Critical Issue: Supporting Ways Parents and Families Can Become Involved in Schools

Joyce L. Epstein

Joyce L. Epstein, director of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, talks about the need to help school faculty increase their knowledge about involving parents in the school. Excerpted from "School/Family/Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share," by J.L. Epstein, 1995, Phi Delta Kappan, 76 (9), p. 703.

"Many research studies report that just about all families care about their children, want them to succeed and are eager to obtain better information from schools and communities to remain good partners in their children's education. Research also shows that just about all teachers and administrators would like to involve families, but many do not know how to go about building positive and productive programs, and consequently are fearful about trying."

This Critical Issue was researched and written by Georgette Comuntzis-Page, adjunct assistant professor of journalism at West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, and a child-care specialist for the West Virginia University Extension Service.

Development and production of this Critical Issue was a collaborative effort of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.

Date posted: 1996