ERIC Number: ED372905
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1994
Pages: 96
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: ISBN-1-880785-11-0
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Doing Our Homework: How Schools Can Engage Hispanic Communities.
Bermudez, Andrea B.
Recognizing the failure of American schools to educate Hispanic and other minority students, educators are searching for new strategies and discovering the powerful role that parents can play in advancing educational goals. A growing body of evidence supports the belief that involving parents in their children's education works in the best interests of students, schools, and parents themselves. However, despite recent legislative support, few schools are involving parents in meaningful ways. Barriers that block collaboration between Hispanic parents and school personnel include work interference, low parent self-confidence, limited English proficiency, cultural differences, and teacher and administrator attitudes. Parent involvement encompasses a variety of patterns focused on home, school, or community. Successful school interventions to promote parent involvement include strategies that are social, informational, educational, supportive of the home, or leadership oriented. Appropriate training helps both teachers and parents establish an effective home-school communication network. Such programs train teachers to train parents and to learn from parents, and provide parents with an awareness of school practices and resources and the skills to support student learning at home. A successful four-way collaboration among Hispanic parents, university trainers, local businesses, and school district personnel is described that demonstrates ways to promote community support. An appendix outlines a model of integrated parent and teacher training within an inservice curriculum. Contains 129 references. (SV)
Descriptors: Community Support, Educational Cooperation, Elementary Secondary Education, Higher Education, Hispanic Americans, Inservice Teacher Education, Limited English Speaking, Models, Parent Education, Parent Participation, Parent School Relationship, Parent Student Relationship, Parents as Teachers
ERIC/CRESS, P.O. Box 1348, Charleston, WV 25325-1348 ($12).
Publication Type: Books; Guides - Non-Classroom; ERIC Publications
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Charleston, WV.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A