Research on Family Involvement in Kid's Education

A 2004 document on the Michigan Dept. of Education website provides a summary of the research (pdf) into the importance of family involvement in children's education. Among the ideas:

Family participation in education was twice as predictive of students’ academic success as family socioeconomic status. Some of the more intensive programs had effects that were 10 timesgreater than other factors.

• Families whose children were doing well in school exhibit the following characteristics:
• Establish daily family routine
• Monitor out-of-school activities
• Model the value of learning, self-discipline, and hard work
• Express high but realistic expectations for achievement
• Encourage children's development/ progress in school
• Encourage reading, writing, and discussion among family members

The exact nature of homework or other out of class learning will be decided by the school's teachers, but the information above suggests that Palouse Prairie School should find ways to encourage and support each family in meaningful engagement with their child's education. This might include learning at home activities as well as other ways for families to connect to the school or get support to assist their child from the school.

The role of Adventure

"Learning expeditions" are long-term, "real world" investigations, by teachers and students, of compelling subjects, which culminate in public presentations. Expeditions often involve an element of adventure that is integral with the learning activity. But EL also recognizes a role for "adventure" that is not integrated into an Expedition.

To learn more about Adventure and to think about its role in the learning enterprise, the Board went to the UI climbing wall on Sunday Jan 11.

Lahde writes of the event: "Our climbing wall adventure was important because it facilitated a bonding experience that strengthened our ability, as a board, to care and collaborate with one another. We were literally entrusting our lives to our fellow board members who kept us from falling and who supported us through the challenges we faced during our climb. Our time at the climbing wall also jump started our relationship to one another by being in a new adventuresome environment where only the activity at hand was our focus.....there was no business directly relating to Palouse Prairie School tasks, yet inadvertently we strengthened our ability to work together as a board to successfully create our school."

Nils notes, "At one point early on I said to John, 'If I am able to go higher now depends on how much I trust you to catch me if I fall.' Trust in one's support gives the license to push harder and take larger risks which might be the key to success. Thinking about the trajectories of success and failure, having the trust and taking the good risks offers the paths to success, lacking the trust, or having it broken when the risks are not back-stopped would be the trajectory to failure.

Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

ANSER school in Boise has been includeding students (all the way down to Kindergarten) in its parent conferences. The child is the leader of the conversation; there is a self-evaluation form to help structure the process. This article in the NY Times points to student-parent-teacher conferences as a growing trend, and a means to get families involved in the child's education. This is the kind of choice for how Palouse Prairie will do school that you can expect the Principal and teachers to be making Spring 2009.