State Educators Work to Engage and Equip Parents as Their Child's First Teachers

by Jan Ellis, Director, R.E.A.D.Y. Program, Office of School Improvement, Michigan Department of Education

Did you know?

• School-age children spend 70 percent of their waking hours (including weekends and holidays) outside of school.¹ Preschoolers are likely to spend even more hours with their families.
• When schools encourage children to practice reading at home with parents, the children make significant gains in reading achievement compared to those who practice only at school.²
• Even if parents do not know how to help their children with their education, with guidance and support, parents can become increasingly involved in home learning activities and find themselves with opportunities to teach, model, and guide their children.³

Decades of research show that when parents are involved in their children’s learning, students do better in school. The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) recognizes the importance of parent involvement and has launched a number of initiatives in recent years to boost parent involvement in children’s learning. Here is just a sample:

R.E.A.D.Y. Program Involves Parents Right From Birth

Fact: The earlier in a child’s educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects.⁴

The MDE, with the help of early childhood and literacy experts, developed the Read, Educate and Develop Youth (R.E.A.D.Y.) program to increase parent and caregiver awareness that children's early years are learning years. Since 1992, the program has provided parents and caregivers with engaging materials and learning activities, packaged in R.E.A.D.Y. kits, to help children develop the language and literacy skills needed to enter school READY (see page 5).

In addition to the kits, MDE has also teamed up with Scholastic to create a R.E.A.D.Y./Scholastic Lending Library for parents and caregivers to provide elementary schools and others with high quality, low-cost materials to promote early literacy at home.

This library includes three copies each of 50 popular Scholastic titles for children birth to age eight, con-venient book lending bags, a message to parents, plus a special display unit. Contact Scholastic at (800) 724-6527. (Unit cost is $300. Order item number 939049.)

Michigan’s Reading Heroes is a third component of the R.E.A.D.Y. program and a joint effort of the MDE and the Screen Actors Guild Foundation (SAG). The purpose of Reading Heroes is to spark children’s interest in reading and encourage adults to read aloud to children. Each month, children and their parents can call a toll-free storyline and listen to one of several stories read by a celebrity Reading Hero. Personalities from radio, television, movies, professional sports, and communities hope to captivate their audiences by reading a favorite children’s book. Even Governor Granholm has promised to be a Reading Hero! Parents, caregivers, and family members will also be encouraged to become reading heroes—by regularly reading aloud to their children. Other SAG programs and a similar program in Florida have been successful, generating more than 1,000 calls per day.

First Day of School Celebrations Make Parents Welcome at School

Fact: The strongest and most consistent predictors of parent involvement at school and at home are the specific school programs and teacher practices that encourage parent involvement at school and guide parents in how to help their children at home.⁵

Most parents want their children to succeed in school; not all parents know what they can do to help. That’s why the MDE has actively promoted First Day of School Celebrations, during which schools make it easy for parents to come
to school, meet their child’s teachers, sign up for volunteer jobs, and learn what to expect during the school year. In 2002, an initial statewide effort provided each school building with a free First Day of School Activity Guide that provided ideas and strategies to boost parent involvement at the local level. The guide, which was provided through a partnership between the First Day Foundation, the MDE, the Education Alliance, and the Michigan Business Leaders for Education Excellence, is still available at the First Day Foundation Web site at www.firstday.org. The MDE encourages school principals to download and use the materials to host events. Not only will their efforts get parents involved, they will also help parents feel welcome at school and, at the same time, give them an opportunity to show their children that learning is a priority.

Michigan Department of Education Publications and Web Site Feature Information for Families

Fact: The more intensely parents are involved, the more children will achieve.⁶

The Achieving and Succeeding informational brochure provides educators and parents with a quick overview of Michigan’s standards and benchmarks and their relationship to student achievement. Schools and districts have distributed over 540,000 copies to parents and educators.

