The Sun Herald ran a story this weekend with a shocking headline:

Home affects school.

This conclusion is based on a research report released by the Educational Testing Service in September which studied America’s achievement gap in light of key factors known to affect school achievement. Predictably, they found that discrepancies in performance between school districts and states are linked strongly to home environment.

Together, these four factors account for about two-thirds of the large differences among states in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) eighth-grade reading scores. The Family: America’s Smallest School, p. 4

Commenting on the apparent failure of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to improve education in America despite its far-reaching measures, I noted last year that the real problem with education is not with the factors influenced by NCLB.

If parents had not stepped out of the lives of their children, we would not need education reform. The single greatest factor indicating school success is parental involvement. The socio-economic status of the family, teacher pay, teacher training, classroom equipment, curriculum are all secondary. If the parents are involved, these barriers seem to disappear. Education is not just the right of the parent. It is the responsibility of the parent. No Child Left Behind’s Missing Ingredient

So, in light of research reiterating this, what are we to do as a nation? I agree with the basic statement that we need to “invest in our families.”  And for the same reasons.

With the two-parent familyhaving historically been, for many cultures, the basic unit for raising and socializing children, its decline is perhaps the most important development in the role families play in children’s early literacy and cognitive development.  Ibid., p. 40

But what does that mean when it is used as a standard to measure public policy? The study cites UNESCO statistics comparing the condition of children in the United States to that of children in other nations which perhaps gives some clue. It also asks,

What can neighborhoods, communities, private organizations, and governments do to compensate for this decline in the parent-pupil ratio which we believe is leading to a “new inequality?” Ibid., p. 40

Not surprisingly, single parent households are linked closely with low academic performance in the study. But how does the state counteract a decision made in private for reasons only the parents know? This is where proposals get a little complicated.

It’s essential that parents, educators, and policy leaders fully understand that raising student achievement involves much more than improving what goes on in classrooms. Leaders and policy makers must establish community, state, and national programs to both improve schools and enhance the home and family conditions that give all students a better chance to reach high platforms from which to start school. (Ibid., p. 41)

Unfortunately, we are still looking at symptoms rather than causes. Meaning that the proposals focus on reducing income gaps between families, expanding Head Start programs and increasing the availability of “quality daycare.”

Where families fail, the state moves in. And where once we talked about local control, we are now building an argument for yet greater influence over that most private sphere of life: the family.

____

The complete report can be downloaded from the link to the Sun Herald.

[tags]education, parenting, parental involvement[/tags]