Fitz's involvement led to her place on a
committee that determined the redistricting of Shenendehowa's schools
and culminated with her serving in a statewide group called Parents for
Children's Future, a task force that the New
York State Education Department organized to seek parental feedback
on funding and policy issues.
"They really wanted parents to feel
that they could walk into a school and become involved and be
supportive," Fitz says of the administration under former New York
State Education Department Commissioner Thomas Sobol.
Fitz plunged into her children's
education with an activism that most parents would admire. But any
parents who want to engage themselves in their kids' schooling can do so
with different intensities and at various levels. They can work within
the existing public-school structure, as Fitz did, simply by joining the
PTA. Or they can take complete charge of their kids' education with a
non-traditional approach -- chartering their own schools, schooling
their children at home or choosing another type of alternative school.
Reams of research show that parental
involvement in children's education improves their chances of success in
both school and life. A recent study in Michigan determined that
"intensive involvement of parents in their children's
schooling" stood out as "the most frequently recurring
theme" among school districts that boasted high student test
scores, according to The
Parent Institute, a national organization based in Virginia that
encourages parent involvement in children's education.
For the parents who work within the
system, experts have found that their activities at home can greatly
influence their children's ability and desire to learn. They suggest
that parents serve as models of how they want their children to
behave. "If they want their kids to enjoy reading, their kids
ought to see them reading and they ought to read as a family," says
Joe Nathan, director of the Center
for School Change at the University of Minnesota.
And parents don't have to wait until
their children get home to enhance their experience in school. They
should meet with administrators and teachers even before school starts
to express their desire to contribute, Nathan says.
But generating parental involvement is a
two-way street. It requires the interest not only of parents but also of
school administrators, teachers and board members.
"This is a mutual
responsibility," Nathan says.
Some school officials prefer to avoid
problems and questions by adopting an authoritative, imposing attitude
that intimidates many parents from approaching them. Parents should not
get discouraged by school officials who fail to welcome them, Fitz says.
"If you have a question, you ask
it," she says. "Don't be afraid."
Smart school officials, Nathan says,
will provide an open door to parents, encouraging communication. Parents
should have open and ongoing discussions with teachers about everything
from their own children's progress to questions of curriculum.
"I think the teacher's really the
key in establishing really good parent involvement from the
beginning," agrees Lorenza DiNatale, parent nvolvement program
coordinator for the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (also
known as the National PTA)
based in Chicago.
Parents need to feel confident in their
ability to help their children with their homework, DiNatale says. Not
only do parents often have limited time to assist kids but they also
might lack knowledge in certain subjects or awareness of the curriculum.
"A lot of research and surveys show
that's probably the main area that schools could make more effort and
provide more education," DiNatale says.
Particularly in the area of computers,
which have become a critical component of education today, children
often have a greater understanding than adults. The National PTA offers
a guide called "What is the Information Superhighway?" It is
only one of a range of resources aimed at helping parents help their
children with school work.
"The best schools develop homework
assignments that involve families, not just helping the kids with a math
problem," Nathan says.
During a study of history, for example,
a teacher might assign a student to find out when and why his or her
family came to the United States. Or for math homework focusing on the
measurement of area and perimeter, students could take the dimensions of
the rooms in their houses.
He puts the responsibility on schools
and educators to include parents in the learning process. School
districts in states such as New York and Kentucky now have local
councils composed of teachers, administrators, community leaders and
parents that decide a range of issues; some as serious as sex education
and some as mundane as supplies.
Parental involvement in schools has long
depended on volunteerism -- which traditionally meant fund-raising,
tutoring, assisting teachers in classrooms and on field trips, or
serving on district committees. But parents today who have full-time
jobs and less time for these tasks can still contribute without even
going into the school or to meetings.
Instead, they can invite their child's
entire classroom to visit them at work. Nathan points to examples of a
mother who invited students for an emergency drill at the hospital where
she worked and a father who welcomed students onto his Mississippi tow
boat. Parents can solicit their companies to offer donations of supplies
or equipment to schools or on-site internships to older students.
