There are many ways that schools could improve their relationship with parents. This particular post, however, will deal with just one change and that change only applies to a small group of parents. But, do not be fooled by those limitations. The changes sketched here are truly systemic if adopted at scale.
It is time to acknowledge that some parents, as well as their very young children, need more support if their children are to develop intellectually, socially, emotionally, and every other way that will enable children from these families to succeed as adult members of the community. Perhaps levels of support for parents can be thought of on a sliding scale of need that increases geometrically for a small group of parents in crisis. Most parents – those not in crisis – may just need good communication, a few tips on helping their kids, and little or no additional support. But there remains a much smaller group of families, probably less that 5%, that have intensive parent support needs that begin no later than the birth of their first child. For the most part, the education system has a good relationship with parents, but for this small group of families, we need to drastically rethink the relationship in view of the needed support.
Why is this change needed? There are growing number families in severe crisis, and ignoring the plight of the children in those families has disastrous consequences for them and costly consequences for the rest of us. These families in greatest need are typically those found living below 50% of the federal poverty level (far below the “free and reduced lunch” standard of 80% above the poverty level). For these families, we can’t rely on fragmented and incomplete responses to help these very young children. We must take simultaneous action to directly help these infants and toddlers and their parents, or the life trajectory of these children will likely be harmed irreversibly.
,The urgency and the data for these recommendations come from powerful research. The first is a study called “Adverse Conditions of Early Childhood” (ACES) by the Center for Disease Control and Kaiser Health. The ACES Study outlines family conditions that frequently occur at this level of deep poverty – negative conditions such as violence, mental illness, incarceration, and all kinds of abuse. The ACES Study follows infants who have endured those conditions as infants and toddlers into adulthood. The study shows the later occurrence of very negative effects in health, behavior and education, often many times greater than the rest of the population. These are all negative effects in adolescents and adults that have real costs to the individuals and real financial costs to the rest of us as we try to remediate or contain these negative effects. For too long we have assumed the inevitability of these negative consequences, but now we know that early and intensive intervention can make a difference.
We know exactly what we need to do. There are numerous studies that show the effectiveness of intensive support for infants or toddlers and their parents. This means that we need to provide high quality care and development for children in these circumstances from birth to school age. Support for these infants and toddlers is not just daycare, but an environment for child development operated by highly trained staff with attention to the physical and emotional, as well as intellectual development, of each child. At the same time, we need to help parents to develop their capacity to support the healthy development of their children. This typically involves trained home visitors who demonstrate the best practices to support a child’s growth. The support may also involve parent participation in awareness and training programs at local centers. A good summary can be found in a 2014 Aspen Institute publication, “Gateways to Two Generations”. We can also look to successful long-term models of “community schools” in New York, Chicago and other communities. The record of success of such comprehensive support is undeniable.
I know that acceptance of this change will be difficult. It will be hard to convince policy leaders to undertake high immediate financial cost of these changes, even though they will lead to greater savings in the long run by reducing drug abuse, incarceration and improving employability. There will be resistance to this significant extension of school district responsibilities. I know that the changes I am suggesting are difficult and disruptive, but we cannot back away from the challenge!
