PARENT INVOLVEMENT
More than 80 years of research and experience demon• strates that the education of any child is made more effective by sustaining and increasing the role of parents at home and in partnership with the schools. Because high-ability children require academic interventions, parents and teachers must work together each year of the child’s school life.
WHAT WE KNOW
Parents of gifted children are notoriously accurate in identing their children’s abilities, especially if they have some ideas about how children normally develop. Louis and Lewis (1992), Jackson (1992), Robinson and Robinson (1992), and Robinson, Dale, and Landesman (1990) report that parents dependably describe their children in terms of characteristics and behaviors that are indicative of advanced reasoning and skill. Even when they do not completely understand the extent of these abilities,
they are aware of their children’s differences from other children (Munger, 1990; Silverman, 1997). Because research has long supported the early identification and development of talents, educators must welcome and rely on parents for vital information about children’s special abilities. This becomes the first kind of involvement schools should pursue and parents should offer.
Generally speaking, homes that are strong in support, stimulation, and exploration, and that function effectively, develop and nurture a gifted child’s native abilities. It is not so much the economic wealth that matters, although special classes and other opportunities can be costly. VanTassel-Baska’s (1989) study of disadvantaged gifted adolescents served to validate the powerful influ• ence of parents over material comforts or even levels of parental education. It is much more advantageous for children to live in a child-centered home where parents spend time with them, engaging in conversation, reading, playing, and doing daily activities together (Robinson et al., 1990). This concept crosses all cultural and economic lines. An in-depth case study of eight minority students from low-income homes (Tomlinson, Callahan, & Lelli, 1997) yielded com• pelling information about the importance of this kind of involvement. These students had at least one parent who unconditionally believed in them and wanted to have an active role in their lives. The parents were determined to help with their children’s education, and sought ways to learn how to do it well. It is conversely true that children whose parents are disengaged have the poorest developmental and school patterns. The resultant lack of self-esteem and competence multiplies over the school years (Steinberg, 1996).
A 1998 qualitative study of 34 gifted children and their families (Corbin
& Denicola) is representative of research to determine the impact of paren• tal involvement on school success. Their findings revealed that students who thrived had parents who sought to know the educational system, were sup• portive of the school, valued education, set high expectations for their children and themselves, worked to establish rapport with teachers, and were not dis• tracted from active parenting by marital crisis. There was additional evidence of Clark’s (1983) findings that highlighted the ways parents’ behaviors impact children’s lives: in providing emotional support, especially when the children experience failure; teaching that practice and work are important; monitoring children’s time and activities (such as TV watching and friendships); discuss• ing school events; and taking responsibility for learning in their homes (Finn,
1998). These findings echo research from the wider fields of child develop• ment and education in studies such as Martini’s (1995), which point out that stimulating home preparation is essential for school success. Martini found that there are certain specific parenting practices that override factors such as socioeconomic status and parent IQand education. These practices include parents involving themselves extensively in structuring their children’s lives, modeling life strategies that have been successful for them, and having fre• quent contact with teachers. Moss and Strayer (1990) found similar favorable parenting practices even with mothers and their preschoolers. A study by Crane (1996) corroborated Walberg’s (1991, as cited in Crane) earlier findings that
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