CATCHING UP

More than forty years of research clearly shows that greater family involvement in children’s learning is a critical link to achieving a high-quality education:

• What PARENTS do to help their children learn matters more to their children’s achievement than family income or education.
• What SCHOOLS do to encourage parents to participate in their children’s education matters more to parental participation than parent income or education.
• What COMMUNITY GROUPS (including EMPLOYERS, RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS and SERVICE AGENCIES do to support families and schools can make an important contribution to overall community effectiveness.

A growing number of public schools are recognizing that — because of the many advantages of multi-sensory learning — they can do more to support children and families. The list below covers many of their realizable goals:

• Offer instruction via state-of-the-art technology, including multi-sensory programs and digital video technology in academic (Basic Skills, Vocational and Technical Areas).
• Expand the hours of school to include evenings and weekends in order to accommodate the family educational needs.
• Provide technology-based instruction for preschool through adult needs.
• Offer free child care services by a licensed child care provider.
• Utilize the existing hardware and courseware in the schools.
• Prepare parents for productive employment in the world of work.
• Increase student achievement by providing parents with an opportunity to improve academic, vocational, and/or technical skills while encouraging parent-child learning, and increasing time-on-task for all students.
• Offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from a local Community College to those adult participants who complete a full curriculum.

Advances in our public education system usually trail those made by corporate training but with these visionary programs our children, their parents, and the schools themselves will all profit through increased learning, retention, and quality of life.

More on Thursday – – – – –

— Bill Walton, Founder of ITC Learning
bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”