Family Involvement in Early Childhood Learning Can Increase School Completion Rates
Weiss, Heather, Margaret Caspe and M. Elena Lopez, “Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education,” Brief No. 1, Harvard Family Research Project (Spring 2006).
This brief is the first in a series that examines parent/school/community involvement from Early Childhood to High School. The brief demonstrates that with consistent and committed involvement in early childhood, the child is likely to become more socially competent, responsive, and communicative. Families living in poverty should receive the support of the community and school to help promote early involvement. The impact of this involvement reaches far showing that children of low income families that received involvement had a buffer between themselves and the negative effects of poverty on their academic and behavioral progress and generally excelled throughout their higher education years. For example, the Child–Parent Center (CPC) in Chicago provides preschool education for low–income children and family support services. CPC shows greater preschool participation which is associated with greater school achievement, lower rates of school remediation services, higher rates of high school completion and lower rates of juvenile arrest for violent and non–violent offenses.
The brief suggests several ways that policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can advance the practice of family involvement and outlines examples of successful implementation. For example, practitioners can facilitate warm and nurturing parenting styles through promotion of workshops, parent–child groups, and trainings. Early childhood practitioners can provide materials for parents to work with their children at home and in the community.
Relevant Link: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/resources/research/earlychildhood.html