OBJECTIVES

1. Outline the influence of the family on learning.
2. Describe the influence of the family on the development of cognition.
3. Describe the impact of a family member with disabilities.
4. List ways to improve relationships with families.
5. Define the legal rights of parents.
6. List activities to engage and support parents.
7. List ways to train teachers to work with parents.
8. List and describe desirable contacts with parents, including conferences and other communications.
9. Describe ways to improve services for parents, including a home-school coordinator, parent involvement in school decisions, and centralization of social services.

• The child's first and most influential teacher is the parent.
• A child's ideas about education and its significance begin with the parent.
• The most important activity for building knowledge and eventual academic success is reading aloud to children.
• Parents have the most control over student absenteeism, variety of reading materials in the home, and excessive television watching, which account for about 90 percent of the difference in eighth-grade mathematics test scores across 37 states and the District of Columbia (Barton & Coley 1992).
• What the family does is more important to student success than family income or education.

Getting families involved in education can mean better attendance, more homework, a positive attitude toward school, better behavior, higher graduation rates, and a greater tendency to enroll in higher education (Henderson & Berla 1994; Becher 1984). Walberg (1984) reported that academic success is more closely related to family practices than to socioeconomic status of the family. According to Barton and Coley (1992), most of the differences in achievement reported throughout the nation can be directly attributed to what happens in the home. Parental involvement in children's academic pursuits can influence achievement in all academic subjects (Keith & Keith, 1993). Higher achievement is not necessarily simply a function of parental insistence on doing homework but also a matter of attaching significant social and familial importance to educational values.

The importance of parental support for any child is unquestioned, but for children with disabilities it is even more important. For any child the cooperation of the school with parents is essential.
 

Faculty, Parents Make Inclusion a Success The faculty at Liberty Curtin Elementary is very proud of their new Inclusion program that has been very successful thus far in including "special needs" children in the classroom in grades one through three. Inclusion programs, which are being found in more schools recently due to their great social and academic advantages, incorporate children with learning disabilities and other hindering circumstances into the regular classes instead of isolating them. Liberty Curtin's success, according to Learning Support Teacher Darlene Hartman, is due to several factors, one being their exceptional faculty that works together on the program. They call it their "step toward team teaching." The team, headed by Hartman, also includes Jane Morasco, teacher of first grade, Karen Aber, second grade instructor, and Movais Young, who teaches third grade students. The four have a "common planning time" in which they come together to prepare for each special needs child individually.  After bouncing ideas off one another, sharing, discussing, and coming up with solutions, they plan their curriculum according to what they all agree will best suit the entire class. This doesn't necessarily mean one instructor teaches the whole class, as a group, the lesson. "If we have a skill we want to do that day, we [may] group the students according to [their level of need]," explains Karen Aber. These types of groups are called cooperative learning groups and are often used in the inclusion program to help students assimilate socially among their peers. "A lot of times special needs children have social problems also, inclusion provides academic and social support," says Jane Morasco. Karen Aber agrees, saying the children "can learn from their friends as well as teachers." The teachers adapt materials to fit the needs of the students. They may tape a story for a student who has lower reading levels than others. Working with the four teachers is Joy Shayeaney, the remedial reading teacher, and aide Jean Rhote, who works with all of the classes and helps prepare materials for the lessons. The "team" also attributes much of their achievement to parent volunteers.  They explain that there's a "very strong need" for these helpers when dealing with children not only because they relate to their own children so well, but also due to the fact that they are directly affected by the program's outcomes. "We love them," Jane Morasco says of the parent volunteers. She explains how they read stories to the children, cut out laminated materials, and just recently helped out with Oktoberfest. With the support of parents and the "team" teaching approach, inclusion allows teachers more time to work on larger projects. The instructors aren't teaching the special needs students separately, then having to rush to pass the lesson on to the other students. The biggest advantage, according to Darlene Hartman, is that the program "makes the student feel as part of the room, rather than being fragmented." Others agree adding that the lack of a stigma applied to the special needs children is a good quality. Whereas the old program, Chapter One, worked with remedial students only, the children were affected by the separation. Morasco, Aber, and Young agree that Hartman's "running" to get things done is one of the reasons why the program works, but the four of them add that the support of the entire faculty and plethora of available materials help a great deal. The only drawback is the process is so involved and time-consuming that children must be identified at a young age. The students start by going through IST ( Instructional Support Team) who work with the student and are tested by the school psychiatrist. Next the teachers meet with the parents of the student and finally write an IEP (Individual Education Program). In the future, the team would like to see grades four through six be under the inclusion plan. Currently these grades are mainstreamed, which means the students are grouped by subject level. From Liberty Curtin Elementary School Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

