Parental Involvement in public schools

[wideeyedone]

I am doing the action research project for my master's on fostering parent involvement in public schools. I have just finished the literature review part of my project. This involves reading and summarizing the research that exists on the topic before we begin our own research.

It has been a very interesting reading experience. I am currently reading "Schools can't do it alone" by Jamie Vollmer. He was a business leader who felt that schools could be run on an incentive model-- until he dove into the issue and his ideas about reform changed. He goes back all the way to Jefferson to see the foundations on which public schools were built and how that system needs to change. He found allies in educators when he truly understood the jobs that they were doing.

I have been reading research as well as meta- research on the issue of parent involvement in schools and what the conclusions and the lack of research on some of the variables of parental involvement have been of real interest to me. I have only read about 15 studies and will continue to do research.

But the overall conclusion is that parents who read and converse daily with their kids make the most educational impact and that parents volunteering and attending parent events at school (the mark of what most schools consider involved) doesn't really impact students achievement-- while it may have other benefits.

As a teacher, I only hear about the achievement mandates of NCLB but there is an entire section of NCLB that is about inviting and including parents to be part of the decision making and instructional process of schools.

 

[Bert Notorius]

When parents are writing the checks for their kids education, they tend to be more involved. That goes with most things.

 

[bronzeage]

If one looks at it from the child's point of view, there is little reward for school work. If one does well, they give more and the new stuff is harder, It goes on, year after year

It should be obvious. If a parent is not interested and active in their child's education, the child will not do it on their own. If the parent is not interested and active in the school their child attends, it's not much different.

I was out of high school when a "gifted and talented" program was created in my city. Both my younger sisters were in the program. They had no great gifts or talents. What they had was my mother, who went to the school board and filled out the forms. Anyone could get in the program, if their parents made the effort. It wasn't really a program with higher standards, it was a filter to find students who would perform better because they came from homes where it mattered.

I have a lot of friends who are teachers. I hear the same thing over and over. Parents today treat the school as a daycare center. They have no interest in what happens beyond knowing school will be open tomorrow.

 

[wideeyedone]

if it is done right, i think the harder material can be its own reward.

being a mom, I know that my interest helps my kids stay interested. i have one child that loves school and one child that tolerates school-- but she loves history and science. she loves classes where she gets to learn about real things.

as for gifted programs-- they should really be to help draw out the genius that doesn't necessarily flourish in traditional settings. being bright and a good student do not necessarily mean that someone is gifted.

my project is going to be about equipping parents to help their struggling readers- since I work with struggling readers all day as a reading interventionist.

 

[Disgustipated]

I am doing the action research project for my master's on fostering parent involvement in public schools. I have just finished the literature review part of my project. This involves reading and summarizing the research that exists on the topic before we begin our own research.

It has been a very interesting reading experience. I am currently reading "Schools can't do it alone" by Jamie Vollmer. He was a business leader who felt that schools could be run on an incentive model-- until he dove into the issue and his ideas about reform changed. He goes back all the way to Jefferson to see the foundations on which public schools were built and how that system needs to change. He found allies in educators when he truly understood the jobs that they were doing.

I have been reading research as well as meta- research on the issue of parent involvement in schools and what the conclusions and the lack of research on some of the variables of parental involvement have been of real interest to me. I have only read about 15 studies and will continue to do research.

But the overall conclusion is that parents who read and converse daily with their kids make the most educational impact and that parents volunteering and attending parent events at school (the mark of what most schools consider involved) doesn't really impact students achievement-- while it may have other benefits.

As a teacher, I only hear about the achievement mandates of NCLB but there is an entire section of NCLB that is about inviting and including parents to be part of the decision making and instructional process of schools.

Pereg is an idiot, shut the fuck up.

 

[gravyrug]

if it is done right, i think the harder material can be its own reward.

being a mom, I know that my interest helps my kids stay interested. i have one child that loves school and one child that tolerates school-- but she loves history and science. she loves classes where she gets to learn about real things.

as for gifted programs-- they should really be to help draw out the genius that doesn't necessarily flourish in traditional settings. being bright and a good student do not necessarily mean that someone is gifted.

my project is going to be about equipping parents to help their struggling readers- since I work with struggling readers all day as a reading interventionist.

