A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Challenges and Solutions

Although technologies are transforming all aspects of daily life, it is important to remember that they are only tools; their success is not in being, but in being used successfully to help accomplish particular goals and objectives. The discussion that follows examines challenges and solutions to using technology to strengthen employee and family involvement in education. When examining these challenges and solutions, areas of focus include: family involvement in education; access and equity; technology literacy; achieving demonstrated results; and investment costs.

Employee and Family Involvement In Education

The Challenges

Family involvement is usually limited to monitoring a child's homework assignments (especially in the early grades) and course selection (usually at the school's request). Even fewer parents report involvement in school governance activities such as attending meetings of the local school board or getting involved in an advisory council or other group that helps set school policy.

Yet, the type of parent involvement that appears to make the most significant difference in student achievement is that which physically draws the parent into school, such as attending school programs, tutoring in the schools, helping improve the curriculum and standards, and back-to-school nights. Such involvement alerts students and the school that education is important.

Family Concerns About Technology and Their Children's Education Although many parents feel that technology has become a requirement for being an informed citizen and a productive worker, they say their children are not taught enough mathematics, science, and computer technology. Eighty percent of the American public feels that teaching computer skills is "absolutely essential" and that it is important to provide the public schools with access to global electronic systems such as the Internet.1 More than 75 percent of parents have encouraged their children to use a computer; 86 percent of this group believes that a computer is the most beneficial and effective product they could buy to expand their children's opportunities.2 Fifty-seven percent of households with a combined annual income of more than $40,000 have a personal computer, compared with 12 percent of low-income homes with a combined income of less than $20,000.3 Jean Johnson, Assignment Incomplete: The Unfinished Business of Education Reform (New York: Public Agenda, October 1995). U.S. Department of Education, Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century: Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge (Washington, D.C., June 1996). Jan Hawkins, Technology in Education: Transition, CCT Reports, Issue No. 15 (New York: Education Development Center, Inc., March 1996).

A small percentage of American parents is involved in their adolescent children's education in any meaningful way. Family involvement in their children's education—even at its minimum—usually decreases in the middle and high school years.

• Seventy-two percent of students ages 10 to 13 say they would like to talk to their parents more about their homework.

• About one-sixth of all students report that their parents do not care whether or not they earn good grades in school.

• Only about 20 percent of parents consistently attend school programs; more than 40 percent never do.

• Only 33 percent regularly attend their children's extracurricular perform-ances, such as athletic events or plays.^[1]

If lack of parental interest is strongly associated with children's academic difficulties, low school achievement, and many adolescent problem behaviors (alcohol and drug abuse, delinquency and violence, suicide, sexual precocity, etc.), why aren't more parents involved? Although families and teachers want to form relationships or partnerships with each other, they lack the skills, information, dispositions, and opportunities to do so. In a September 1997 National Household Education Survey by the U.S. Department of Education, 56 percent of mothers in two-parent families were highly involved in their children's education, as opposed to 27 percent of fathers. In single-parent families, the involvement of lone parents was about equal (49 percent of single mothers and 46 percent of single fathers).

In another study of single working parents conducted by the Center for Work and Family, 63 percent of work-family managers reported that single-parent employees are concerned about their relationships with their children's schools, but they cite difficulties in maintaining regular communications with the schools and thus do not feel adequately informed about and sufficiently involved with the quality and content of their children's education.

The lack of time appears to be the largest barrier to parents' involvement in their children's learning. For instance, employed mothers now work an average of 65 hours per week. Additional research reveals:

• Mothers with young children, those working two jobs, and women in professional positions are working at least 70 hours per week.^[2]

• Of adults who work 40 hours or less per week, 58 percent believe they do not have enough time with their children; 74 percent who worked more than 40 hours per week agree.^[3]

• Fully 30 percent of parents say they feel frustrated because they cannot find enough time to help their children at school; 23 percent cite difficulties created by the demands of raising other children.

• Nearly 20 percent of parents of elementary school students state that a key difficulty is getting time off from work to participate in events at their children's school.^[4]

Parents do not see schooling as their responsibility. Some parents believe that schooling should be left to education experts, and that the family's role is one of caring and nurturing outside of school. Yet when parents are involved at school, children are more likely to perform well.

• Only 43 percent of all parents think it is extremely important for them to be involved in activities at their children's school.

• Nearly 70 percent of parents believe that it is extremely important for them to spend time at home checking on homework, reading with their children, talking about events in school, and simply being there for their children. ^[5]

What Parents Want or Expect From Their Schools Findings from a spring 1996 survey of parents of elementary and middle school students (Grades 1-8) on family involvement in education by the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, the U.S. Department of Education, and the GTE Foundation revealed the following information: 88 percent reported that their children's schools treat them as important partners in encouraging their children to learn. 62 percent say teachers regularly communicate with them about their children's progress. 79 percent said they wanted to learn more about how to be involved in their children's learning and 77 percent said that teachers could learn more about how to do so. 62 percent of elementary school parents (compared with 45 percent of middle school parents) say their schools are better in reporting to parents about what students should be able to do and know. The new technologies are not widespread as tools for schools to communicate with parents. Seventy-six percent reported that their schools usually communicate with them through newsletters and phone calls; 21 percent used voice mail; 20 percent used community cable television; 12 percent used Web sites; and 11 percent used electronic mail. Computer classes, art and music courses, and community service rank high as activities for afterschool programs. Ninety-six percent of parents said their child would benefit from an after-school program that includes computer technology classes. Note: Study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at The University of Chicago.

