Changing the Educational Culture of the Home to Increase Student Success at School
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Background
- All students are capable of learning to relatively high levels given suitable opportunities and supports. Many times during the initial project meeting, mention was made of small but significant numbers of staff who, although often espousing this belief, do not act in accordance with it. In their study of school-family relations, Cooper et al. [15] observe that, out of lack of familiarity with the values, beliefs and practices of diverse families, some educators may make stereotypical assumptions about families and communities resulting in low expectations and other deficit-based practices (p. 761). Because authentically held high expectations for student success are so important to the improvement of student learning, this belief was considered to be a fundamental starting point for all staff members involved in the project (and a goal to work toward with all parents and students participating in the project).
- All parents want the best for their children. District team members noted a complete absence, in their experiences, of parents not wanting the best for their children. That said, there is considerable variation in what “the best” actually means among parents. Such variation can be accounted for by differences, for example, in parents’ own school experiences, the importance of education in parents’ own employment and broader life opportunities, cultural and religious values, knowledge of possible futures for their children, and the like. So all parents have altruistic aspirations for their children, although those aspirations often look quite different. This belief directed project staff to focus their efforts on differences in what parents viewed as “the best”—not on whether or not parents want the best for their children.
- All parents, and the home environments they create, include assets of significant value to the success of their children at school. There are enormous differences in especially the surface features of children’s home environments. These surface features are often a product of families’ economic circumstances. Because this project was aimed at helping parents, many of whom were economically challenged, the surface features of some of their home environments were expected to include, for example, crowded physical spaces, uncertain housing arrangements, limited availability of education-related resources such as books, scarce opportunities for parent-child interaction because of work demands, and limited access to food that is high in nutritional value.
1.2. Objectives
1.2.1. Fostering High Expectations among Parents for Their Children’s Success at School
1.2.2. Creating Effective Communication between Parents and Their Children in the Home
1.2.3. Building Family’s Social and Intellectual Capital Related to Schooling
1.3. Framework
2. Methods
2.1. Sample
- Students are struggling academically: this could mean that they have been achieving at levels 1 or 2 on at least several EQAO measures over multiple testing cycles without showing signs of improvement, for example;
- Students are less engaged in school than is needed for success: this could mean significantly below average attendance rates and/or unusually disruptive behavior in school, for example;
- Parents are facing significant social and/or economic challenges: social challenges could include, for example, limited formal education, being a single parent, and being a new immigrant without a support network in the community; economic challenges could include, for example, income at or below the poverty line, an occupation providing little time for engagement with their children and unstable housing accommodation;
- Parents have either low or no explicit expectations for their children’s success at school. These expectations may be known by school staff as a result of their previous contact with parents.
- ensuring comparability of the dyads on the selection criteria outlined above;
- minimizing the risk of “treatment contamination” or influence from project schools’ parent engagement initiatives;
- gaining reasonable access to, and cooperation of, the control student/parent dyads.
2.2. Measures
- To this point, what does participating in your school’s parent engagement project involve for you?
- Please describe how you have been involved in each aspect of the project?
- To what extent has each aspect of your project involvement been useful to you?
- In particular, what has this involvement meant for your relationships with your child’s school?
- What has this involvement meant for you and your child’s interactions about school in your home?
- What aspects of the project have been most and least helpful for you?
- Do you have any suggestions for changes to the project that it would make it more useful for you?
- Since you became part of your school’s parent engagement project (some other designation may be needed for students) is anything different for you at school? If so, what?
- Do you and your parents approach your school work any differently now than before? If yes, what is the difference?
- Do you and your teacher(s) approach your school work any differently now than before? If yes, what is the difference?
- What else could be done by the school or by your parents to help you do better at school?
- What challenges have you encountered while implementing your school’s parent engagement project?
- How have you addressed the most significant of these challenges?
- Can you detect much difference in parental support for the students in your class/school who are participating in the project?
- Have you changed your approach to these students in your classroom practices? If so, how?
- What could the project do differently that would make it more effective in your view?
3. Results
3.1. Selected Objectives
Districts | Objectives | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Increasing Parental Expectations for Students’ Success at School | Developing the Social Capital of Parents Related to Schooling | Improving Communication between Parents and Students in the Home | Other | |
D1 | √ | √ | ||
D2 | √ | √ | ||
D3 | √ | √ | √ | √ |
D4 | √ | √ | ||
D5 | √ | √ | ||
D6 | √ | √ | √ | |
D7 | √ | √ |
3.2. Selected Interventions
- Assisting parents in child rearing skills (e.g., D7);
- Assisting parents in instructional skills (e.g., D2);
- Communicating with parents about school-related matters such as school programs, activities, things studied in class (D1, D6);
- Advising parents on assisting child with homework (D4).
Districts | Nature of Project Interventions |
---|---|
D1 |
|
D2 | In three project schools
|
D3 |
|
D4 |
|
D5 |
|
D6 |
|
D7 |
|
- Involving parents as school volunteers;
- Involving parents in school-community collaborations;
- Involving parents in school decision-making through PTA, school councils and the like.
