NO MORE ISLANDS: Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs

Childhood Education, Summer 2004 by Manning, Maryann, Patterson, Janice

NO MORE ISLANDS: Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs. Donna Walker James & Glenda Partee. American Youth Policy Forum, 2003. 152 pp. Research on how family influences student success supports the view that families can enhance the effects of many school and program initiatives. This report by the American Youth Policy Forum presents information on 27 programs designed to promote family involvement in schools.

The first section of the report includes a discussion of the role of families in youth success, and offers recommendations that challenge practitioners and policymakers to improve family involvement strategies. The second section of the document presents 3- to 5-page summaries of the program evaluation for each of the 27 programs reviewed. The authors include evidence of effectiveness, descriptions of population served and key components of the program, and contact information. The programs analyzed tended to focus on young people in low-income families who are part of ethnic or racial minority groups and/or who speak a language other than English at home. The authors draw on the work of Johns Hopkins University researcher Joyce Epstein to catalog types of family involvement in one of the following six ways: 1) parenting, 2) communicating, 3) volunteering, 4) learning at home, 5) decision making, and 6) collaborating with the community. The report may be ordered for $10, prepaid, from American Youth Policy Forum, 1836 Jefferson Place, NW, Washington, DC 20036-2505. Phone: 202-775-9731; FAX: 202-775-9733. E-mail: aypf@aypf.org; Web site: www.aypf.org. International customers, please contact AYPF for export prices and ordering information.