Helping Dreams Survive
The Story of a Project Involving African-American Families in the Education of Their Children
Description:... This document describes the With and For Parents program, a dropout prevention program focusing on parent involvement. Although not a conventional guidebook, this document can serve as a guide to the world of the urban disadvantaged through its recollection of program experiences. With and For Parents began in 1987 with 156 families of incoming sixth graders at the Harlem Park Middle School in Baltimore (Maryland). A matched control group (n=151) was selected. Experimental and control groups were followed for 3 years, to high school matriculation. Throughout the program, special care was taken to give parents information about the consequences of students' dropping out. At the end of the study period, 109 students from the experimental group were still in the Baltimore schools, while only 80 of the 151 in the control group were still being followed. Overall improvements were not apparent for attendance and academic achievement, but many individual improvements were attributable to program interventions. Many successes were apparent in convincing parents that they had rights in negotiating with the schools. With and For Parents was instrumental in strengthening the school Parents' Club, and program staff participated in approximately 200 school problem resolutions. Overall, With and For parents demonstrated the potential of low-income parents for participation in their children's education. Statistical data are provided in five tables. Eight figures and selected photographs are included. (SLD)
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