“Families drive learning,” Bror’s Blog comments on a study recently published by ETS. We live that everyday but ETS has quantified some of these effects in their report, The Family: America’s Smallest School. In the midst of debate over NCLB and school reform we have to remember the fundamental effect home has on academic success. Even the best of schools cannot overcome severe deficiencies at home.
“The family is a child’s first school and parents are the first teachers. The family continues to play a role.” -Rich Coley, Co-author and Director Policy Information Center.
Obviously, for homeschoolers family is THE school. For kids in brick-and-mortar schools the family still plays a critical role in cognitive and academic achievement. The study examined 16 indicators. Here are just a few observations:
- Two-parent families are best. EST calls this the “Parent-Pupil Ratio.” As this ratio declines, educational achievement follows and negative social behaviors increase. State academic achievement correlates inversely to frequency of single-parent families.
- Reading to children is the simplest thing that can be done to help them to achieve.
- Home learning environment is critical: Do parents set and enforce rules? Is the home equipped for study? Are there books and magazines? Do parents interact with teachers?
- Absenteeism and excessive TV-watching are strong factors and predictors of success.
This report clearly establishes that the gaps in critical home experiences mirror the gaps in early school achievement - gaps that persist through the end of high school.
All of this seems like common sense but what is to be done for those who don’t have a good family? Aren’t these the everyday issues for those in Title I schools? How about government intervention into home life? Who welcomes that? EST doesn’t have a silver bullet, suggesting “cooperative partnerships” between families and schools. It’s a problem that, sadly, will not go away anytime soon.
[…] of Socio-Economic Factors The Fraser Institute releases its findings. Why Homeschool PRE502: The Family: America’s Smallest School Take a look at the recent study published by the Educational Testing Service. […]
When there is no family support, the teacher and the class becomes the family. The first step society needs to do is to recognize the problem. The big issue is when the problem is recognized and someone drops the ball in looking for the answers. I’m not sure what the answer is but we better start trying to solve the problem or we are going to have major problems in the future.
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