PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM TE 808

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM TE 808 – FALL 2015 MADELINE ENSIGN

RESEARCH QUESTION AND SUBQUESTIONS Research Question: • What are the most effective ways to get the families of a child enrolled in a federally or state funded preschool program involved in their child’s education? Subquestions: • What are the long term benefits of parental involvement for children in a federally or state funded preschool program such as Head Start or the Great Start Readiness Program? • What do the parents gain from their involvement in the program?

MY PRESCHOOL PROGRAM • Located in Detroit • Housed in a charter school • 2 GSRP funded preschool classrooms - each with 15 children and two teachers • All children are considered to be “high risk” • Many come from blended and non-traditional families

GSRP FUNDING • GSRP, Great Start Readiness Program, is a state funded program – Michigan • The program is designed for children who are considered to be at risk for educational failure. • Children in the program are four years old.

WHAT INVOLVEMENT LOOKS LIKE • I struggled to find a definition for involvement. • Involvement can look different depending on the parent’s availability. • Many parents are involved in different ways. • Some volunteer on class trips. • Some come into the classroom. • Some are involved in their child’s education at home.

STUDENT AND PARENT MAKE UP • All of my children are considered at risk and have factors that contribute to school failure. • All of the families are considered to be at or below the poverty line. • Many of the families are blended or non-traditional. • Some of the parents are receiving government assistance. • Some of the families work multiple jobs.

OUR RELATIONSHIPS • We tend to have good relationships with our students and their families. • We start the year with home visits and have daily communication with our families. This strengthens our relationships from the beginning. • Our relationship with our students comes first, we spend a lot of time bonding with our students at the beginning of the year. We really get to know them before we start teaching.

HOME VISITS • • We start our year with home visits. We visit each child’s home before the school year begins. We get to know each of our students and their families. We often read them a book and talk to the families while visiting their homes. • This strengthens the relationship from the beginning.

PARENT INTERVIEWS • The parent interviews really gave us an insight as to what the home life looks like. We get a glimpse during the home visit, but this adds to it. • The interviews allow us to build a relationship with our families. They were done mostly informally so it allowed us to make them feel comfortable and really let them steer the conversation.

CHILD INTERVIEWS AND ANECDOTES • Interviewing four year olds is challenging. There is not always a lot of consistency. When being interviewed, they can feel pressured to answer a certain way. • Their anecdotes are helpful because it is more informal. They do not feel pressured to answer in a certain way. We are just writing down what they say.

BENEFITS FOR PARENTS • Meetings are held each month to help the parents in a certain topic. For example, there has been a meeting about resumes, fitness, and cooking. • Many parents attend these meetings and say they have used the new skills at home. • Learning how to interact with their children also helps strengthen their relationships at home.

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS • The students are at school almost everyday. • I feel that the student’s relationship with the parents is strengthened. • There is better communication between the teacher and the family, there is more consistency between home and school. Everyone is more on the same page and working towards a common goal.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS • Even though I cannot see the long term benefits of parental involvement, I can see the immediate effects. • This year, I have been having the best attendance I have ever had. This may be unrelated; however, I feel the families feel accountable because of our relationship. • I feel we have had better attendance with the parent meetings as well. We have worked really hard to keep our families aware of things that are happening.

CONTINUING ON… • As my year continues, I will continue to build on the relationships with my students and their families. • I feel the strengthened bond helps to hold families accountable. • We will continue the parent meetings, because the parents said they felt they were beneficial. • We will continue to work with the parents to see if they need any assistance in any other ways.

REFERENCES • Ensher, G. , & Clark, D. (2009). Families, Infants, and Young Children at Risk: Pathways to Best Practice. Baltimore, Maryland: Paul H. Brookes Pub. • Marcon, R. (n. d. ). Positive relationships between parent school involvement and public school inner-city preschoolers’ development and academic performance. School Psychology Review, (28(3), 395 -412. Doi: 1999 • Mc. Whirter, J. (2007). At Risk Youth: A Comprehensive Response: For Counselors, Teachers, Psychologists, and Human Service Professionals (4 th ed. ). Belmont, California: Thomson Brooks/Cole. • Miedel, W. , & Reynolds, A. (n. d. ). Parent Involvement in Early Intervention for Disadvantaged Children. Journal of School Psychology, 37(4), 379 -402. Doi: Winter 1999 • Snow, K. (n. d. ). Research News You Can Use: Family Engagement and Early Childhood Education. Retrieved October 2, 2015 • Temple, J. , & Reynolds, A. (2007). Benefits and costs of investments in preschool education: evidence for the child-parent centers and related programs. The Economics of Early Childhood Education, 26(1), 126 -144. Doi: February 2007