- Communicating with one’s child about schooling including the frequency of parental talk with one’s child about school, high school plans, post high school plans, help with homework and the like (e.g., D7);
- Communicating with one’s child about educational aspirations such as how far in school parents want their child to go (e.g., D7);
- Providing academic stimulation at home, not necessarily related to the school curriculum (e.g., D6);
- Supervising child’s activities to ensure education as priority by setting guidelines about how often parent checks homework, limiting the frequency child is allowed to go out with friends, amounts of TV/Internet/video game/music time as well as how late they can be used (e.g., D4);
- Contacting the school about, for example, academic programs, child’s behaviour and child’s school performance (e.g., D6).
3.3. Parent, Student and Teacher Interview Results
3.4. Student Perceptions of Changes in Family Educational Cultures
Districts | Behav. Engage’t | Psych. Engage’t | High Expect’n | Social/Intellectual Capital | Parent/Child Communication | Mean Change | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T | C | T | C | T | C | T | C | T | C | T | C | |
D1 | −0.01 | −0.14 | −0.25 | −0.08 | 0.00 | −0.09 | −0.07 | −0.02 | −0.02 | −0.11 | −0.07 | −0.08 |
D2* | ||||||||||||
A | 0.06 | −0.22 | 0.10 | −0.26 | −0.08 | −0.13 | 0.06 | −0.21 | 0.06 | −0.48 | 0.04 | −0.26 |
B | −0.17 | −0.12 | −0.16 | −0.18 | −0.24 | −0.11 | −0.13 | −0.04 | −0.27 | −0.12 | −0.19 | −0.16 |
C | 0.09 | −0.15 | 0.04 | −0.17 | 0.10 | −0.15 | 0.18 | −0.05 | 0.21 | −0.17 | 0.12 | −0.14 |
Mean | −0.01 | −0.16 | −0.01 | −0.20 | 0.07 | −0.13 | 0.04 | −0.10 | 0.00 | −0.26 | −0.01 | −0.18 |
D3 | 0.20 | 0.00 | 0.08 | −0.07 | 0.02 | −0.01 | 0.43 | 0.05 | 0.29 | 0.49 | 0.21 | 0.09 |
D4 | 0.26 | 0.39 | 0.11 | NA | 0.00 | 0.19 | 0.07 | 0.40 | 0.04 | 0.23 | 0.10 | 0.30 |
D5 | 0.31 | −0.27 | 0.54 | −0.13 | 0.50 | −0.15 | 0.76 | −0.22 | 0.57 | −0.19 | 0.53 | −0.30 |
D6 | 0.27 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.06 | −0.02 | −0.23 | 0.12 | 0.05 | 0.09 | −0.01 |
D7 | 0.05 | −0.04 | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0.22 | −0.04 | 0.56 | 0.03 | 0.27 | 0.08 | 0.25 | 0.02 |
3.5. Student Report Card Learning Skills
Learning Skills | D3 | D4 | D6 | D7 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T | C | T | C | T | C | T | C | |
Collaboration | 1.8 | 0.00 | 0.20 | 0.0 | 0.55 | −0.13 | −0.11 | 0.00 |
Independent Work | 0.20 | 0.00 | 0.20 | 0.2 | 0.31 | −0.13 | 0.05 | −0.21 |
Initiative | 0.05 | 0.20 | 0.00 | 0.0 | −0.08 | −0.19 | −0.23 | −0.06 |
Organization | 0.10 | 0.16 | 0.20 | 0.2 | 0.27 | −0.11 | −0.18 | 0.00 |
Responsibility | 0.01 | −0.15 | 0.00 | 0.0 | −0.13 | 0.03 | −0.23 | 0.10 |
Self-Regulation | −0.03 | 0.00 | 0.10 | −0.2 | 0.25 | −0.27 | 0.12 | 0.21 |
Mean | 0.35 | 0.04 | 0.12 | 0.03 | −0.10 | −0.30 | −0.10 | 0.01 |
3.6. Student Report Card Subject Achievement
Subjects | D3 | D4 | D6 | D7 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T | C | T | C | T | C | T | C | |
Reading | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.12 | −0.1 | ||
Writing | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | −1.4 | 0.18 | −0.21 | ||
Language | −0.08 | 0.24 | ||||||
Math | −2.0 | 2.0 | 1.38 ** | −1.29 | −0.02 | −0.01 | −0.53 *** | −0.55 |
Science | 0.11 | −0.49 | 0.12 | −0.61 | ||||
Mean | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.96 | 0.70 | 0.03 | −0.08 | −0.03 | −0.37 |
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Student Survey | |
Behavioral Engagement | |
Respond to Requirements | |
1 | I rarely daydream in my classes. |
2 | I rarely am late for school. |
3 | I always finish my school work on time. |
4 | I do all the homework that I am supposed to do. |
5 | I respond whenever I am asked questions during class. |
6 | I rarely am absent for a whole day. |
7 | I rarely am sent to the office because of misbehaviour. |
8 | I rarely skip a class (without permission). |
9 | I rarely receive a detention. |
10 | I rarely stay home unless I am sick. |
Class-related Initiative | |
11 | I put a lot of energy into my schoolwork. |
12 | I enjoy giving my opinion during class discussions. |
13 | I frequently ask questions during class. |
14 | I frequently have discussions with my teacher about things I find interesting. |
15 | I frequently do extra schoolwork to find out more about something that interests me. |
16 | I do a lot of extra reading for my own benefit. |
Psychological Engagement | |
Sense of Belonging | |
17 | I feel that I “belong” at this school. |
18 | Most of my teachers are interested in me as a person. |
19 | I have made many friends in my school. |
20 | Most of my teachers treat me the same as other students. |
21 | Most of my teachers make me feel comfortable in class. |
22 | I have gotten to know other students in our school really well. |
23 | I get along with most other students I have met at school. |
