Three Ways That Schools Can Promote Parent Involvement

• Creation of a Parent Center. The parent center is a special room for parents at the school. It is staffed by paid coordinators as well as unpaid volunteers. It offers parents a welcoming atmosphere, conversation, and school information. Various activities can be offered through the center, such as recruitment of parent volunteers, clothing exchange, grade-level breakfasts, and English as a second language (ESL) and General Educational Development (GED) classes for parents. Davies says that a parent center makes possible "the continuing and positive physical presence of family members in the schools" (p. 378). The room can be equipped with various materials to help parents: adult-sized table and chairs, a telephone, coffee pot, hot plate, and occasional snacks.

• A Home Visitor Program. The home visitor program consists of paid staff who visit homes to help families understand what they can do to encourage their children's success in school. The home visitors can provide information about reading programs, school activities, curriculum, expectations, child rearing, and summer camps. They also serve as liaisons to convey parent concerns back to the school.

• Action Research Teams. These teams consist of teachers who study ways to improve their own methods of involving parents. They meet at least monthly to do background reading in parent involvement, receive training, interview other faculty about attitudes toward parent involvement, discuss the success of past efforts to involve parents, and design projects to increase teacher-parent collaboration.

References