Parent, family and community involvement
Background
Everyone benefits when parents and families get involved in their children's
education. In fact, parent and family involvement in education is key
to the academic success of every child because the parent is a child's
first and primary educator. Research confirms that family involvement
is positively associated with success in school. Students do best when
parents are supportive and expect them to achieve at the top range of
their abilities.
Legislative history
WEAC supports initiatives to increase partnerships that respond to the
varying needs of families and communities. In addition, WEAC supports
legislation providing leave time from work for parents to participate
in school activities and conferences.
Key components of parent and family involvement legislation:
- Create a Council on Parental and Family Involvement - Establish
a nine-member advisory council in the Department of Public Instruction
that would offer recommendations on parental/family involvement programs;
provide training including skill development for appropriate family
involvement in school governance; facilitate coordination among school
officials, parents, educators and community leaders; coordinate services
with other state agencies; and create an evaluation instrument to
monitor the progress of parental/family involvement programs.
- Require parental/family involvement programs in schools - Require
local school boards, in conjunction with parents, educators, school
officials and community leaders, to develop programs aimed at increasing
support for education. These programs should establish partnerships
within the community, design and implement effective two-way communications,
and build a support system for families.
- Create a parent/family center in every school building - Each program
developed by local school boards should include a suggested structure
for a school-based parent/family center that would serve as a base
for parents when they visit their child's school.
- Create a new categorical grant that provides $5.00 per student
in each public school district. The Department of Public Instruction
would administer the grants to ensure the funds are used for parent
and family involvement programs. An annual report on how these funds
are spent would be submitted to the local school board and made part
of the public record. (Approximate fiscal estimate: $5.00 x 870,175
students = $4,350,875.00).
WEAC position
The Wisconsin Education Association Council strongly supports legislation
to create parental and family involvement programs at every public school
in Wisconsin, create a categorical grant program and form a statewide
Council on Parental and Family Involvement. WEAC also supports expanding
the family leave law to include school conferences and activities leave.
Talking points
- The school, family, and community are overlapping influences on
students' growth and development. As children's first teachers, family
members have a profound and continuing impact on students' growth
and development. A strong commitment to creating parental/ family
involvement programs in the schools is an essential part of a student's
educational development.
- Parental/family involvement programs and parent centers in the
schools would help to establish partnerships and provide the opportunity
to bring the influence of the school, the family, and the community
into balance.
- Families who stay informed about their children's progress at school
have higher-achieving children. A state-supported categorical grant
program to help create family involvement programs at every school
will help to bridge the communication gap that sometimes exists between
families and their schools.
- The state should adopt a law that allows parents leave time from
work to participate in their child's school activities and conferences.
- Even as far back as 1994, a study by the Rand Corporation found
that the most important factor affecting student achievement is the
parents’ level of formal education (especially the education
level of the child’s mother). Although true, this does not mean
that there is little hope for children whose parents have had little
formal education. It simply means that extra effort may be required
to have all parents become more involved in the education of their
children. A solid body of research tells us what parents and schools
must do to enhance family involvement in the education of children;
the challenge is to find ways for teachers and parents to work together
effectively to help all students succeed.
Additional information
Contact Bob Burke at WEAC at 800-362-8034 ext. 254 or by e-mail at burkeb@weac.org
with any reactions, comments or questions.
Posted March 30, 2004
