ainstay of our culture, namely participatory democracy. By incorporating parental and community members' views on curricula, programs, and so forth, the educational system itself promotes this value through example.
Papalia and Olds (1992) make a case for the involvement of parents in children's education. In particular, the authors note that empirical research has demonstrated that children do best in school when parents are interested in their school life and academic progress. According to these authors, most of the achievement literature shows that as parents take more and more of an interest in their children's schooling, going to PTA meetings, rewarding good school work, etc., the level of children's academic achievement in most all areas of learning, increases. Thus, involvement of parents assists in children's learning.
Banks (1993) states that parent/community member involvement in the educational system can be particular good for low-income children. She notes that for many low-income and minori
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