Seattle Public Schools | Family Involvement Contact

What is family involvement in education?
Family involvement in education is defined as the active participation of parents, family members or other caring adults in the education of children through: academic support, advocacy, and partnership in the school system. The ultimate goal of family involvement is to effectively contribute to student success in school and life. Researchers and educators have long acknowledged a strong link between family involvement and children’s success in school. Studies have shown that school-family-community partnership programs enjoy improved student achievement, attendance, and fewer discipline problems.
What the research says

How can families get involved?
As our communities become more diverse and families live busier lives, family involvement in education can and should take a variety of forms. Traditionally, parent involvement meant only baking cookies, volunteering in the classroom, and attending parent meetings. Today, besides those traditional roles, parents and family members can also:

Participate in school decision-making
Become children and education advocates
Organize or support fundraising activities to benefit schools
Provide extended learning opportunities for their children at home
Play a role in connecting schools with businesses and community organizations.

For more ideas on how to become involved in your child’s academic life, explore the pages below:

Six Best Practices
For ideas on how you can become involved in your child's education, we have put together a list of suggestions based on a model created by Dr. Joyce Epstein, director of the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University. In this model, Dr. Joyce Epstein has identified six best practices for family partnerships with schools.
We encourage you to try some of these suggestions below:

Parenting Skills
Create a home that gets your child ready to learn

Encourage your child to talk about feelings, accomplishments, and problems. Listen actively, reflecting back on what your child tells you.
Read books or compare notes with other parents to understand the abilities and behavior of a child the age of yours.
Challenge your child to do well in school. Make your expectations high but reasonable.
Let mistakes be OK as long as the child learns from the experience.
Model honesty and teach your child right from wrong at an early age.
Visit the library, museums, and educational and cultural events. Find ways to involve your child in music, sports, a new language, or other activity.
Read every day, by yourself and with your child.
Be very selective about television watching. Pay attention to the programs and the total time your child spends with TV.
Send your child to school on time, rested, well fed, and appropriately dressed.
Know where your child is, especially a teen.
Talk directly to your child about your values on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
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Home-School Communication
Inform the school of your child's needs and listen to what the school has to say.

Provide teachers with information. Changing family circumstances like divorce, illness, or the death of a pet can upset a child's learning.
Read all materials sent home from school.
Contact your child's teacher when you have a concern or question.
Ask the teacher to explain things in everyday language, not specialized education terms.
Attend open houses and parent conferences.
Request a special meeting if your child's teachers change midterm or there's no open house.
Find out whether your child's teacher can be reached by a direct line or e-mail. E-mail is a quick way to check in periodically.
Return phone calls and answer e-mails from school.
Respect your school's staff experience and their broad knowledge of children.
Expect to disagree once in awhile and embrace the opportunity to see things from another point of view.
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Volunteering
Spend time at school helping our, or find a creative way to help from home.

Offer to share your knowledge with students: about your job, another culture, a craft, or a unique experience.
Help your child's teacher in the classroom. You might listen to small groups of students read aloud.
Prepare materials for the classroom. For example, cut out paper shapes for an art project. Or sew puppets.
Help the teacher correct student papers.
Bring food or provide entertainment for holiday celebrations.
Escort the class on a field trip.
Tutor a student who needs extra help.
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Learning at Home
Support your child's job as a student and learn some things yourself

Provide a quiet atmosphere for homework. Make a regular time for it that's not too close to bedtime.
Understand the teacher's methods and terminology. Try to use the same approach when you help with homework.
Let your child find the solution if at all possible. Give guidance, not answers.
Reward hard work on homework and at school with an outing, a special dinner, a book, or another treat.
Ask you child questions as you read together: Can yo utell me what happened in your own words? Why did the character do that? What happens next?
If your child is struggling, don't wait to ask the teacher for extra help or find a tutor. Do it before the child falls far behind.
Write letters and lists with your child. Tuck a note from you into your child's book bag.
Attend classes that interest you and let your child know that you value learning.
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Decision-making at school
Get informed and get involved in making your school work.

Join the school's parent group and get to know other members. Invite neighbors to attend with you, especially someone you don't know well who's new to the school.
Volunteer to serve on school decision-making committees.
Attend school board meetings or campaign for a candidate you believe in.
Join with school staff members to compare your school program against the best schooland state standards to find ways to improve.
Educate yourself about school levies.
Ask your legislators to work for education-friendly bills.
Raise money for school programs and activities.
Organize school programs and projects that benefit families and invite the community.
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Collaborating with the Community
Play a role in building partnerships between schools and other groups.

Ask your employer for policies such as flextime, extended lunch hours, and compressed work weeks so employees can be involved in school activities. The hours can be made up by staying at work late or coming in early.
Help the school connect with communtiy organizations and businesses.
Work with school administrators to find and apply for grants to further learning.
Organize a career fair to expose students to the range of possibilities for future jobs
Thank local merchants and other business owners who support activities at school.
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Family Partnerships • 206-252-0992 • lrslater@seattleschools.org