![[Table of Contents]](/icons/up.gif){kind=icon}
Children whose fathers are highly involved in their schools are more likely to receive mostly A's in their elementary, middle, and high school years and less likely to repeat a grade. This holds true, moreover, regardless of whether fathers live with their children and whether mothers are also involved.
These are among the key findings contained in a new study from OERI's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The report, Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools, paints a broad picture of the extent to which fathers living in the home (resident fathers) and those not living in the home (nonresident fathers) participate in their children's schools and examines how their involvement influences classroom success. It not only documents once again the strong links between parents' active interest in children's schools and the children's school success but reports that fathers living outside the home can promote children's academic achievement and positive behavior by actively participating in their school life. Contact alone is not enough.
A significant finding of the report is that many fathers in two-parent families have relatively low levels of participation in their children's schools; this suggests, in turn, that by targeting fathers, schools may be able to make greater gains in parental involvement than by targeting mothers or parents, in general.
This finding is significant, since it comes at a time when a second NCES report suggests that schools are making efforts to encourage and accommodate parent participation in school programs. The study, Parent Involvement in Children's Education: Efforts by Public Elementary Schools, finds that over 80 percent of all schools say they communicate regularly with parents on a variety of topics, ranging from the goals and objectives of the school's instructional program to conveying news about students' progress.
Schools also are reaching out to families by sponsoring activities designed to encourage their participation. The report found that during the 1995-96 school year, between 84 and 97 percent of schools held events such as open houses, parent conferences, displays and performances of students' work, while over 90 percent offered parents volunteer and involvement opportunities.
Copies of Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools are available from the Government Printing Office (GPO) for $14, stock # 065-000-01089-5.
Four Issue Briefs on this report are also available and may be accessed online or by calling toll-free to 1-877-4ED-PUBS.
Copies of Parent Involvement in Children's Education: Efforts by Public Elementary Schools are available from GPO for $4.75. Stock # 065-000-01104-2. For GPO ordering information, see How to Order.
Both the reports and the four Issue Briefs are available online at http://nces.ed.gov/
[Publications]