Education policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Education policy - Essay Example Researches (Eagle, 1989; Henderson & Berla, 1994; U.S. Department of Education, 1994; Ziegler, 1987) confirm that when families are involved in their children's education, 'children earn higher grades and receive higher scores on tests, attend school more regularly, complete more homework, demonstrate more positive attitudes and behaviours, graduate from high school at higher rates, and are more likely to enrol in higher education than students with less involved families' (Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M., 1997). So that, it's so important to involve parents in educational programmes of their children as an important goal for schools. Education here plays the major role, so that the child's education is a shared responsibility of the school and the home. At school he is said to be given knowledge common for the whole class and meant for the children of particular age taking into account their level of mental, physical and social development. At home parents can help their offshoots to solve the possible problems which can emerge at school; they can also help them to come through the adaptation process to the new surrounding and new system of communication successfully. 'Outside the school, the home is the most salient source of learning, encouragement and support for a child', notices Alison Rich (Rich, A., 2001). She also stresses upon the 'parental resources' which refers to 'income level, parental education and parental employment'. This is urgent because family income can increase educational opportunities of a child greatly by providing him with a bigger number of books and educational tools. Besides this, p arents with higher level of education tend to have children who are much interested in their self-improve and realization thus giving them much motivation for their finishing high school and continuing educational steps on higher levels. On the contrary, children from unemployed families tend to be backward in education and have smaller level of motivation for studying. All these facts stress upon the fact of importance of parental participation in their children's development process, educational process in particular, to set a good example for them. There also some factors that can be a rather positive impulse for children to like school and are eager to study. This is a notion of 'parental involvement in a child's education' that 'can be crucial in developing a child's academic ability and confidence' (Rich, A., 2001). Parents can actively participate in their child's school life, taking part in 'school committees, attending sporting and social events, attending parent teacher nights, volunteering and so on' (Rich, A., 2001). Doing this they show their great involvement into their children's life that gives their offshoots a sense of responsibility for their deeds and their progress in studies. Parents can also provide a suitable home environment for children to be ready for school, and to know that in case something goes wrong with their studies they can learn at home and improve their knowledge. Psychology deals with the notion of 'psychological readiness of a child for school'. This includes all the facts that influence a young person to be ready to face and to step into a new system of