All parents -- regardless of their own
income, education or employment -- can provide lessons. Nathan knows of
parents who don't speak English but came to their child's classroom to
cook the food of their native country, offering students a taste of a
different culture.
But some parents have become so
frustrated with or disappointed in the public schools that they have
given up on them entirely. In 1969, Albany, N.Y., parent Mary Leue had
already tried to work with the local PTA, the teachers and the principal
at her son's school, where he was miserable. Her decision to teach him
herself, at home, eventually attracted the interest of other parents.
So she founded the Albany Free School
with an emphasis on loose structure, small size, hands-on activities and
heavy parental involvement. It is one of the few private schools in
Albany to provide a true alternative to mainstream public institutions.
"In our case, we invite the parents
to come in and do things if they can, if they can come in and share a
skill, read a story or teach pottery," says Free School co-director
and teacher Chris Mercogliano, whose book "Making It Up as We Go
Along" describes the school's founding and philosophy.
"We break down the boundary between
home and school as much as we can."
Today, the Free School resembles some
charter schools that have cropped up all across the country as one of
the most prominent examples of modern educational reform.
A charter school is a publicly funded
school that operates free from most state regulations in exchange for a
guarantee of certain educational results. Nationwide, 34 states have
charter schools and others are debating bills to allow them.
In anticipation of the eventual passage
of such legislation, people interested in charter
schools might want to begin planning them now, according to Paul
Hayford, an associate in education research at the New York State
Education Department who has studied charter schools.
Charter-school organizers face many
hurdles, particularly in finding funds and facilities. Although charter
schools receive state and federal money, it is sometimes delayed,
leaving organizers scrambling for start-up funds. And some have
struggled to secure a building for the school that not only proves
cost-effective but also meets safety codes.
Because existing charter schools are so
new and so varied and their results still unproved, parents considering
this alternative have little information and data to consult. The topic
remains controversial and confusing for people embarking on the process.
Critics of charter schools question
whether, while taking taxpayer money away from public schools, they
actually accomplish the results they claim. Supporters praise their
schools' ability to reach kids who had struggled in the public school
system.
"What you do have going for you is
enthusiasm, commitment and energy and choice," Hayford says of
charter-school proponents. "Everybody there wants to be there.
These are very powerful, positive influences. You can't discount
them."
Parents who choose to forego the formal
structure of school in favor of home
schooling also must plan ahead. In some states -- such as New
Jersey, Michigan and Texas -- they have almost free rein over curriculum
and methods of teaching. But in highly regulated states such as New
York, Vermont and Rhode Island, they must submit their intention to home
school, their schedules for the year and their selected materials to the
school district for review. The district cannot approve or disapprove a
parent's plans; it can only address whether they cover the necessary
subjects under state regulations. A home-schooling
parent in New York, meanwhile, must follow the state's curriculum
guidelines for each grade level.
"You have to be organized, first of
all," says Kathleen Mancuso, who home schools her three children
with her husband in Schenectady, N.Y.
"If you're a terribly disorganized
parent, it's much harder to keep up, not only with the paperwork but the
school work as well."
Although no national statistics exist,
researchers estimate that 1.5 million students get their education at
home from one or both parents. The Home
School Legal Defense Association believes that the number of
home-schooled children in the country is increasing by about 15 percent
a year.
The sheer volume of materials available
to home-schooling parents today illustrates the rising trend. Mancuso
says she now sees "hundreds and hundreds" of products at
educational trade shows she attends.
"To me, one of the hardest parts of
home schooling is picking out what you're going to use," she says.
As the ultimate example of parental
involvement in children's education, home schooling does take much time
and energy, Mancuso admits. But to her, the results for her children are
worth it.
"We really liked the idea of
teaching our kids," she says of herself and her husband. "I've
had the thrill of watching my younger two learn how to read."
Mancuso says she also has watched
parents who remain wrapped up in public schools. Between helping with
homework, volunteering at the schools and attending board meetings, the
supervision of children's education is a full-time job for those parents
as well.
"They almost put in as many hours
as we do," Mancuso says. "If you're going to be an involved
parent, you can't just drop your kid off at the school and walk away and
expect them to be educated."
