Parents Can Improve A Childs Performance By 40%

www.keen2learn.co.uk provides an ideal way to involve parents through educational games and educational toys. These learning resources used in school allow children way to practice at home with their parents in the core subjects taught at school. Covering maths games, English games and science games they key is the enjoyment that can be involved in learning and follow the findings of the following report.

Studies on the Impact of Parent and Community Involvement on Student Achievement

Taken as a whole, these studies found a positive and convincing relationship between family involvement and benefits for students, including improved academic achievement. This relationship holds across families of all economic, racial/ethnic, and educational backgrounds and for students at all ages. Although there is less research on the effects of community involvement, it also suggests benefits for schools, families, and students, including improved achievement and behaviour.

National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

Web: www.sedl.org/connections/

Among the studies reviewed here, the benefits for students include

• Higher grade point averages and scores on standardized tests or rating scales,

• Enrolment in more challenging academic programs,

• More classes passed and credits earned,

• Better attendance,

• Improved behaviour at home and at school, and

• Better social skills and adaptation to school.

Key Finding

Programmes and interventions that engage families in supporting their children’s learning at home are linked to higher student achievement. In schools where teachers reported high levels of outreach to parents, test scores grew at a rate 40 percent higher than in schools where teachers reported low levels of outreach.

The studies that compared levels of involvement found that achievement increased directly with the extent to which parents were engaged in the programme. Parents with high involvement ratings, compared with those with low or median ratings, tended to have children with higher grades and scores.This finding held across all family income levels and backgrounds.

Families also have a major impact on other key outcomes, such as attendance and behaviour, that affect achievement. When families of all backgrounds are engaged in their children’s learning, their children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and pursue higher education. Clearly, children at risk of failure or poor performance can profit from the extra support that engaged families and communities provide.

All students, but especially those in middle and high school, would benefit if schools support parents in helping children at home and in guiding their educational career. Studies that look at high-achieving students of all backgrounds found that their parents encourage them, talk with them about school, help them plan for higher education, and keep them focused on learning and homework. The continuity that this constant support provides helps students through changes of school, program, and grade level. This does not mean, however, that parent involvement at school is unimportant. It means that the ways parents are involved at school should be linked to improving learning, developing students’ skills in specific subjects, and steering students toward more challenging classes. Parent involvement programs should also be designed to develop close working relationships between families and teachers.

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