The MDE Web site at www.michigan.gov/mde features a broad range of information for families. Visitors can find topics ranging from early childhood literacy to choosing a college or career. The site includes practical information on choosing schools and programs, enrolling a child in school, finding services for children with special needs, and understanding their legal rights. By clicking on “Assess-ment and Curriculum,” parents can learn more about what Michigan students are expected to know and be able to do, and they can discover how well their child’s school is doing, based on accountability systems like Education YES! and No Child Left Behind. They can find their school’s Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) scores. When they click on “Helping Your Child Succeed,” parents can even find suggestions on how to help their children learn more and have more fun doing it.

Family FUNdamentals Bring Math and Literacy Learning Home

Fact: The most effective forms of parent involvement are those that engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities at home.⁷

In summer 2003, the MDE released more than 200 summer learning activities to help students practice their math and literacy skills while still having fun. These Family FUNdamentals offer quick, easy-to-do activities that can be done at home, in the sun, or “on the run.” Family FUNdamentals are based on research that shows that during the summer, children often forget many of the reading and math skills they learned during the school year. The activities were designed to prevent the “summer slide” that requires schools and teachers to spend valuable time during the next school year helping students “re-learn” lost skills. In addition, the math and literacy activities give parents a glimpse into what their children know and can do and reveal areas where their children might need more help.

The summer learning activities are available at the MDE Web site. Soon schools will receive additional Family FUNdamentals compact disks containing hundreds of school-year activities, as well as the math and literacy summer activities. The CD is made possible through a partnership with the MDE, Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA), and Partnership for Learning.

Special Education and Early On® Services Involve Families of Children With Disabilities

Fact: Parent involvement components are required in No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and various federal and state education programs, including Early On, Michigan School Readiness Program, and Title I.

Parents are involved in every level of special education including evaluation of educational planning, contact at the state level through a parent liaison, the federal monitoring project, and parent advocacy groups involved in training parents and professionals. For more information, please contact MDE parent liaison Jan Cheeney at (517) 241-3509.

Customer Satisfaction

Fact: The most consistent predictors of children’s academic achievement and social adjustment are parent expectations of the child’s education at school.⁸

The Office of Student Issues, within the MDE, provides hundreds of parents with information on educational issues and programs each week. The office telephone number is (517) 373-6534 or toll free (888) 323-4231 or go to www.michigan.gov/mde and click on the“Share Your Thoughts” button.

For additional information about parent involvement activities in Michigan, contact: Jan Ellis, Michigan Department of Education, P.O. Box 30008, Lansing, MI 48909, (517) 373-9391, (517) 241-1117 fax, Ellisjan@michigan.gov.

1. Clark, R.M. (1990). Why disadvantaged children succeed. Public Welfare (Spring): 17-23.
2. Tizard, J., Scholfield, W.N., & Hewison, J. (1982). Collaboration between teachers and parents in assisting children’s reading.
3. Roberts, Julia L. (1992) In Online Resources for Parent/Family involvement. ERIC Digest by Ngeow, Karen Yeok-Hwa, 1999.
4. Cotton, K., Wikelund, K.,(1989). Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Parent Involvement in Education.
5. Dauber, S.L., & Epstein, J.L. (1993). Parent attitudes and practices of involvement in inner-city elementary and middle schools. In N.F. Chavkin (Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Dauber & Epstein found that the strongest and most consistent predictors of parent involvement at school and at home are the specific school programs and teacher practices that encourage parent involvement at school and guide parents in how to help their children at home.
6. Cotton and Wikelund
7. Cotton and Wikelund
8. Reynolds, A.J., Mavrogenes, N.A., Hagemann, M., & Bezruczko, N. (1991). Schools, families, and children: Sixth year results from the longitudinal study of children at risk. Chicago, IL: Chicago Public Schools, Department of Research, Evaluation, and Planning. Reynolds et. al. found that the most consistent predictors of children’s academic achievement and social adjustment were parent expectations of their child’s educational attainment and satisfaction with their child’s education at school. Data for this finding were collected from the sixth year evaluation of the “Longitudinal Study of Children at Risk.” An ongoing study of low-income, minority children in the Chicago public schools.
   

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