Involve parents as partners

Whether a family is rich or poor, whether or not the parents have completed high school, and whether a student is in preschool or high school, what the family does is the most influential family factor in overall student success. A student's self-esteem and confidence in science is more directly related to his or her parents' perceptions and expectations than to the student's own achievement record or the attitudes of any single teacher. Parent and family involvement in the science education of their children is crucial. As partners in the reform effort, parents can:

• Make sure that children attend school regularly

• Limit television watching, especially on school nights

• Model and communicate positive character traits - e.g., hard work, responsiblity, lifelong learning, curiosity, and respect

• Schedule daily homework times

• Hold high expectations, check on children's progress, and offer praise and encouragement for effort and achievement

• Mediate student learning by posing questions, helping to generate explanations, and elaborating on ideas

• Become aware of any science anxieties they may have and be careful not to pass along their fears to their children

• Talk with children and teenagers about the relevance of science to future success

• Be sure that their children pursue high-quality science courses

• Find out about after-school, Saturday, and summer science enrichment programs and encourage their children to participate

• Encourage their children's interest in science and let them know that they can succeed

• Learn more about their own culture's learning needs and preferences, and share that information as well as other cultural experiences with their children's educators - e.g., the usefulness of small group work versus lecture with Native Americans

• Get to know their children's teachers

• Join the parent-teacher association and visit school frequently, if possible

• Attend pertinent workshops - e.g., Family Science workshops

• Share informal educational activities - e.g., home-based projects, trips to the library, museums, and cultural and educational events - with their children

• Encourage employers to support the schools

Action steps adapted from Kober, 1993; The Task Force on Women, Minorities, and the Handicapped in Science and Technology, 1989; Jones, 1994; and PTA, 1994.