Schools Participating in Home Visitations as a Means to Increase Parental Involvement

“School Boards and policy leaders need to look much farther back to see that ‘lo and behold’, one of the great interventions that can affect their graduation rates is home visitations. It is a simple concept that has really never been more powerful”. Libby Doggett, Director of Pew Center


In 1998, the Pew Center Study on home visiting programs, found that 84% of students whose families had participated in the study graduated from high school, while 54% of students who did not participate earned diplomas.

Researchers agree that parents and families are the primary influence on a child’s development. Parents, grandparents, foster parents, and others who take on parenting roles strongly affect the following assets in children:

• Language development

• Emotional growth

• Social skills and personality

Child development researchers have arrived at a strong consensus on the extraordinary influence parents have on a child’s development. They recognize the positive impact parents have on lifetime learning for their children. Engaging parents as “educational partners” early in the child’s development is likely to lead to positive outcomes for the future of the child.

Examples of good parent programs include:

1. Maintaining strong communication with parents

2. Learning more about the child from the family and working together to meet the child’s specific needs

3. Conducting home visits as a way of maintaining a relationship between the program and parents


Guidelines for establishing home visitation programs

A home visiting program needs to have:

1. An established needs assessment tool to determine the family’s level of risk

2. Established clear objectives and protocols for home visits

3. A means to encourage families to make a transition from home visits to site-based parenting programs


Examples of families who receive home visitation programs:

1. Families without access to reliable transportation

2. Families with several preschool children

3. Families with children and/or parents have special medical, physical, or developmental concerns

4. First time parents

5. Parents lacking group skills who are not comfortable in group settings


A positive result of home visitation programs for families:

1. Increases positive parenting practices

2. Improves in the health of the entire family

3. Increases in the family’s self-sufficiency

4. Enhances school readiness for the preschoolers

5. Enhances parent-child interactions and child development

6. Promotes early detection of developmental delays

7. Helps improve literacy skills


TWO TYPES OF PROGRAMS

Parent Programs

• Teach the parent behaviors that promote child development

• Engage the parent in teachable strategies for school readiness

Child Centered Programs

• Teach school readiness skills

• Engage the child intellectually and behaviorally

Engaging parents in their child’s learning is a key ingredient for early childhood programs to promote positive child outcomes. The earlier parents are involved in their child’s learning and development, the more parent involvement will continue later, leading to better child outcomes, including success in school and eventually graduating from high school.