24 | My teachers spend time just talking with me. |
25 | Most of my teachers seem to understand me. |
26 | I get along with most of my teachers. |
Student Survey | |
Valuing School | |
27 | The most important things that happen to me usually happen at school. |
28 | I think schoolwork is really important. |
29 | It is really important to me that I gain knowledge and develop skills. |
30 | I am proud of my school. |
31 | I really enjoy school most of the time. |
32 | All people should get as much education as they can. |
33 | School spirit is very high in my school. |
High Expectations | |
34 | My parents/guardians make sure I do my homework before having free time. |
35 | My parents/guardians always know whether or not I am at school. |
36 | My parents/guardians make sure that I get to school on time. |
37 | My parents/guardians make sure that I attend school unless I am sick. |
38 | My parents/guardians contact my school when I am having difficulty or when they are not sure of how they can help me. |
39 | My parents/guardians encourage me to participate in extracurricular activities. |
40 | Study aids that I have at home help me do better schoolwork. |
41 | I have my own work space at home that is fairly quiet for doing school work. |
Social/Intellectual Capital | |
42 | My parents/guardians usually go to parents’ nights and special school events. |
43 | I often discuss my schoolwork with my parents/guardians. |
44 | My parents/guardians ensure that I have a healthy diet and enough sleep. |
45 | My parents/guardians often talk with other parents about what is happening at school. |
46 | My parents/guardians often discuss my work at school with my teacher. |
Communication | |
47 | My parents/guardians always are willing to help me with my schoolwork. |
48 | I talk with my parents/guardians about what I am doing at school almost every day. |
49 | I have conversations about what is happening in my community and the wider world with my parents/guardians. |
50 | My parents/guardians listen to my ideas. |
51 | My parents/guardians encourage me to take responsibility for my own learning at school. |
52 | My parents/guardians encourage me not to give up when I am having difficulty at school. |
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- 1Based on Bronfenbremmer’s [24] bioecological model, Niehaus & Adelson [25] view these two sources of influence on children’s achievement as microsystems and mesosystems which, together, account for most of the “potential risk and protective factors ….highly important to students’ performance and well-being” (p. 812).
- 2In this study of parent engagement, student engagement is one of three outcomes used to assess the effects of changes in three components of family educational culture. For a discussion of the influence of school and classroom practices on student engagement, see for example the research series of Dunleavy, Willms, Milton and Friesen [26].
- 3The full report of results (Leithwood et al., [27]) includes individual district reports. These individual reports provide more detail about samples and sample selection.
- 4As a result of his series of meta-analyses, Jeynes [28] has observed that parent engagement initiatives typically have significantly larger effects on report card scores than on standardized achievement test results.
- 5While scale reliabilities for this instrument could not be calculated from the data in this project, previous data sets have indicated reliabilities (Cronbach’s Alpha) for all scales significantly above minimum acceptable levels (0.60).
- 6Also see Turner et al. [31] for a comparable theoretical account of factors contributing to student engagement.
- 7For a discussion of the relationships between student engagement and family and school factors see Willms [32].
- 8For an outline of these differences and challenges, see Hill & Tyson [35].
- 9These lessons should be considered provisional, of course, because of the small size of the sample from on which they are based.
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Leithwood, K.; Patrician, P. Changing the Educational Culture of the Home to Increase Student Success at School. Societies 2015, 5, 664-685. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5030664
Leithwood K, Patrician P. Changing the Educational Culture of the Home to Increase Student Success at School. Societies. 2015; 5(3):664-685. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5030664
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeithwood, Kenneth, and Penny Patrician. 2015. "Changing the Educational Culture of the Home to Increase Student Success at School" Societies 5, no. 3: 664-685. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5030664
APA StyleLeithwood, K., & Patrician, P. (2015). Changing the Educational Culture of the Home to Increase Student Success at School. Societies, 5(3), 664-685. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5030664