Michael Wells, MS Monitoring Specialist for Quality Assurance

Parent Involvement in Preschool Classrooms: How to Obtain

Parental Participation and Make Them Feel Comfortable

Parental Involvement

Parent involvement has always been a significant part of Head Start (Zigler & Styfco, 2000)

Head Start has a better support system for parent involvement than private preschools (Roach, Kim, O’Connor, & Laurion, 2009)

Parent involvement leads to cognitive, language, and socio-emotional benefits (Castro et al.,

2004)

Parental Involvement - Head Start Performance Standards

Build partnerships with parents

Help parents access social services

Provide voluntary opportunities in the program and parent education

Allow parents to provide input in Head Start curriculum

Provide parents with health, nutrition, and mental health education programs

Use Community Resources

Support the transition to Kindergarten

Offer at least 2 home visits per year

Parent Involvement

How do you define parent involvement?

Epstein’s (1995) 6 Types of Parental Involvement

Parenting Styles

– Quality of parents’ interactions with children

Parent-School Communication

– Conversations with parents, phone calls, newsletters, etc

Parent Participation at School

– Volunteering in classrooms, helping plan events, going on field trips

Epstein’s (1995) 6 Types of Parental Involvement

Parent-Engagement in Learning at Home

– Reinforce what is taught at school

Parent Involvement in School Decisions

– Parent Policy Council

– Parent-Teacher Organizations

– Parent Group Meetings

School-Community Connections

– Using members of the surrounding community

Parent Involvement Defined

Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES)

– Two types of Parent Involvement

Family and Child Activities

Parent Involvement in Head Start

(US Department of Health and Human Services, 1998)

Parental Help

What form of involvement is more beneficial?

– Active Involvement –volunteering, visiting class

– Passive Involvement – home visits, parent-teacher conferences

Where do you get the most parental help?

– Parent Group Meetings

– Volunteering in the classroom

– Field Trips (i.e. Zoo)

– Parents helping from home

What time of year do parents volunteer the most?

– Fall

– Spring

Parental Help

Active Involvement

Helping out in the classroom was the most common

– Parent Meetings were the second most common

Parents volunteer more time in the fall than in the spring

(Castro et al., 2004)

Parent Involvement

Who volunteers?

– Full Time Employed Parents

– Part Time Employed Parents

– Unemployed Parents

– More years of schooling (college)

– Less years of schooling (high school)

– Mothers

– Fathers

Who’s Involved?

Unemployed

Less years of schooling (High School)

(Castro et al., 2004)

Mothers

Why do you think this is?

How is this information beneficial?

The Teachers Role

Who Gets Parents Involved?

– Teachers with more years of experience

– Teachers with fewer years of experience

What type of Classroom are Parents more likely to be Involved In?

– Higher Quality Classrooms

– Lower Quality Classrooms

Teacher’s Role

Teachers with more experience

Classrooms with Higher Quality

– Using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale

(Castro et al., 2004)

Schools Participating

N = 239

Who Filled Out the Survey?

Race

Age of Parent

Parent Group Meetings

How Often Do You Attend Parent Group Meetings?

Visit Classroom

Received Fliers for Parents to Come to Class

Received Fliers for Parent Group Meetings

Teachers Encourage Classroom Participation

Teachers Encourage Attending Parent Group Meetings

Head Start Encourages Parents to be Involved in the Classroom

Encouraging Participation in Parent Group Meetings

Barriers to Parental Involvement

Busy Schedules

Work

School

Having Younger or Older Children to look after

Mental Health Issues (depression)

(Lamb-Parker et al., 2001)

This data shows similar findings as employment, school, and scheduling were all significant barriers

Increasing Parental Involvement in Classrooms

Provide opportunities for parents to have a say in their child’s education

Ask parents what their strengths and skills are and prepare lessons based around them

Advise parents of the huge help and difference they make in their child’s learning

Encourage and remind parents to come to the classroom often

Increasing Parental Involvement in Classrooms

Once parents are in the classroom, advise them of the daily events and how they can assist

Creating high quality classrooms may encourage greater levels of parental participation

Creating a mentoring program whereby those teachers who bring in more parent volunteers work with less experienced teachers

Gaining Greater Parental Involvement at Parent Group Meetings

Have Parent Group Meetings on different times and days

Having events that involve the whole family, especially fathers and other children, might engender greater involvement in after-school programs

(Castro et al., 2004)

What Parents May Experience a in Classrooms

Large Group Time

– Songs, Stories, Games

Transition Activities

Story Time/Literacy

Special Activities

– Field trips, visitors, cooking, center events

Home-School Connection

– Must relate to an activity that is sent home each week

Small Group Activities

– Curriculum’s Goals/Objective

Challenges

Directors

– Challenge your curriculum to be flexible

Teachers

– Challenge your parents to create and implement an hour long in -class activity

Parents

– Empower yourself – Challenge the teachers by asking questions about how you can support their teachings at home