Auerbach (1989) affirms that "indirect factors" (i.e., frequency of children's outings with adults, maternal outings, emotional climate at home, time spent interacting with adults, level of financial stress, enrichment activities, and parental involvement with the schools) have a stronger effect on achievement than direct literacy activities supported at home. It is important for school personnel to engage parents in school activities where they are most willing to participate and to use this as a basis for future programming and support (Snow, Barnes, Chandler, Goodman, & Hemphill, 1991).

• Help all families establish home environments to support learning.
• Design more effective forms of communication to reach parents.
• Provide ideas to parents on how to help the child at home
• Recruit and train parent leaders.

• Type 1:  Help all families establish home environments to support learning.
• Type 2:  Design more effective forms of communication to reach parents.
• Type 3:  Recruit and organize parent help and support.
• Type 4:  Provide ideas to parents on how to help a child at home.
• Type 5:  Recruit and train parent leaders.
• Type 6:  Identify and utilize resource from available community groups and agencies.

Do not treat children according to stereotypes.

Schools should be flexible but maintain standards.

Schools should encourage participation by tailoring programs to meet the needs of single parents and culturally diverse parents.

• To participate in the educational decision-making processes, and to be members of the evaluation team.
• A free appropriate public education.
• Notification when the school intends to evaluate the child, change the placement, or refuse to request an evaluation or change in placement.
• The right to initiate an evaluation.
• Informed consent.
• An independent evaluation if there is disagreement with the outcome of the school's evaluation.
• A reevaluation if the educational placement is no longer appropriate.
• Testing in the child's native language.
• Review all records and copies of these records.
• Participate in the development of the IEP, or, in the case of a child under school age, development of an IFSP.
• An education in the least restrictive environment.
• The right to request a due process hearing to resolve differences with the school that cannot be resolved informally.

Responsibility and decision making are shared by a broad array of players, including the child. Sustained parent, family, and community involvement depend on active advocacy by leaders. A system of supports for teachers is critical to parent and family involvement. Families need connections to the curriculum.

While it should be the policy of the board, individual schools, principals, and teachers can provide some services to parents that will facilitate involvement. The school can do much more than say parent involvement is wanted, it can actively set goals to achieve relationships. Actively involving parents in the process of making observations at home and collecting relevant information, in addition to working on school activities, will help the teacher and the parents bond.

Principals, secretaries, and teachers should be certain that parents understand all communications from the school, especially if parents have a different primary language or difficulty in reading.

For children with disabilities, the school can inform parents of parental support groups or, if none exist, can assist in the development of them, including providing a meeting room. The school can also make useful information available to parents about special needs and child development (See materials available from OERI on parent publications).

1. Professional ignorance--Pretending there is nothing wrong with a child, when there is clearly a disability.
2. Professional hopelessness --Conveying negative, defeatist attitudes.
3. Referral ad infinitum--Referring parents to one professional after another, the reverse of the problem some parents have of continually "shopping" for more positive diagnoses.
4. Veil of secrecy--Withholding information from parents, despite their rights to have it.
5. Deaf ear syndrome--Ignoring the requests or comments of parents.
6. Professional omniscience--A know-it all.
7. Professional omnipotence--Knowing what is best.
8. Parents as patients--Regarding the parent to have a problem because he or she has a child with a disability.

The school counselor, special educator, classroom teacher, and others may be involved in frequent parental contacts. The roles may not always be clearly defined. Parent may contact the person who is of the most help. There is the possibility for role conflict or "stepping on someone else's turf" in such contacts. Teachers should be aware that representing the school to families is a special responsibility and has certain disadvantages and potential pitfalls:

1. Role conflict with other professionals, especially the counselor or psychologist.
2. Possibility that parents will misunderstand or misinterpret a communication, causing difficulty and concern for the family and the child or the school.
3. Vulnerability in knowing sensitive information about children and their parents.
4. Possibility that some parents will depend on the teacher for assistance even in making important family decisions that have nothing to do with school or the child's needs.
5. Possibility that parents will be chronic complainers, calling on weekends and evenings to talk.
6. Possibility that some parents will be dissatisfied and complain to others about perceived faults of the teacher.

