A study of the top schools in America showed that the No. 1 thing they have in common was extraordinary parent involvement.

State Migrant/Bilingual Director Richard Gomez cited this study in his speech at the August Institute, noting that class size could account for about 8% of the difference between top schools and other schools, and teacher qualifications and development could account for 43%. The rest – 49% -- was attributed to parent involvement.

Several workshops at the annual migrant/bilingual conference related to improved parenting.

Parents, as first educators, play a vital role in providing children with important pre-literacy skills and experiences.

The basic concept "learning to read, reading to learn" is being considered of such great importance that teachers and school authorities spend much more effort now motivating parents to read to their children.

Reading to children 20 minutes a day, starting with newborn babies, is critical to how prepared children are when they reach kindergarten. Reading with children during the first few years of school then reinforces what the children learn in class.

Reading to children is the No. 1 thing parents can do to prepare their children for scholastic success, a federal report says.

The Washington State Migrant and Bilingual Education Programs, the Migrant Education Regional Offices (MEROs), local school districts, and numerous non-profit agencies around the state have initiated programs to promote parent participation in education at home and in conjunction with their local schools.

"We might think education is exclusively a teachers’ task. But the family plays such an important role, because is the first learning source. It can never be detached from an individual's formative process," says Ray Alaniz, parent services coordinator with the MERO in Wenatchee.

Involvement is also vital after children begin school.

"Children need parents to reinforce classroom learning at home," says Mr. Alaniz. "If parents are not educated and can’t help with academics, we still ask them to motivate their children.

"Showing trust, telling them ‘I believe in you. I am sure you are going to make it. I am proud of you. You must keep going in your studies,’ is very stimulating," says Mr. Alaniz.

"Another invaluable contribution parents can make to their children’s academic development is to keep open communication with teachers and school staff," notes Mr. Alaniz.

The teachers and school authorities worry about bilingual and migrant students’ academic achievement, and to reach the federal and state standards, they need help from their students’ parents.

To succeed, parents must participate actively with schools, sharing ideas, clarifying doubts, backing programs, and motivating their children.

Attending classes, workshops and training programs is a proof of parents’ love, Mr. Alaniz adds.

Another workshop featured Sara Vega-Evans, the parent involvement training coordinator in Sunnyside and developer of the Parent Effectiveness Leadership Training (PELT) Curriculum, now available in English, Spanish, French and Russian.

Sunnyside School District hired Ms. Vega-Evans specifically to develop such a program. Few such programs existed anywhere in the country at the time, so she had to start essentially from scratch.

PELT helps parents break down the institutional barriers that sometimes exist to Hispanic families, says Ms. Vega-Evans, which then allows parents to upgrade the educational experience for their children. Her work was honored by former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton with an "Innovation in Education Award."

"It's not a program of complain and complain, and not do anything," she says. "It's a program of action."

During her workshop she has parents list and discuss the attributes of a great leader. Then they list names of great leaders and discuss what about those people makes them great leaders.

Then she asks, "Who's missing from this list? When we're in our homes, who are the most important leaders?"

Finally the class realizes she is speaking of parents.

"When we're in our home, when we're worried about our children, when they face problems at school, … who is the leader most important in the lives of our children?" she continues. "Michael Jordan is not a leader in our home. We are. Our leadership is that which will last forever."

Ms. Vega-Evans issues a particularly strong challenge to men to attend parenting workshops and other school and community meetings.

"We need to bring our men or we're going to lose our sons," she says. "This is not a club for mothers."

As parents get involved in school and the community, they can then achieve great good. "Knowledge is power," she says. "When you have knowledge, you have influence."

Besides teaching parents how to be more influential at school and in the community, the her workshops also teach parents how to communicate better with their own children, and how to take a more prominent role in their homes.

Ms. Vega-Evans challenges parents to set standards, goals and expectations. She challenges them to establish family structure. But she warns parents not to just set limits for their children. If they want their children to keep rules against drugs and alcohol, then the parents have to live by the rules, too.

Other parenting workshops at the August Institute involved curriculum vendors. Gary Surdam conducted a fast-paced workshop on behalf of Bright Start Family Literacy.

Mr. Surdam had participants list the most important attributes of the greatest teachers in their own lives. Then he asked what the attributes of a great parent are.

Participants agreed that the list of attributes should be the same.

"Parents are the first and most important teachers in the lives of children," agrees Mr. Surdam. And it doesn't end with high school graduation, he warns. "From womb to tomb," parents are forever the greatest influence on their children.

The Bright Start curriculum was created to help schools teach parents how to become more effective teachers in their homes. But Mr. Surdam warned participants not to beat themselves up if they are not perfect parents.

He points out that the average person talks to himself all day -- an average of 3,000 words, but 80 percent of the time a person's self-talk is negative.

Mr. Surdam tells the story of the factory worker who complains to his co-workers when he finds a baloney sandwich every day in his lunchbox. Finally one of his co-workers tells him he needs to yell at his wife and tell her to start giving him something else to eat.

"Oh, I'm not married," the man responds. "I make my own lunch."

Says Mr. Surdam: "Stop giving yourselves baloney!"

Parents need to allow themselves time and opportunity to grow and become better parents. He noted the Japanese principle call "kaizen," instituted during the reconstruction period following World War II.

"Kaisen" means, essentially: "Every day we show improvement in our product and in ourselves. One day might be 50% improvement or only 1% improvement, but at least there is progress."

We can only become great parents "one step at a time," he says.

Even Illiterate Parents Can Help Children to Read

Early Learning Critical to Scholastic Success

Literacy Backpacks Help Parents Help Children

Migrant Agency Provides Parent Leadership Training

Parents Open Dialog with School Leaders

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