The role of the parent in the school reading program

Pickett, Stanley Clayton (1983) The role of the parent in the school reading program. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

A major impetus for this study has been the need to enlighten both parents and teachers with respect to parent involvement in reading, regarded as prerequisite to assessing the feasibility of involving parents locally. To this end this study first surveyed the literature pertaining to parent involvement in children’s reading, simply to inform parents and teachers of the extent of activity in this area and to make this information available to them. A second purpose was to identify program features and other aspects of parent involvement that appeared to be effective in improving children’s reading. A third purpose of the study was to review the Newfoundland rural educational scene with respect to identifying factors that may be considered facilitative to future activity in this area. -- This survey uncovered forty projects that matched the criteria for selection. Identifiable among these are a number of trends related to program planning and implementation. First, the greater number of projects were initiated by university personnel or by university related personnel, although school district and teaching personnel were active as well. Second, the projects most often involved parents in one or more of the following: learning about reading and how to use this knowledge to help children at home; learning about, and how to use, a previously prepared program at home; and learning how to improve the home environment to make it more conducive to helping children learn to read. Third, these projects involved children and parents of all socio-economic levels. However, a large percentage of the projects involved low socioeconomic parents and children. Fourth, most projects involved children who were receiving remedial instruction. Finally, although most projects were implemented during the school year eight were conducted or implemented during the school year eight were conducted or implemented during the summer. -- An analysis of the projects revealed several important finding. With respect to goals, the greater number of projects aimed to measure children’s reading gains attributable to parental involvement. Largely ignored were several other worthwhile goals. With respect to program effectiveness in attaining the goals set forth, twenty-six of the twenty-seven projects that measured children’s reading reported reading gains, with twenty of these reporting that reading gains reach significance. Other reported benefits of parental involvement in reading included: -- (1) a positive change in children’s attitude toward reading, -- (2) a positive change in children’s behavior in class, -- (3) increased amount of reading at home, -- (4) improved parental attitude toward the child, toward reading, and toward participation, -- (5) improved teacher attitude toward the child and toward parent participation, (6) improved relationships between the parent and child and between parents and teachers. -- A most interesting finding related to the effect of programs implemented during the summer. Instead of a decrease in their reading level over the summer, as is usually the case, the children whose parents were involved in the summer reading programs began school in the fall reading better than they had been reading at the end of the previous school year. -- The recommendations resulting from this study pertaining to future endeavours in the area of parent involvement in children’s reading are concerned with improving such observed weaknesses as: -- (1) poorly designed studies, many failing to evaluate the effect of parental involvement on children’s reading, -- (2) studies whose goals were defined in such narrow terms as measuring reading gains only, and -- (3) a lack of attention to the home environment in terms of ascertaining the presence of factors negatively influencing the effectiveness of parental help in reading.

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