Involving Parents in the Common Core State Standards: Through a Family School Partnership Program

Copyright © 2014 by Fayette B. Nick, EdD.

Library of Congress Control Number:                        2014900802

ISBN:               Hardcover                                  978-1-4931-6544-5

                         Softcover                                    978-1-4931-6543-8

                         eBook                                         978-1-4931-6545-2

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Rev. date: 01/24/2014

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

1.   What Does the Literature Say?

Nature of Parent Involvement

Definitions of Parent Involvement

General Barriers to Achieving Parent Involvement

Barriers to Immigrant Parent Involvement

Middle-Level Parent Involvement

Types of School-Parent-Community Partnerships

Benefits of Parental Involvement

Effective Strategies for Parental Involvement

Strategies to Consider When Involving Latino Parents

Strategies for Communicating with Parents

District-Level Strategies

School-Parent-Community Partnerships

Main Point

Chapter 1 Notes

2.   Description of a Family-School Partnership Program

Scheduled Convenient Parent-Teacher-Conference Times.

Creation of a Family Center

Development of a System for Parent-School Communications

Development of Parent-Community Volunteer Program

Home Visits

Transportation for Parents to Attend Parent-Teacher Conferences and Activities

Parenting Workshops

The ROPE Program

Chapter 2 Notes

3.   Common Core State Standards Implementation Plan for Parental Involvement

Common Core State Standards Parent Involvement Plan

A Big No-No in Parental Involvement

Case 1

Case 2

Main Point

Chapter 3 Notes

4.   Family-School Partnership Team

The Family-School Partnership Team Mission

Main Point

Chapter 4 Notes

5.   The Final Words

Sample Family-School Partnership Survey

Chapter 5 Notes

References

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Henry Nick Jr. and Emma Brown for their support.

Prologue

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been around for approximately four years as of the writing of this book. Ninety-two percent of the states have adopted the standards. The standards are designed to prepare students with college-readiness skills. The question this book seeks to answer is how to get parents involved in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards as a partner with teachers and other school personnel. The Common Core Standards cannot be implemented substantively or effectively without involving parents in the effort. In this book, several family-school partnership strategies will be discussed.

Getting parents involved must go beyond parents assisting students with homework and parents supporting the school goals and objectives with little or no input. The school personnel and the parent must form an enduring partnership. In other words, the school personnel (e.g., Common Core experts, teachers, administrators, and staff) must work as partners.

A family-school partnership program is a vehicle that can be used to implement the CCSS in schools and districts effectively. A family-school partnership program is defined as a collaborative relationship between the family and school designed primarily to produce positive educational and social effects, on the child, while being mutually beneficial to all (Lueder, 2011).

In chapter 1, there is a discussion and review of current parent involvement research and its implications for schools and districts. In chapter 2, a description of an effective family-School partnership program is shared for increasing parental involvement in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Chapter 3 provides a footprint of a parent-involvement plan for Common Core State Standards implementation. Chapter 4 describes a family-school partnership team and its development, and chapter 5 ties it all together with the final words on the subject matter and suggests future research needed in this area.

Chapter 1

What Does the Literature Say?

This chapter presents a review of literature in areas related to parental involvement. The areas that were reviewed include nature of parental involvement, effective strategies for parent involvement, and school-parent-community partnerships. This chapter is written for all of you that ask these questions: What does the literature say? Can you back that up with research? Well, the answer to both questions is yes. Enjoy the research.

Nature of Parent Involvement

Boyd (2005) presented a historical view of how parental involvement in schools has changed during the twentieth century. He asserted that during the nineteenth century, parents generally relinquished to teachers and school administrators their responsibility for the education of their children. After teaching became a profession in the 1920s and with the spread of compulsory attendance laws, parents and educators worked together to educate children in a perceived common culture (Bowen, 2003). However, in the 1950s, sweeping societal changes took place; teachers and school administrators generally held the view that they should educate, and parents should simply be supportive of the teachers and the school (Bowen 2003). In more recent history, new emphases have emerged. Starting in the 1970s and continuing today, parents are interested in playing a greater role in school governance and decision-making processes. This new emphasis is motivated by parents’ dissatisfaction with poor student achievement and the resultant desire for influence in the schools’ decision-making processes (Feuerstein, 2000).

Definitions of Parent Involvement. Although many studies exist in the literature concerning the benefits of parent involvement, the definition of parent involvement is often mixed. In an attempt to offer some clarity to the term, Chao (2000) contended that parent involvement