Being gifted is also not necessarily the same as being a good student. I know a lot of very smart people who didn't do all that well in school because they were just bored with it. Those are the ones who need gifted programs.

 

[wideeyedone]

Being gifted is also not necessarily the same as being a good student. I know a lot of very smart people who didn't do all that well in school because they were just bored with it. Those are the ones who need gifted programs.

this is true.

many gifted children struggle because they are just done in by the tedium of work that is too easy for them.

this is why differentiation is so important. I have never thought that all of the children in a particular class should be using the exact same materials or even have the exact same goals. the baseline should be there.... but the sky should be the limit.

 

[gravyrug]

this is true.

many gifted children struggle because they are just done in by the tedium of work that is too easy for them.

this is why differentiation is so important. I have never thought that all of the children in a particular class should be using the exact same materials or even have the exact same goals. the baseline should be there.... but the sky should be the limit.

I wish I'd had more teachers that thought that way, and especially that my daughters had. Both of them actually got more schoolwork done while they were in detention than in class, which is, in their cases, more a comment on their classes than on them.

 

[Disgustipated]

this is true.

many gifted children struggle because they are just done in by the tedium of work that is too easy for them.

this is why differentiation is so important. I have never thought that all of the children in a particular class should be using the exact same materials or even have the exact same goals. the baseline should be there.... but the sky should be the limit.

Mike Yates?

 

[wideeyedone]

I wish I'd had more teachers that thought that way, and especially that my daughters had. Both of them actually got more schoolwork done while they were in detention than in class, which is, in their cases, more a comment on their classes than on them.

I have one daughter that is a teacher pleaser and can learn despite of any lack of challenge because she challenges herself.

I have another that while she will spend hours reading and researching about World War II at home, it takes a skillfull and commited teacher to get her to dive into learning at school. I am blessed that she had an amazing science teacher this year and that her history teacher (while not very innovative) liked teaching about WW II and she did well in his course.

I had a student once that really hated reading. I tried everything. comic books. spiders. snakes. volcanoes. nothing. I finally asked him what he wanted to read about... he told me not schools stuff. i asked him what stuff. he told me low riders. so, i sat on the floor at walmart and went through the low rider magazines. i bought an armful and during reading... I would pull him aside and we would read about hydraulics and spinners and sound systems. he read on grade level by the end of the year. and eventually moved on to reading about other things. it is all about hooking their interest.

 

[LadyVer]

I have one daughter that is a teacher pleaser and can learn despite of any lack of challenge because she challenges herself.

I have another that while she will spend hours reading and researching about World War II at home, it takes a skillfull and commited teacher to get her to dive into learning at school. I am blessed that she had an amazing science teacher this year and that her history teacher (while not very innovative) liked teaching about WW II and she did well in his course.

I had a student once that really hated reading. I tried everything. comic books. spiders. snakes. volcanoes. nothing. I finally asked him what he wanted to read about... he told me not schools stuff. i asked him what stuff. he told me low riders. so, i sat on the floor at walmart and went through the low rider magazines. i bought an armful and during reading... I would pull him aside and we would read about hydraulics and spinners and sound systems. he read on grade level by the end of the year. and eventually moved on to reading about other things. it is all about hooking their interest.

I could never get my son to read until he found a kid fantasy series he really liked. After that he got interested in reading a lot of different subjects. Nice post.

 

[Mike_Yates]

American children are failing miserably at school.

Solution: spend more money on education!

 

[LadyVer]

American children are failing miserably at school.

Solution: spend more money on education!

So, what other solutions could you suggest? (Interested, not being sarcastic).

 

[Ishmael]

I am doing the action research project for my master's on fostering parent involvement in public schools. I have just finished the literature review part of my project. This involves reading and summarizing the research that exists on the topic before we begin our own research.

It has been a very interesting reading experience. I am currently reading "Schools can't do it alone" by Jamie Vollmer. He was a business leader who felt that schools could be run on an incentive model-- until he dove into the issue and his ideas about reform changed. He goes back all the way to Jefferson to see the foundations on which public schools were built and how that system needs to change. He found allies in educators when he truly understood the jobs that they were doing.

