Anne Pflaum's List: School Success

• These family practices create positive habits of learning for students; the habits of learning enhance teachers’ effectiveness.
• Parents set standards for their children, and these standards determine what children view as important. The internalization of these parental values may motivate students to pursue the same goals that are valued by teachers at school (Wentzel, 1997). Setting expectations is considered a challenge for parents; however, focusing on the child’s attitudes toward school and study habits rather than only grades, especially for adolescents, is beneficial
• With respect to enhancing achievement motivation for adolescents, it is critical to move beyond grades because some students can do the work with little effort and others work very hard and obtain a lower grade; student effort must be included (Bempechat, 2000).

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• Families bolster children's achievement when they provide a positive educational experience through strong, consistent values about the importance of education; demonstrate a willingness to help children and intervene at school; and become involved. There is a moderate to strong correlation between income level and student achievement when data are aggregated; however, this correlation is reduced substantially when family processes are also considered (Milne, 1989; White, 1982).
• White (1982) analyzed 101 studies and concluded that the following aspects of the home environment had a greater impact than socioeconomic status (SES) on students' school performance: parents' attitudes, guidance, and expectations for their children's education; quality of verbal interaction; participation in cultural and learning-related activities; and overall stability in the home.

• Rather, the process-status distinction helps explain that there are high performing low-income students in our schools, and it illustrates how increasing home support for learning is an alterable variable through responsive interventions.

   
• Pianta and Walsh (1996) have redefined risk for school failure by extending the discussion beyond demographic variables to include the quality of the family-school relationship as a primary contributing factor to level of child risk. They argued that statistics describe what is, given existing circumstances, but say little about what can be, given different circumstances. Children are educated in low-risk circumstances if the child/family and schooling systems are functional, and home and school communicate, providing children with congruent messages about their learning. High-risk circumstances occur when children derive meanings from home or school that result in conflicting emotions, motivations or goals for students. The family-school relationship is an alterable variable that helps educate students in low-risk circumstances irrespective of specific family characteristics.
• We know that 91% of children's time from birth to age 18 is spent outside of schoo
• Once students start school, 70% of their waking hours are spent outside of school
• America's youth have a great deal of discretionary time. They judged that of the adolescent's waking hours, 60% was committed to such essentials as school, homework, eating, chores, and employment; 40% of their time was considered to be discretionary.
• Teachers are integral to the success of school-family partnerships. The more parents perceived teachers as valuing their contributions, keeping them informed of their child's strengths and weaknesses, and providing them with suggestions, the higher parental engagement in children's learning

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• At Home

   

  Home Support for Learning

   
   
  • Parents talk with their child about what he/she is learning in school.
   
  • Parents spend time each day learning with their child.
   
  • Parents are responsive to the child's developmental needs and skills.
   
  • Parents provide supportive guidance to their child (e.g., listen to the child's worries and give him/her feedback).
   
  • Parents recognize the child's effort and progress (e.g., give a high five for a 10 point improvement on a math test).
   
  • Parents help to develop and discover new opportunities for the child.
   
  • Parents encourage academic goals for the child.
   
   

  Rewards

   
   
  • Parents provide rewards for homework completion when working with the teacher or other school personnel.
   
  • Parents easily and often find ways to recognize and praise the child.
   
   

  Support through Struggles

   
   
  • Parents do not punish or demean the child or ignore the situation, should the child receive bad grades (e.g., problem solve with the child and offer him/her assistance in improving his/her understanding of the material or study skills).
   
  • The child is able to receive assistance at home with schoolwork when needed.
   
  • Parents and the child together discuss the problems and concerns of the child.
• Parental Communication and Involvement with the Sc
• Parents intervene at school when necessary to provide additional support for the child's learning (e.g., call the teacher if the child has a concern about school).
• school
• basketball
• • Parents communicate with the teacher to better understand the child's strengths and weaknesses (e.g., attend parent/teacher conferences).
   
• Parents work with school personnel to provide consistent messages about expectations for schoolwork, attendance, and discipline (e.g., reinforce classroom/school policies

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• Success

• t Home

   

  Positive Affective Relationship

   
   
  • The parent-child relationship is warm and nurturing.
   
  • Parents are responsive to the developmental needs of the child.
   
  • Parents recognize the child's progress and effort, not just the final product (e.g., recognize an improved math test score or an increased amount of time spent actively studying for a social studies quiz).
   
  • The parent-child relationship is filled with expressions of affection and acceptance.
   
  • The parent-child relationship is generally positive and not strained (e.g., hugs, smiles, "I am proud of you").
   
   
• Communication
• • Parents use problem solving to address parent-child communication difficulties or conflict (e.g., not dictatorial, but talks with the child so he/she knows what he/she should do next time).
   
  • Parents talk to the child about his/her attributes, including strengths and limitations.
   
  • Parents talk to and listen to the child to better understand his/her opinions and needs (e.g., listen to the child's questions and concerns, ask for his/her opinion or ideas).
   
  • Parents advocate for the child when concerns arise (e.g., calls the teacher to gain assistance for the child).
• Advice
• • Parents encourage the child to have an "I can do it" attitude.
   
  • Parents encourage the child to exert effort, work hard in academics, and to be persistent.
   
  • Parents communicate with the child that they believe the child is capable of doing well in school (e.g., give the child affirmations, I believe, I have seen you, etc.).

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• An authoritative parenting style appears to mediate children's competence through discussion around schoolwork and everyday events, use of problem-solving and negotiation skills, and facilitates learning through support and expectations for success (Steinberg, Mounts, Lamborn, & Dornbusch, 1991)

• Value of Education

   
   
  • Parents model the importance and value of education by using reading and math in the home (e.g., balance a checkbook, read a book).
   
  • Parents talk positively with their child about school activities and projects (e.g., support teacher assignments and school standards and expectations).
   
  • Parents discuss with the child their values and the values they would like the child to have.

• Goals and Problem-Solving

   
   
  • Parents set long term goals for themselves and use their progress as an example of persistence and hard work for their child.
   
  • Parents talk with their child about lessons they have learned in life and how education has helped them to be successful (e.g., let your child know you have made mistakes and explain what you learned from the mistakes).
   
  • Parents demonstrate problem-solving and negotiation skills for the child (e.g., when solving a problem involve your child and "think aloud" so he/she knows how you came to the conclusion).
   
   

  Role Models in the Home

   
   
  • Parents admit when they are wrong and listen to suggestions from the child.
   
  • Parents complete their high school/college degree.
   
  • The child watches parents and older siblings when they are learning new tasks.
   
  • The parents read for pleasure.
   
  • Parents talk with their child about the dangers of drug and alcohol use and provide information and answers to questions.
   
   

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• But children make mistakes, and when they do, it's vital that parents remember that the educational benefits of consequences are a gift, not a dereliction of duty.