Parent Involvement: Yesterday and Today

Abstract

The importance of parents in the education of their children is not a new concept. Parents have been their children's first educators since prehistoric times. The first formal parent education classes occurred in the United States in 1815. Three theories, (1) the willful and depraved child, (2) the child as naturally good, and (3) the child as a blank slate, influenced parent education through the years. Concern about child development came from many levels including women's associations, colleges, parent cooperatives, government, and schools. Education was used to enlighten middle-income families as well as to help "mainstream" immigrants and the underclass parents. The recent focus on parent education and collaboration emerged during the 1960s with federal programs such as Head Start, Home Start, and Follow Through. It has continued in the 1980s and 1990s with concerns about poorly educated youths, dropouts, teenage pregnancy, and poverty. These issues emphasize that school-home collaboration is essential in order to have an educated populace.