Some parents are uncomfortable and lack self-confidence in school settings. Of all parents, 32 percent say they find it hard to help their children because of new and different teaching methods; 21 percent say they would be more involved in schooling if they knew how to get involved.^[6]

Often they have had their own negative school experiences, face cultural barriers, or have language communication problems. Other parents cite difficulties in getting support from their workplace to attend events or conferences at their children's schools or from schools that decline to schedule more convenient opportunities for parent involvement.

Inadvertently, schools can be unwelcoming to parents. Teachers lack the time and resources to work with parents, fear parent interruptions and intrusions, and believe that parents do not really care about their children's education. Schools, like parents, often lack the knowledge or understanding of policies regarding how to involve parents.

During the last four years of its grassroots efforts conducting technology safety workshops for parents across the United States, the National PTA has taken a leadership role in addressing technology issues that concern parents--Internet safety, content quality, commercialism, marketing exploitation, security, and privacy. These fears of technology have not been isolated; the PTA sees parent education as critical to ensure understanding of technology as an essential tool in improving children's learning. It is expected that understanding will lead to funding to support schools' technology needs.

The Solutions

More than 30 years of private and governmental research has proven beyond dispute that there is a positive connection between family involvement and student success. Different types of family involvement produce different gains at all grade and age levels, but a family's form of involvement is not as important as the variety and amount.

The most accurate predictors of student achievement are not income or social status, but the extent to which families:

• create a home environment that encourages learning;

• express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children's achievement and future careers; and

• become involved in their children's learning in school and in the community.

Another important factor in raising student achievement appears to be the quality of the school's relationships (partnerships) with the families it serves, rather than the type of school or who goes there.

Based on the U.S. Department of Education survey, technology can help address several areas of parent involvement:

• regular communication between teachers and parents on their children's progress;

• tips for parents on how they can help their children learn more;

• teacher ideas for how parents can be more involved in their children's learning; and

• additional strategies for middle and high school teachers and parents to communicate.

However, to have long-lasting gains for students, family involvement must be well-planned, inclusive, and comprehensive. Children perform best when their parents are enabled to play four key roles as teachers, supporters, advocates, and decision-makers.

Developing Teachers, Families, and Students

The Challenges

Technology literacy is the acquisition of computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance. For U.S. students, technology literacy is tied to high academic standards and preparation for their future life as adults, workers, consumers, and citizens. Schools are central to the achievement of this literacy, but for the most part, they are still on the edge of this information revolution:

• Although the percentage of schools using local area networks for instruction has increased by nearly 70 percent every year for the last four years, the Educational Testing Service determined that even where access to technology is available, low-income children's interaction with technology is primarily for purposes of isolated skills practice and remedial exercises.

• Few teachers have access to needed, long-term professional development, technical support, and collegial networking. Up to 50 percent of teachers have little or no experience with technology in the classroom, according to McKinsey & Co. The U.S. Department of Education finds that only 14 percent of public school teachers had more than eight hours of training in educational technology during the 1993-94 school year. Much of this professional development is structured as one-shot seminars, but such limited training cannot prepare teachers to use technology to manage and deliver instruction.

• As of 1996, 18 states still did not require training in technology for all teachers seeking certification. ^[7]

The Solutions

Community-wide training often becomes an integral part of this solution. School budgets need to be restructured to take into account long-term training costs. People preparing to become teachers, as well as veteran teachers, need ongoing training to explore new ideas and materials; follow-up consultation over an extended time period with mentors (when teachers return to classrooms and try to implement new practices); and opportunities to exchange ideas with colleagues and observe other teachers (to view exemplary practices and the process of change).

Business support to educators. Some corporate efforts that address skill development needs include online professional support networks, training, and telementoring that assist in solving technical glitches, give tips on how to access particular information, and share lesson plans that effectively integrate technology into teaching and learning. Teacher participation in this professional development can be via satellite, fiber optics, cable, and online and other distance learning delivery systems.

Turnkey efforts to encourage family involvement. Business support to high- and low-tech networks has helped extend offerings of parenting classes and seminars by educators. Families are helped to understand what and how well their children are learning and are encouraged to participate in activities to help them. As new learning concepts and strategies are internalized, families use this knowledge to support their children's learning at home, monitor homework, and increase communication with teachers, schools, and community learning centers. Networks also encourage families to participate more actively in children's learning outside the home or workplace through volunteering at schools and community learning centers, attending school events and activities, and serving on committees.