Parents of young children may experience a wide range of emotions when they are first dealing with the news that a child has a disability, even if they have suspected it for some time. In this regard, parents react according to the stages of grief. As Cook, Tessier, and Klein (1996) have noted, the stages can be denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. To gain a better understanding of the family life cycle, Turnbull and Turnbull (1986) have provided a thorough discussion that has the following points:

Birth and Early Childhood
Early diagnosis: The grief cycle
Later discovery: Gradual awareness
Accessing early childhood services

Elementary school years

Adolescence
Sexuality
Developing a peer group
Growing stigma
Growing physical care needs

Adulthood
The right to grow up
Creating adult opportunities
Sibling issues

Life Cycle Transitions
Uncertainty about the future
Off-time transitions

1. Selecting a site for the conference
2. Sending adequate advance notice to all participants, including time, location, date, purpose, and estimated length of the conference
3. Studying the school records
4. Taking note of previous comments of parents and teachers, pertinent test data, and other relevant information
5. Developing a clear understanding of the purpose of the meeting
6. Listing any information specifically to be included, such as anecdotes, test scores, and comments
7. Having work samples available if they would contribute to the conference
8. Listing positive aspects of the student's performance/behavior to prevent a totally negative focus

The conference site.  Select a private location for the conference. The room should be comfortable, an informal seating arrangement is preferred, and the atmosphere should be pleasant.

Materials.  Relevant materials should be organized but set aside at the beginning of the conference. Large stacks of disorganized materials can appear overwhelming to parents and detract from the interactions of participants.

Conducting the conference.  Start the meeting on time. If the parents are late, it is best to not complain about it. If the teacher and others from the school are late, there should be an apology. The teacher should be relaxed. The conversation and terminology should be in plain English but "talking down" to parents must be avoided. The meeting should begin with a friendly remark and proceed in a business like manner. Clear, straightforward handling of the conference, explaining the process itself, and requesting and using parent information can enhance the role of the parents.

Listening is a vital skill. Parents generally realize when a teacher is genuinely interested in seeking input and will respond more openly. Taking notes during the conferences may be warranted, but the teacher should inform the parents why the notes are being taken and offer them copies of the information if they want it. Notes should be made immediately following the conference.
Ending the conference. Setting a definite time limit for the conference can be very helpful to all concerned and can enhance effectiveness. Following the planned conference format and attending to the behavior of the parents will aid the teacher in determining the pace of the conference. The conference should be summarized to see that all participants have the same perception of its outcomes.

The effects of the parent conference do not end with the conference. Some time should be spent reflecting on what happened and reexamining it for implications and information that may have been overlooked. Conference follow-up activities may be as varied as the conferences. Follow-up activities might be:

• A summary should be completed and sent to the parents and other participants.
• The teacher should follow through on any thing that was promised.
• If additional tasks were identified, participants should be notified that the extra steps have been accomplished.
• A conference report completed and filed, with copies distributed.

Establish a home-school coordinator

Give parents a voice in school decisions

Centralize social services

1. Most services are crisis-oriented, rather than prevention-oriented.
2. The social welfare system divides the problems of children and families into rigid and distinct categories that fail to reflect interrelated causes and solutions.
3. Functional communication is lacking between and among public and private sector agencies.
4. Specialized agencies have difficulty crafting comprehensive solutions to complex problems.
5. Existing services are insufficiently funded.

Such efforts might include the preparation of teachers with information about how to aid parents in providing the best educational experiences for children and how to remediate problems of conduct, academic performance, or special instructional needs. Schools may also assist families by providing after-school day care programs, to provide sustained supervision of children. The school personnel should have knowledge of community resources, and it may provide a location for the centralization of social services, especially in low- income neighborhoods.

Working effectively with parents requires effort to establish and maintain communication, which can be a process that involves parent training and information, parent-teacher conferences, and including parents as resources. Benefits to the family and the child, which bring added value to the child's education, include the ability to help families establish home environments to support learning. Additionally, the teacher may be in a position to serve as an advocate for children and their families, and for preventing misunderstandings and conflict by supplying parents with information about their rights and responsibilities. With the wealth of information available on the WorldWideWeb, there is no excuse for not providing vast amounts of appropriate information, such as that available form the National Parent Information Network.