History of Parental Involvement in Education Essay examples -- Parent

History of Parent Involvement Prior to the 1850’s, before public education existed, parents and families were responsible for the education of their children. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s education in schools became wide spread. As public education grew and teachers became professionals many began to believe that professionals alone should be responsible for educating children (Stein and Thorkildsen). As years went by, families showed some concern about this new view on who should be in charge of their children’s education. Parents began to show their concern for this division in education in the 1987 when the National Congress of Mothers, the foundation for the Parent Teacher Association, was formed (Stein and Thorkildsen). Since 1987 many more steps have been taken in an effort to evaluate the importance of parent involvement in education and to encourage parents to be involved in their child’s schooling. Family Structure Parent involvement in a child’s schooling has proven to be beneficial to the child regardless of the situation. The amount of the effectiveness of the parent involvement is directly related to the structure of the family that the child comes from. A National Household Education Survey (NHES) from 1996 shows that children from dual parent homes are more inclined to excel academically and become involved in extracurricular activities. More so, they are not as likely to repeat a grade or be given a suspension, especially if their fathers show interest and become involved (Nord). In 38.5 percent of dual parent households parents actively help their child with homework three or more times a week (National Center for Education Statistics). In today’s ever changing society dual parent ho... ... EBSCO Database. Retrieved March 8, 2002 from Eric Database. U.S. Department of Education. (1991). Other middle grade resources, Parent involvement at the middle school level. National Committee for Citizens in Education. Retrieved February 18, 2002 from the World Wide Web: www.middleweb.com/ParntInvl.html This is a well designed web site that provides resources for parents and teachers of middle school aged children. Articles, news stories, diaries, chats, newsletters, and hot links are available on this web site. Wherry, J. (2002). Selected parent involvement research. The Parent Institute. Retrieved April 11, 2002 from the world wide web : http://www.par-inst.com/edresources/research/research.shtml This bit of selected research comes from the parent institute web site. The information provided on this page is supported by numerous references.