1. Help with parenting. Help families make the conditions at home well suited for learning. By providing information on child and adolescent development to parents and by helping them strengthen their parenting skills, schools increase and support parental involvement at home and in their child's education.

2. Help with communicating. Encourage and implement school to home and home to school communications to help families learn about school programs and student progress.

3. Volunteering. Involve parents and family members as volunteers in activities at school. Schools should be willing to spend time recruiting and training parents. They should also provide many opportunities for involvement and work around parents busy schedules as best as possible.

4. Help with learning at home. Schools should involve families in academic learning. By providing at-home activities like homework and other projects this can be accomplished.

5. Help with decision making. Involve parents in school decision making by having them participate in advisory committees, school councils, the PTA (Parent Teacher Organization), and other organizations.

6. Help by collaborating with the community. By coordinating the resources of local businesses, community organizations, colleges, and other groups schools can strengthen their school programs, family practices and student learning. Schools can also provide community services to parents like parenting, adult literacy and ESL (English as a Second Language) classes.

How Teachers Can Promote Family Involvement

*Help parents understand why they are so important to their child's success in school. Many parents have never thought about their educational role. You need to remind them that they are their children's most influential teachers and that their children mimic their actions so they need to be good role models.

*Give parents reminders and ideas for things they can do to help their kids in school and out. For example:

Read to your child every day

Ask your child about their school work every day

Tell your child "I love you" every day

Talk to your child and listen to what he/she has to say

*Win parents' endorsement of your own and your school's educational program . Share educational goals and how they are going to be accomplished.

*Give parents the specific information they want, find out their top concerns. From a poll of 100 parents their top concerns were:

What is being taught?

How is it being taught?

How are school funds spent?

How are school policies formed?

*Know how to get parents to read what you send home. Here are some tips:

Use one sheet of paper

Use a 4-6th grade reading level

Know the 30-3-30 rule (80% of people will spend 30 seconds reading what you send home, 19% will spend 3 minutes, 1% will spend 30 minutes)

*Provide training and support for staff and teachers. Most staff and teachers don't have training in this area. Many fear parental confrontations and will avoid them. By providing training this fear can be overcame.

*Provide training and support for parents as well. The parents don't have training and many fear teachers.

*Be sure to recognize and reward both parents and teachers who show terrific parental involvement skills and practices. For example:

For Teachers The most parent phone calls The most notes to parents The best idea to involve parents The most parent visits to a class

For Parents The most books read aloud The most improved grades The most class visits The most help to a teacher

*Make a plan to ensure your success. Decide how your staff will get involved and what you will ask parents to do.

*Use ideas that have worked for others. Know the "Three F's of success: food, families, and fun". make sure to stress the importance of two way communications.

United States Department of Education. Parent Partners Using Parents to Enhance Education. Washington: GPO, 2000.

10 Things Any School Can Do to Build Parent Involvement...Plus Five Great Ways to Fail! www.par-inst.com/resources/10things/10things.htm. 24 March 1996.