parent involvement as an intentional strategy for improving achievement and their students would be making substantial gains.

Welcome Families
When families are welcomed and treated with respect, honored for their contributions, and connected to teachers, other parents and what’s happening in the classroom, they become motivated to be involved over the long-term, in ways that can improve their children’s success in school.

I often hear complaints that low-income families “don’t care about their kids,” or “don’t value education.” This could not be farther from the truth. Kathy Hoover-Dempsey and Howard Sandler have done a series of studies on parent motivation and found that three key factors influence the choices parents make about being involved in their children’s education:

1. How parents develop their job description as a parent. (Researchers call this “role construction.”) What parents think they’re supposed to do to help their children, and what teachers, family and friends say about what’s important and acceptable, deeply affect what parents decide to do.

2. How confident parents feel about their ability to help their children. (Researchers call this “efficacy.”) Parents are more likely to become involved if they feel that:

• they have the skills and knowledge needed to help their children
• their children can learn what they have to share and teach
• they can find other sources of skill or knowledge if needed
• what they do will make a positive difference in their children’s learning.

3. Whether parents feel invited – both by their children and the school. This “sense of invitation” is strongly influenced by signals that parents receive from their children and school staff. These signals that let parents know what their children and teachers want and expect. Their children’s age, and how well they’re doing in school, also have an impact. (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 1997) In her current research, Hoover-Dempsey notes that of the three factors, invitation is very often the most important.

In other words, we know that parents are more motivated to support their children’s learning when they receive clear invitations and support from teachers and other school staff to be engaged, are confident about their ability to help their children, and are clear about what they should do to support their child’s learning. Obviously, school staff can have a big impact on these considerations, especially on making parents feel invited and welcome.

At Wyman Elementary School in St. Louis a couple of years ago, I was attending a breakfast for parents. Standing just outside the door was an African American parent, hesitating to come in. I went over and greeted her, introducing myself. She said she was “Tyrone’s mom” and had never been inside the school before. “Why did you come this time?” I asked. “Because Tyrone’s teacher called and invited me,” she said. When I asked if she had ever gotten other invitations to come to the school, she said, “Yes, I got flyers and other stuff. But I didn’t think they meant ME. I didn’t think they wanted ME to come.” I’ll never forget her.

[Ms. Henderson went on to provide specific recommendations for the NCLB reauthorization. Read her complete testimony for concrete suggestions for revising NCLB to strengthen parental involvement.]

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1 Westat and Policy Studies Associates, The Longitudinal Evaluation of School Change and Performance in Title I Schools, Volume I. Washington, DC: US Dept. of Education.
2 Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey and Howard Sandler, “Why do parents become involved in their children’s education?” Review of Educational Research, 67(1)1997, 3-42.]