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Dear FINE Member,

Here are this month's FINE member announcements. Please feel free to forward this information to friends and other education colleagues.

New on the FINE Website

To celebrate the Week of the Young Child (April 18–24) FINE offers two new resources in early childhood education.

• Updated Early Childhood Education Bibliography

  This bibliography on family involvement in early childhood education now covers the period 1999–2003.

• New Member Insight

  This FINE member insight by six early childhood education experts answers how early childhood settings can encourage parents to advocate for their child.

• Teaching Case: “Daddy Says This New Math Is Crazy”

  How can schools support parents to assist with their children's math homework, especially when the mathematics curriculum is unfamiliar? In this teaching case, a fourth grade teacher finds her students respond well to the new mathematics curriculum, but at home parents struggle to understand the new math and to help their children with their homework.

Early Childhood Education Resources

• Beginning Reading: The Views of Parents and Teachers of Young Children

  This study found that parents and teachers have different approaches to beginning reading instruction, with parents relying on phonics as a means for children to decode unfamiliar words and teachers encouraging children to think about the meaning and context of an unfamiliar word. Parents rated literacy development second only to character development, but were divided as to the responsibility of the school versus the home in literacy development.

• Countdown to Kindergarten Boston

  Countdown to Kindergarten Boston engages families, educators, and community members in a citywide effort to support the transition into kindergarten, a significant educational and developmental milestone for children and their families. Throughout the year before kindergarten, Countdown helps families get to know their local public schools, choose the right school for their children, and ease the transition into kindergarten. Countdown’s website provides information on school visits, school choice, and registration as well as activities for families to help prepare their children for kindergarten.

• Head Start Performance Standards on Family and Community Partnerships

  The Early Childhood Quality Network provides information on Head Start performance standards on family and community partnerships.

Evaluation

• Engaging With Families in Out-of-School Time Learning

  The fourth publication in the Harvard Family Research Project's series of Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshots, this Snapshot provides an overview of how researchers are evaluating out-of-school time programs' engagement with families. It is available for downloading as an Acrobat file or can be ordered in print free of charge.

Recent Books

• Involving Latino Families in Schools: Raising Student Achievement Through Home-School Partnerships

  Concha Delgado Gaitan provides tools and strategies for including Latino parents in developing sustained academic improvement. Through first person success stories, she stresses three conditions of increased parental participation: connecting to parents, sharing information with parents, and supporting continued parental involvement. This book is available for purchase from the publisher at the link above.

• Mobilizing Citizens for Better Schools

  Robert Sexton, Executive Director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, has campaigned to reform education in Kentucky since 1983. In this book Sexton provides invaluable guidance for citizens of all states who are interested in implementing school reform. The book covers topics such as initial organizing, building credibility, working with business and the media, the “ins and outs” of school reform politics, organizing the public (including parents), and communications strategies. This book is available for purchase from the publisher at the link above.

Journal Articles

• Families and Schools: The Effect of Parental Involvement on High School Completion

  Using data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), this study explores the effects of different types of parental involvement on students' high school completion for European-American, Latino, Asian-American, and Native-American students. Social capital theory and a family ecological approach are used to examine the differing relationships between high school completion rates and traditional family involvement, parental advocacy, and other family variables for each ethnic group. Read the abstract and learn how to obtain this article at the link above.

• Parent Involvement in Elementary School and Educational Attainment

  Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, this study investigated the association between parent involvement in elementary school and success in high school. Results indicated that parent involvement in elementary school was significantly associated with lower rates of high school dropout, increased on-time high school completion, and highest grade completed. Read the abstract and learn how to obtain this article at the link above.

• Low-Income Parents' Beliefs about Their Role in Children's Academic Learning

  In this study 234 low-income ethnically diverse parents rated the importance of helping their second- and third-grade children in reading, math, and homework. Findings showed that parents highly rated the importance of helping their child with academic work, but helping with reading was rated more highly than helping with math. Ratings varied systematically as a function of parents' perceptions of children's academic performance and whether teachers had offered suggestions for how to help with homework. This article is not available online. The citation information is: Drummond, K. V., & Stipek, D. (2004). Low-income parents' beliefs about their role in children's academic learning. Elementary School Journal, 104(3), 197–213.

• High School Outreach and Family Involvement

  When high schools reach out to involve parents, are parents more likely to become involved in their teenagers' education? Using data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), the author analyzed responses from over 11,000 parents of high school seniors. Regardless of students' background or achievement, high schools' outreach positively and significantly predicted parents' involvement in a range of parenting, volunteering, and learning activities at home. Read the abstract and learn how to obtain this article at the link above.

Surveys

• U.S. Department of Education National Survey of Parental Attitudes Toward Science Education

  According to a poll released at the first science education summit, parents feel that a science education is important (94%) and a majority (85%) say they take a proactive role in encouraging their children to take science courses. However, student performance in science lags behind parental expectations. Read the press release and the highlights of the study results at the link above.

• Public Attitudes on Higher Education: A Trend Analysis, 1993 to 2003

  In an analysis of public attitudes on higher education, Public Agenda found that the number of people who think that a college education is necessary for success has increased, particularly among African Americans and Hispanics. At the same time, parents of high school students, especially African-American and Hispanic parents, are increasingly worried about access to college for their children. Download the report at the link above (requires free registration).

Toolkits

• Creating Partnerships, Bridging Worlds: Family and Community Engagement

  A new guide from Turning Points offers research-based tools and strategies for helping schools, teachers, families, and communities partner to deepen student learning and engagement.

• What Makes a Good School? A Guide for Parents Seeking Excellence in Education

  This guide from the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards & Student Testing uses research to identify the qualities of a successful school. Good schools, the authors say, have: strong and professional administrators and teachers, a broad curriculum available to all students, a philosophy that says all children can learn, high expectations for all students, a school climate conducive to learning, an ongoing assessment system that supports good instruction, and a high level of parent and community involvement and support.

• Empowerment Skills for Family Workers

  Cornell's Family Development Credential (FDC) training has taught thousands of family workers effective ways to help families set and reach their own goals for healthy self-reliance. The Empowerment Skills for Family Workers' curriculum is built on two decades of Cornell University research. Publications available include a worker handbook, instructor's manual, portfolio advisor's manual, leader's handbook, and facilitator's manual.

Websites to Watch

• The Center for Parent Leadership

  The Center for Parent Leadership (formerly known as Parent Leadership Associates) has a new website. The center's mission is to provide parents with the skills and opportunities they need to become effective leaders and advocates in their local schools. Using the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership as its basic model, the center provides customized consulting, training, workshops, publications, and national seminars.

Events

• Family Involvement: Past, Present, and Future

  Dr. Heather Weiss, Director of Harvard Family Research Project, will speak on family involvement at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, on Wednesday, April 21st at 5pm.

• School of the 21st Century Conference: Linking Communities, Families, and Schools

  Designed for those who are creating and operating school-based, school-linked childcare and family support programs, this conference will focus on how to strengthen the connections among communities, families, and schools. The conference is scheduled for July 11–13, 2004 at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri.

• Small Schools and Community Organizing: The Politics of Urban Education in New York City

  Focused on both community/parent organizing and the small schools movement, these dialogues sponsored by Bank Street College and the CUNY Ph.D. Program in Urban Education are free and open to the public. Two future sessions will be held on April 19th and May 3rd at the Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street from 6:30–8:30pm. To register or for more information call 212-817-8215.

Contact Us

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Enjoy!

FINE - The Family Involvement Network of Educators