Criscuolo, Nicholas P

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Michigan Reading Journal Volume 14 Issue 2 Article 19 October 1980 Parent Apathy: Six Effective Antidotes Nicholas P. Criscuolo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj Recommended Citation Criscuolo, Nicholas P. (1980) "Parent Apathy: Six Effective Antidotes," Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 14 : Iss. 2 , Article 19. Available at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol14/iss2/19 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Reading Journal by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gvsu.edu. PARENT APATHY: Six Effective Antidotes Nicholas P. Criscuolo, Ph.D Nicholas Criscuolo is Supervisor of Reading for the New Haven, Connecticut Public Schools Bob Taylor, a fourth grade teacher at Lakewood School, sits at his desk and looks around the room. Folders containing sample papers from this marking period are on each child's desk. The class schedule is written neatly on the board so that at , this first PTA meeting parents can see a typical day's schedule. The room is attrac-tively decorated in anticipation of Bob's meeting the parents of the twenty-five children in his class. Bob is disappointed-even a little bitter-when at evening's end only three parents have appeared. He wonders: "Why such a poor tur-nout? Have I done something wrong?" His experience is not unique. In-deed, parent apathy is a source of concern in school systems across the country. Since a school system's program is so important, however, it can be a good vehicle for getting parents involved and reducing their apathy. This article describes six programs launched in the New Haven, Connecticut, public school system which have proved to beef-fective antidotes. PROJECT GRASP Three years ago, Project GRASP ( Good Readers Are Successful Peo-ple )-a $41,000 federally-funded Right-to-Read program-was laun-ched in the primary grades of five inner-city New Haven schools. The project's major strand is the recruit-ment and use of 30 parents as paid tutors. These parent tutors were recruited from the communities of the schools involved and were inter-viewed by a panel of school peson-nel and members of the community before being hired. Prior to beginning their w;rk, the parent tutors completed five inten-sive sessions conducted by three members of the school system's Reading Department. At these ses-sions, parent tutors reviewed the system's reading program, and the needs of the particular children ser-viced at the primary grade level. They also learned how to make reading materials for use in their tutorial sessions. Because of this project, approx-imately 100 primary grade children have been tutored by these parent tutors. According to informal Pupil Progress Forms completed by par-ticipating classroom teachers, these pupils have improved in their mastery of reading skills. Perhaps equally as important as the acquisi-tion of reading skills has been the interaction and genuine rapport these parents have established with the children they have helped. The amount of the federal grant suppor-ting this program has increased each year, from the original $41,000 in 1977 to $89,000 this past year. READING RECIPES Recently a mini-grant of $690 was received from the Connecticut State Department of Education. The pur-pose of this grant was to prepare a useful and practical file of Reading Recipes to be sent home for use by Right-to-Read schools. These recipes make use of foods and familiar objects in the home to rein-force reading skills. A series of workshops conducted by members of the Reading Depart-ment, explained the use of Reading Recipes for parents. In each of the schools involved, there is a School Community Relations Worker who, during home visits, encourages the full use of the recipes which have been sent home. MAKE-IT-AND-TAKE-IT WORKSHOPS Based on the author's experience, the most effective type of programs for parents are those which stress active participation and involve-ment. In the New Haven schools, several "make-it-and-take-it" 74 workshops have been held for parents. According to the evalua-tions completed by the parents at the end of each workship, they have been highly successful. The leaders of a make-it-and-take-it workshops first display and discuss the purposes of reading games and learning devices. They then provide parents with construc-tion paper, scissors, magic markers and glue pots so that the parents can make the devices that interest them. What are the kinds of devices parents do make? Here are a few samples: - Puppets from paperbags to stimulate language development - Puzzles from pictures cut from magazines and pasted onto oaktag to stimulate muscle coordination - Separate comic strip panels put in envelopes in mixed order to rein-sequencing skills A major benefit of this type of workshop is that parents leave with something tangible that they can use with their own children the next day. BE MY GUEST PROGRAM A few years ago, an elementary principal in New Haven instituted a successful program called "Be My Guest." Realizing that some parents didn't feel welcome or that they could not attend evening meetings, he extended invitations to them to visit classrooms during the morning hours to observe the reading pro-gram in action. Babysitting services were provided at the school for parents