volvement Programs. These standards include the following (p. 14):
Standard V: School Decision Making and Advocacy
Standard VI: Collaborating with Community (p. 14).
These standards are to be applied in each school district. The standards demand that school boards accept parent and family involvement and work with school administrators to develop a plan that promotes and monitors this parent involvement. This participation must include multiple options and activities. The activities may vary but there must be a set of goals for implementation and evaluation. The school board is the gatekeeper of this involvement and parents are to be represented at board meetings. The board must ensure increased communication, participation, cooperation, and understanding for parents and the development parent partnerships (Osborne & de Onis, 1999).
Flood, Lapp, Tinajero, and Nagel (1995) reported early findings that all students benefit from parent involvement. These authors presented findings of a case study of a large urban U.S. school that included a mixture of children from many cultural backgrounds. Most parents were English or Spanish-speaking while the teachers were mostly English speakers. Language barriers made the parent-teacher partnership both crucial and difficult. Teachers spread the word that they required the parent's help and parents responded with surprise that they were needed. Parents also responded with participation efforts, which pointed out their care and concern regarding their children's education. When parents were unable to participate they reported the following barriers to helping: not enough time; children at home; both parents working; single parent working; not having the skills; not knowing how to teach; not knowing the language; being different from other parents; not being of any help, and lastly, beliefs in the job belonging to the teacher. Parental understanding that they were needed le...