Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 3, 1996 Page: 12
32 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Facilitating Parent Involvement:
Building a Partnership
BY MARY CAUBLE, TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY,
LINDA DANIEL, KARLA LIGHTSEY, AND
KAREN SCHROEDER, ITASCA ELEMENTARY
Active parent involvement has generally been recognized as
beneficial as parents are given the opportunity to play an
important role in helping the school achieve its mission.What role should parent involvement
play in school? Though active parent
involvement is a difficult variable to
assess or identify as a correlate for an
effective school, research generally
supports the idea that it is beneficial to
encourage parents to be actively en-
gaged in the educational process
(Levine & Lezotte). The faculty and
staff at Itasca Elementary School agree
and actively engage parents in the
learning community. A Texas mentor
school, it is the only elementary school
of the small 2A rural Itasca Indepen-
dent School District. Recognizing that
the school is the heart of the commu-
nity, the personnel are dedicated to
involving the parents from the first
day and building a partnership among
the school, parents, and the child.
On opening day of school, a reception
is held in the school library for all
parents. The gathering gives parents
an opportunity to visit with old friends,
meet new friends, and become ac-
quainted with the campus. In addi-
tion, the reception eases the parting of
four- and five-year-old children from
their parents. Within the first two
weeks of school, contact is made again
with the parents on Meet-The-
Teacher-Night. This event gives work-
ing parents an opportunity to make
contact with the school while at the
same time giving teachers an opportu-nity to explain classroom and home-
work expectations as well as disci-
pline management plans. Class con-
tent is outlined and the importance of
the Texas Assessment of Academic
Skills is emphasized. Contact is again
made with all parents when progress
reports are sent home at the end of the
third week of school. Emphasis is on
positive aspects of the student's
progress; however, potential problems
are identified and cooperation is so-
licited from the parents.
Keeping parents informed of student
progress is a high priority at Itasca
Elementary School. Parent confer-
ences are held with each student's
parent or guardian at the end of the
first six week period for all students in
prekindergarten through third grade.
Teachers strive for 100 percent atten-
dance and reschedule, if needed, until
the conference occurs. First grade
teachers release the report card only
after the parent conference occurs since
a non-graded system is used and teach-
ers insist on explaining the system to
parents. Prekindergarten and kinder-
garten teachers conduct parent con-
ferences at the end of each six weeks
period using an evaluation system re-
flecting what has been taught and what
the child has accomplished. Sugges-
tions are given as to how the parent
may help his child at home.Though active
parent involvement
is a difficult
variable to assess or
identify as a
correlate for an
effective school,
research generally
supports the idea
that it is beneficial
to encourage
parents to be
actively engaged
in the educational
process.12
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Tarleton State University. Effective Schools Project. Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 3, 1996, periodical, 1996; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201680/m1/16/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.