who brought toddlers with them. After parents visited the classrooms, they convened in the cafeteria with the principal, guidance counselor, and reading specialist, and over a cup of coffee shared their observations and ex-periences and had a chance to ask questions. This workable idea has since spread to several other schools. PARENT RESOURCE ROOMS Getting reading games and other learnng aids into students' homes is a worthwhile goal. In 1976, the school district received a $2,000 grant from Connecticut's Right-to-Read program to establish a Parent Resource Room at the Barnard School. The money was used to pur-chase a variety of inexpensive games and other materials to stock a Parent Resource Room at the school. Parents were invited to its opening, and the school's reading teacher took the parents on a tour of the facility, displaying and briefly ex-plaining the purposes of the materials and a check-out system for using the materials. Parents were encouraged to borrow the materials for a specified period of time. As an outgrowth of this program, a Shopping List of popular reading books and games has been compil-ed, including prices and local stores where such materials can be pur-chased. This list is distributed to parents, who keep asking where they can purchase such games and books for use at home with their children. SATURDAY MORNING TUTORING PROGRAM Near Conte School, a large inner-city school in New Haven, is the Far-nham Courts housing development. As a result of discussions with the school's Parent's Council, the school system decided to off er a tutorial program for those children in the intermediate grades who needed extra help in reading. In-struction was to be given in the large Recreation Room of Farnham Courts on Saturday mornings; the tutors would be parents of the children liv-ing in the development. Money for stipends for the parent tutors and reading materials was provided by a grant from the Greater New Haven Jaycees, who awarded a grant to fund the pro-gram. Training sessions were subse-quently conducted for the tutors, who thus became involved in setting up and implementing the program, as well as assuring regular atten-dance of the tutees. The school's reading specialist supervised the program at Farnham Courts for the first few weeks and then withdrew so it subsequently became a complete-ly community operated effort. This Saturday morning program had an important advantage: it eliminated any interruptions during the school week as it supplemented and did not supplant any valuable classrooms reading instruction. CONCLUDING REMARKS As demonstrated by these pro-grams, there are antidotes to parent apathy. Parents are a valuable resource and schools must make the effort to involve them actively in the reading program. Parental input not only will enlarge the scope of ser-vices to children and round out the program through needed home reinforcement, it will cement a close school-community relationship, which is a desirable component in shaping a topflight reading pro-gram. COLLEGE DEVELOPMENTAL READING PROGRAMS ... TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF PROGRESS Patricia Remington, I.H.M. Patricia Remington is Assistant Director of the Reading Efficiency and Study Skills Center at Wayne State University. The problems associated with students adapting to the academic demands of college not only exist but presently appear to be escalating. Students coming into college without good preparation in reading have problems at the outset. Nearly everyone knows that there are problems in our educational system. Strangely enough, these problems are not limited to the non-traditional population, the minority and poor white populations. The majority of low achievers who are gammg admission to colleges through open-door admissions policies have not been ethnic minorities, but predominately white sons and daughters of blue-collar workers. Actually the lack of basic survival skills necessary for college work runs through every segment of the total population. Students with learning problems come from all walks of life, all levels of socioeconomic circumstances, and all levels of ability. They register at all types of postsecondary ins ti tu -hons: large and small, public and private, open-door and highly selective. Through twenty-five years of col-lege reading programs there is a broad range of learning problems revealed which is as varied as col-lege students are. Surveying the years briefly, this paper will attempt to bring into perspective the historical background and organization of college study skills programs. 75 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND In the use of the term "under-p rep are d students" and "underachieving students," one should understand these students as students whose skills and abilities are below those of the average or typical student admitted to college programs. "Basic skills," as used in this paper, refers to the reading, writing, computational, and listen-ing skills necessary for success in college. Regarding the terms "remedial" and developmental," the latter better suggests the need for learning those skills not previously learned. In some con-texts, however, the two terms merge in meaning. Cross says that developmental education gives at-

Parent Apathy: Six Effective Antidotes

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