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This article describes the history of parent involvement and the evolution of current polices seeking to build partnerships. If any of you have been working in education for many years, you may notice things such as the change from "Title I" to "Chapter I" back to "Title I" and the significant changes regarding the emphasis placed on parental and community involvement. In the 1980's, during the Regan administration, I recall the discussions many of us in "Title I" then changed to "Chapter I" had around this issue. To some degree we felt relieved that we were no longer required to have parent advisory councils in Title I. On the other hand, many of us realized that parents were important in the success of their children in school and we worried about the lack of emphasis in this area.

Just prior to the 1994 reauthorization, I had the opportunity to attend a conference held by the National Coalition of Title I Parents. It was evident at that time that parent involvement would again become a strong focus in the newly reauthorized program. Parents from this group and others had been heavily lobbying congress to beef-up this section of the Title I legislation.

From 1994 to present, the requirements for schools and districts under Title I have continually asked for more in terms of what schools should do to include parents in the education of their children. The new reauthorization of Title I outlined expectations beyond what many schools were expecting of families (i.e. providing parents the opportunity to come to school and volunteer). Books such as Beyond the Bake Sale, by Anne Henderson and the research of Dr. Joyce Epstein did a lot to inform best practices around parental involvement. Schools and districts were now being asked to help parents understand the curriculum and school expectations, to become active decision makers, and to help their children with school work. The last reauthorization under No Child Left Behind even mentions providing support to parents in the way of building skills through parenting classes and family literacy. 

It will be interesting to watch the next reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. What does research tell us in terms of effective ways to involve parents? Current research and strong parent groups have informed this legislation in the past.

 

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