Raising Test Scores Using Parent Involvement

A critical dimension of effective schooling is parent involvement. Research has shown conclusively, that parent involvement at home improves student achievement. Furthermore, when parents are involved at school, children accomplish more and attend better schools. In this book, William Callison focuses on the role of parents in helping their children succeed in school. There is increasing evidence that parent involvement increases test scores. New research by Hoxby indicates that family factors are more than 11 times as influential as school factors in predicting student performance. Callison contends that there's an excellent opportunity to make changes, based on experience, in many schools that are dealing with the need to set high standards and institute programs that will be successful. Special Features: Identifies programs and strategies that are working, Uses the PTA's National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Program as a guide. Callison also favors raising standards where high levels of assistance are provided to staff, not the testing approach where students may be retained in grade because of a single test score. In the programs that are seeking to help students improve their performance in a variety of assessments, how did they get parents involved in a meaningful way? The author answers this and many more pertinent questions. For PTA members, teachers, and administrators.