The Power of Parents: An Empowerment Model for Increasing Parental Involvement

Abstract

A key element in many of the most recent educational reform movements has been to increase involvement in the academic lives of children. Aside from the intuitively appealing notion of being more actively involved in their child's education, a plethora of research data has been generated which generally supports this proposition. For example, reviews of preschool and school-based family intervention programs have documented immediate improvements in standardized achievement test scores (e.g., Goodson & Hess, 1976; Graue, Weinstein, and Walberg, 1983), while other studies have found evidence for the effectiveness of specific intervention strategies on skills such as reading (e.g., Hewison, 1988). A variety of non-cognitive indicators such as dropout rates, feelings of self-efficacy, and attitudes toward school have also shown improvements as a result of involvement programs (see, for example, Epstein, 1986; Henderson, 1987, Cochran & Dean, 1991). Although not all research has clearly supported the efficacy of intervention programs (e.g., White, Taylor & Moss, 1992), a recent review of research aimed identifying factors which most influenced student found that the home and community environment was a significant contributor to student success (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1993). According to these authors: home functions as the most salient out-of-school context for student learning, amplifying or diminishing the school's effect on learning (Wang, et al., 1993, p. 278). A direct result of this renewed interest in involvement has been an explosion of programs, activities, and suggestions designed to increase the influence of in their children's lives. But, while many activities are certainly worthwhile, as Rasinski and Fredericks (1989) point out, they often lack an overall organization that allows teachers to plan and develop principled programs for parents (p. 180). The purpose of this paper is to present a for involvement which will provide an organizational structure for involvement programs. While there have been attempts in the past to construct frameworks and category systems, what is unique about the present approach is the use of parental as a guiding theoretical theme. Recent discussions of involvement programs have emphasized the importance of enabling to have more control over their own lives. The presented here provides a framework for thinking about that is organized into a hierarchical, developmental structure. Before discussing the in detail, though, it may be helpful to the reader to view within a historical context. The following section will provide a brief history of involvement along with a rationale for the proposed model. Parental Involvement in Historical Context The increase in societal influence over children's lives has become more pronounced during the past 100 years due, in large part, to the institution of formal, compulsory education. Mann and Blackwell (1992) describe the rise in societal responsibility as resulting in a corresponding decline in the role. As these authors put it: Parents gradually became more reliant on the school's judgement and the school's attempts to understand their children's abilities, personalities and intellectual potential (Mann & Blackwell, 1992, p. 287). Beginning in the 1960's, however, policy-makers began to recognize the importance of early (pre-school) intervention as a means for improving the lives of disadvantaged or at risk children. Kellaghan, Sloane, Alvarez & Bloom (1993) have outlined the evolution of home intervention programs as a progression from a deficit approach in the 1960's to a difference model in the 1970's and early 1980's to the current trend of empowerment models. What is most interesting about their review is the manner in which perspectives have changed to both understand and meet the needs of at-risk families. …