I have been reading research as well as meta- research on the issue of parent involvement in schools and what the conclusions and the lack of research on some of the variables of parental involvement have been of real interest to me. I have only read about 15 studies and will continue to do research.

But the overall conclusion is that parents who read and converse daily with their kids make the most educational impact and that parents volunteering and attending parent events at school (the mark of what most schools consider involved) doesn't really impact students achievement-- while it may have other benefits.

As a teacher, I only hear about the achievement mandates of NCLB but there is an entire section of NCLB that is about inviting and including parents to be part of the decision making and instructional process of schools.

I'd be very interested in what those "other" benefits are.

I happen to agree that scholastic success is primarily driven from home. Survey after survey indicates that those children from more financially secure homes do better in school, and life. As do those from secure marriages. (To be followed by posts concerning exceptions. Don't bother, the stats tell the story.) The implication those superficial stats tell is that money makes all the difference.

Not true. Those stats shouldn't surprise anyone, these are parents that have made their way up the ladder and have passed those skills along to their children. But the operative word is "skills", not inherited rights. And those skills can be taught by any parent, at any time, if they so choose. But the unfortunate fact is that many parents, for cultural reasons, instill in their children a prejudice against learning. And in some communities that prejudice is re-inforced by peer group pressure.

You did hit on one point that is key, books, books, books. Reading and being able to express yourself, understandably and clearly, in the language of the land is of paramount importance to success.

Ishmael

 

[renard_ruse]

The only way we will ever compete with the Indians and Chinese is if we make all our youth spend 10 hours a day studying math and science. If they don't want to do the work or if they cause trouble the teacher needs to be able to beat the student into submission with a hard wooden cane. Short of that, our nation is doomed.

 

[Ishmael]

The only way we will ever compete with the Indians and Chinese is if we make all our youth spend 10 hours a day studying math and science. If they don't want to do the work or if they cause trouble the teacher needs to be able to beat the student into submission with a hard wooden cane. Short of that, our nation is doomed.

Yes, we could certainly put all the youth into "school camps." It would solve the problem, but if we did there is no way we could ever make claim to being the 'Land of the Free', could we?

Or we could just stop supporting the non-performers. Sort of a 'tough love' approach.

Ishmael

 

[unregistered]

 

[Ishmael]

Mom and I told what the fuck would happen honey, if you fucked off in school:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/people/graphics/model05.jpg

Everyone has their own strategy. I just didn't allow a TV or radio in the house until the youngest was 15 or so. But I had shelves filled with books.

"I'm bored."

*pointed to the book shelves*

Ishmael

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

When parents are writing the checks for their kids education, they tend to be more involved. That goes with most things.

They do; it's called property tax. Even renters pay it, but it is a hidden cost.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

this is true.

many gifted children struggle because they are just done in by the tedium of work that is too easy for them.

this is why differentiation is so important. I have never thought that all of the children in a particular class should be using the exact same materials or even have the exact same goals. the baseline should be there.... but the sky should be the limit.

Bullshit. I was one of those kids, I was given harder work beginning in third grade and in HS packed off to the Junior College.

I was the kid that everyone said of, "He has so much potential."

I just fucking hated school.

That simple.

I simply don't understand why more people don't get that.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

E. ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Kids fail for a variety of reasons.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Bullshit. I was one of those kids, I was given harder work beginning in third grade and in HS packed off to the Junior College.

I was the kid that everyone said of, "He has so much potential."

I just fucking hated school.

That simple.

I simply don't understand why more people don't get that.

Its simple, Bucko. All of us assume our version of reality is the official and ordained version.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Its simple, Bucko. All of us assume our version of reality is the official and ordained version.

No doubt.

If I had been left alone to my Science Fiction, I probably would have turned out just as educated since I was so turned off to the whole regiment that we consider "schooling."

"... the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it."
John Holt

 

[Bert Notorius]

They do; it's called property tax. Even renters pay it, but it is a hidden cost.

Wrong. The check has no direct bearing on the quality of out come.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

No doubt.

If I had been left alone to my Science Fiction, I probably would have turned out just as educated since I was so turned off to the whole regiment that we consider "schooling."

"... the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it."
John Holt

American schools are run like its Sunday schools. Or, as Mencken said, schools are the natural habitat of women and 3rd rate men.