To extend family and community understanding of and support to technology as a tool to improve children's learning, the use and application of technology is being taught not only at schools, libraries, and community centers, but also where parents spend large parts of their day, such as work sites (at both large and small businesses), doctors' offices, repair shops, and hospitals. Emphasis is placed on encouraging computer acceptance and use for those who do not ordinarily use computers at work.

Strengthening Community-Based Learning

The Challenges

Unequal access for low-income students in schools. The U.S. Department of Education reports that in 1994, approximately 35 percent of U.S. schools had access to the Internet; in 1997, this percentage jumped to 78 percent. The percentage of instructional rooms in all public schools that were connected to the Internet increased from 3 percent in 1994 to 27 percent in 1997. From January 1995 to June 1996, the number of schools with World Wide Web sites increased from 134 to 2,850. The U.S. Department of Education also reports that 87 percent of schools that do not have access to the Internet plan to secure access in the future.^[8]

In spite of some gains related to connectivity, there has been a persistent pattern of inequity and limited access to technology. Only 4 percent of U.S. public schools have a computer for every five students; the average student:computer ratio is nine to one.^[9] In the 2 percent of schools with no connections in instructional rooms, students have little or no contact with the Internet. Even in instructional rooms with Internet access, students may not actually take advantage of that access. Use of computers in many elementary schools averages two hours per week, and these computers are mostly in stand-alone areas (e.g., computer labs that children frequent for short periods per week).

In some urban and rural schools—particularly small elementary schools—with high concentrations of low-income children, the numbers are often lower. High-tech schools (those having better-than-average computer intensity, CD-ROM intensity, a network system, and Internet access) are found in the more affluent areas where less than 15 percent of their students fall below the poverty line. As the percent of children within a district that falls below the poverty line increases above 16 percent, the presence of high-tech schools decreases.^[10]

Unequal access for low-income students in homes. Low-income households are two or three times less likely to possess and use computers and network services than middle- and upper-income households. A college graduate with an annual family income of $50,000 is 5 times more likely to own a personal computer and 10 times more likely to have online capability in the home than a nongraduate who earns less than $30,000. Only 11 percent of households with an income under $20,000 and those who had not finished high school had a PC, compared with 56 percent of households with a family income above $50,000 and almost 65 percent of households with at least some post-graduate training.^[11]

Children's use of computers appears to be almost entirely a function of whether there is a PC at home: In homes with computers, only modest differences were found across racial or income lines.

• 64 percent of households with computers use them for a combination of work, school, and personal activities.

• 46 percent of households with computers use them for school-related activities (e.g., homework).

• 85 percent of teenagers who have home computers use them for school-related tasks.

• 36 percent of parents said their children who used a PC "often" did word processing and 33 percent said they do so "sometimes."

• 40 percent of parents said their children used the computer "often" to help them with school work and 35 percent said they do so "sometimes."^[12]

The Solutions

Technology is used to support community-based learning that connects schools and homes; schools, homes, libraries, and other community learning centers; and the family (at work) to school and home. Technology tools are also used to support after-school programs at schools and other learning/community centers.

Low- and high-tech to extend access and equity. This approach centers on providing access to learning opportunities as well as expanding and improving communications between families and schools, parent training, and families' ability to work with their children. Both low- and high-tech hardware and software are used to support community-based learning through telephones in classrooms, homework hotlines, interactive voice-mail systems, take-home computers, educational CD-ROM programs, and access to schools or teachers from remote locations (work and home).

Leveraging connections through collaboration. Connectivity concerns the individual home and school, the workplace and home and school, and the home and/or school and other community learning centers. Long-term needs associated with this approach mandate collaboration at local, regional, national, and international levels. Through consortia, urban, rural, and suburban communities can access and leverage teaching and learning through technology, such as long-distance learning and the Internet.

Collaboration among stakeholders can more effectively connect communities to address issues concerning ongoing, regional technology requirements from planning and development of a technology infrastructure, to investment in hardware, software, and network connectivity, to technology maintenance, replacement, and upgrading. Individual businesses and/or consortia that include business as a major stakeholder provide the resources, knowledge, products, and applications to expand and leverage this community-based learning.

The challenge for communities, the private sector, state leaders, and individuals including students and their families is to match federal commitments and work together to reach these technology goals. And, for technology efforts to have a real return on investment, they must be linked to local and state educational improvement goals and comprehensive, continuing teacher education.

In response to the federal Technology Literacy Challenge, states and school districts have already developed long-range technology plans that include money for upgrading computer equipment, training, and community-based learning. Parents, community members, local businesses, and not-for-profit groups will provide assistance to schools in acquiring Internet access and other advanced telecommunications services. The major source of technology support continues to be the school districts themselves, followed by state and federal government funding.

At the state and local levels, alliances are forming among public school systems, the government, community groups, employers and employees, and families to facilitate training, networking, and sharing. This collaboration can leverage technology investments and reduce costs associated with the purchase of professional development and hardware, development of community-based learning networks, and investment in software development to meet local, state, and regional needs.

Continued

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[Introduction]

[Challenges and Solutions-Part 2 of 2]