Dimensions of Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education

Parent Involvement in the Education of the Handicapped Child: A Review of the Literature

“…As consumers of a service, they exercise their rights in planning programs to meet their needs and the needs of their children (Bessent & ' 'Vebb, 1976;Calvert, 1971;Lillie, 1975;Yawkey & Bakawa-Evenson, 1975). Calvert (1971) remarked that parents have &dquo;high credibility&dquo; (p. 657) to the public. They are indispensable in enlisting support for programs and in disseminating information about the programs.…”

“…They are indispensable in enlisting support for programs and in disseminating information about the programs. Parents increase community awareness and support by speaking to service groups and media representatives, by publishing newsletters, and by writing letters to local school boards and members of Congress (Calvert, 1971;Shearer & Shearer, 1977). Parent groups have been a significant factor in improving services for handicapped children by lobbying for new legislation (Cain, 1976).…”

Parental Roles in Special Educational Programming—A Brief for Involvement

“…Such involvement has ranged from parents' successful participation in child-management discussion groups (Bank & Brooks, 1971;Jessell & Rothney, 1965), through the provision of instruction for their preschool and school-age children (Cappa & Shubert, 1962;Della-Piana, Stahman, & Allen, 1967;Hunt, 1971;Smith, 1963;Smith & Brache, 1963), to functioning as teacher aides in the classroom (Antrim, 1971;Calvert, 1971). These and a variety of other types of involvement have convinced many educators that constructive parental involvement is necessary to the effective operation of schools-that only through extensive parent-community participation will schools function effectively (Rice, 1970;Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968;White, 1971).…”

“…More direct involvement through parental extension of school remedial programs has also had favorable results in several studies and reviews (Calvert, 1971;Della-Piana et al, 1967;Kingsley, 1971;Smith & Brache, 1963).…”

“…This change of attitude stems from a variety of sources. Professionals in early childhood education have consistently found that parental involvement facilitates effective preschool programs (Calvert, 1971). Educators serving the disadvantaged and culturally different have found that extensive parental involvement is mandatory if they are to realize their program goals (Lopate, Flaxman, Bynum, & Gordon, 1970).…”