Essential Elements of Strong Parent Involvement Programs.

Abstract

F rom 1986-1988, the Southwest Educational Development Labo ratory (SEDL) sought to identify and describe the characteristics of parent involvement pro in their five-state region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas SEDL staff gathered information concerning elements that made parent involvement programs successful by interviewing key informants edu cators with expertise in this area. Staff members visited selected programs across the region and obtained reports of their activities; they also obtained evaluations of the programs from local and district-level staff members to de termine their effectiveness. Those pro grams identified as promising fea tured several types of parent involvement and included many roles for parents: audience, home tutor, program supporter, co-learner, advo cate, and decision maker (Epstein 1988) Although some programs were affiliated with resources such as the National Education Association or the National School Volunteer Program, others were small, homegrown efforts. Thus, each program had its own na ture and had taken its own steps toward developing stronger links be tween parents and schools