Family Engagement and Family Literacy

Dissemination of Information February 15, 2013

Today’s Goals

• Review research on the effects of family engagement

• Discuss parent self-efficacy and what it means for their children

• Explore impact assumptions made about diversity and consider the implications on our practice

• Examine how family engagement effects literacy

Share Your Experiences

• Turn to a neighbor at your table and reflect on ways that parents or caregivers were involved in your education.

What is Parent Involvement?

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What is Parent Involvement? • The law defines parental involvement as, “the participation of

parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities” including: – Assisting their child’s learning;– Being actively involved in their child’s education at school;– Serving as full partners in their child’s education and being

included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child; and

– The carrying out of other activities such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA” Section 9101(32).

Taken from NCPIE

The Pennsylvania Comprehensive Literacy Plan: Guiding Principle 1

• “Literacy is a critical foundation for all learning and serves as a “keystone” for opportunity and success. The Standards for literacy must promote high level learning for all students to ensure that they are prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Because literacy is an important skill in itself and serves as a tool for learning, it is an essential at all levels (Birth-Grades 12). Moreover, to enhance literacy learning of students, there must be shared responsibility of educators, parents and caretakers, and the broader community. “

How Family Friendly Is Your School?

Take a moment to complete the survey. Once complete, reflect with your table on:– In which areas are you doing well?– Which areas are in need of improvement?– What are 2 reasons families might be reluctant to

become involved in the school? How could you reduce the reluctance for families?

– What are 2 reasons teachers/staff might be reluctant to involve families? How could you reduce the reluctance for teachers/staff?

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The Research Says…

• Read over “What Research Says About Parent Involvement in Children’s Education”

Share with your table… • 1 thing that surprised you• 1 thing that all parents should know• 1 idea that you can use to improve your

practice

Research Brief

• The strongest and most consistent predictors of parent involvement at school and at home are the specific school programs and teachers’ practices that encourage and guide parent involvement. Regardless of parent education, family size, student ability, or school level…parents are more likely to become partners in their children’s education if they perceive that the schools have strong practices to involve parents at school.

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Core Beliefs

• All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them.

• All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning.

• Parents and school staff should be EQUAL partners.

• The responsibility for building partnerships between school and home rests primarily with school staff, especially school leaders.

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What Is Self-Efficacy?

Parent Self-Efficacy• Parents are most likely to be motivated for

involvement when they believe that they have some degree of control and influence over their children’s learning, as well as the kinds of activities they may choose in supporting that learning.

• Parents will engage in these activities when they believe that the activities will indeed “make a difference” in their students’ learning.

Handbook on Family and Community Engagement

Four Specific Factors Contributing to Self-Efficacy

• 1. Parents’ personal success• 2.Parents’ vicarious experience of success• 3.Verbal encouragement and persuasion• 4. Personal emotional arousal

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Look beyond the surface…

• All families, no matter what their income, race, education, language, or culture, want their children to do well and can make important contributions to their children’s learning

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Addressing Differences

• Recognize, learn about, and affirm all cultures in your school

• Connect families’ cultures to what students are learning

• Work with community members and groups to connect families to the school

• Recognize and support different forms of parent involvement

• Take discussions of race into the classroomBeyond the Bake Sale

Activity• Complete the “How Well is Your School

Bridging Racial, Class, and Cultural Differences?” checklist.

• As a table, discuss what steps are you already taking or could you take to address differences of culture, race, and class in your school?

Comprehensive Family Literacy• Comprehensive Family Literacy Program

One of the strongest indicators of a child’s educational success is the child’s actual family. The attitude of the parents toward learning and the literacy skills of the parents significantly impact the academic success of the child. From generation to generation, the family is the conduit for the passage of core values, knowledge, and skills that provide the foundation for learning in the early childhood years.

•The Comprehensive Family Literacy Program consists of a service delivery model that encompasses four key components that build and nurture the fundamental skills families need to be successful in their family relations

• Parent and Child Together Time (PACT Time) • Parent Education• Adult Education• Age-Appropriate Education for Children

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Linking to Literacy

Family engagement in reading is strongly related to student achievement (Senechal, 2006)

Parental expectations, speaking and reading to children, number of books at home, parental interest in written and oral communication, parental knowledge of language arts development, and parental enjoyment of reading fosters student achievement

Handbook on Family and Community Engagement

What Can Be Done? Important for parents to read to their child, but also for the

child to read to the parent• Especially important for ELL families

Family trips to the public library Provide parent education • Parent centers, workshops, home visits

Families build a home library• Provide a variety of materials: magazines, books, writing

materials, etc.

Handbook on Family and Community Engagement

Family Literacy Model

Integrated Family Literacy Model

Early Childhood Education

Adult Education

Interactive Literacy

Activities

Parent Education

Who Benefits from Family Literacy Programs?

Children Benefit…• School achievement • Attendance graduation rates • General knowledge• Oral language development• Overall reading achievement (vocabulary, phonemic

awareness, comprehension, decoding, print awareness)• Writing • Math and science achievement• Social skills, self-esteem, and attitudes toward school• ESL children and their parents learn English • Motivation to read

Padak and Rasinski, 2003

Parents Benefit…• Persist in family literacy programs longer than in other types

of adult literacy programs.• Attitudes about education improve; the value they perceive in

education increases. • Reading achievement increases (including ESOL parents)• Writing ability improves • Math and science knowledge increases • Knowledge about parenting options and child development

increases • Social awareness and self-advocacy increases• Enhance their employment status or job satisfaction

Padak and Rasinski, 2003

Families Benefit…• Learn to value education • Become more involved in schools• Become emotionally closer • Read more and engage in more literate behaviors at home • Build foundations for lifelong learning

Padak and Rasinski, 2003

Society Benefits…Positively impacts:

– Nutrition and health problems – Low school achievement and high school dropout rates – Teen parenting – Joblessness and welfare dependency– Social alienation – Home and community violence

Padak and Rasinski, 2003

WRAP-UP ACTIVITYPlus, Minus, and Interesting

• Record one idea from today’s session that enriched (+) your thinking about Family Engagement/Family Literacy

• Record one idea that challenged (-) your thinking about Family Engagement/Family Literacy

• Record one idea you found interesting about Family Engagement/Family Literacy

Question to Ponder…How will you let parents know what is important, necessary, and

permissible for them to do to help their children?

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