What do we see in schools that successfully involve families and communities?

They keys to effective involvement are:

• Welcome families and community
• Honor families and community
• Connect with families and community

Karen Mapp explains welcoming in this way: “Families are made to feel at home, comfortable, and part of the school community.”

To feel “at home” infers a familiarity, a functional yet relaxed environment, and the sense that a person “belongs”.
Educators could begin by asking how they help parents to become familiar with the school and the staff who work in it.
They must find ways to create places within the school building where parents can feel comfortable and that they “belong”

To be a part of a school community means that there is a common interest, common goals, common values, and expectations
of each community member. People feel as if they belong when they positively contribute to the good of the organization, as do all of the other members, though perhaps in different ways. Finding ways for parents to positively contribute is a way of welcoming them into the school community.

Honoring, as defined by Karen Mapp means: "Family members are respected, validated and affirmed for any type of
involvement or contribution they make."

In schools that honor families, the entire staff shares the belief that all families/parents want their students to be successful in school, and recognize that family members are as concerned about student achievement as educators are. Ask teams to think back to the activity where they identified their beliefs about family involvement .

Dr. Mapp describes connecting as a process whereby school staff and families put children at the center and connect on education issues of common interest, designed to improve educational opportunities for the children. One way to accomplish this is to consciously link all family involvement activities to learning.

What motivates parents to be involved? In the 1997 spring issue of Review of Education Research, Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey and Howard Sandler reported their research which gives us some insight. When they asked,
“Why do parents become involved in their children’s education?”,
they concluded that three constructs influence parents decisions about involvement:

• Role Construction: How parents identify aspects of parenting
• Efficacy: Belief that one’s efforts make a difference
• Invitation: Opportunities to be involved

To download Iowa's Family Involvement Implementation Checklist, Click here