While parents, family, and community members may assume specific roles as they become involved in the education of children, for example as volunteers in the classroom (see Epstein and Connors' typology, 1993), a synthesis of the literature reveals three overarching roles that are created in the development and implementation of parent and community involvement programs (Lyons, Robbins and Smith, l983; Lynn, l994). Each of these roles is actualized in very different ways in relationships in classrooms, schools, and school districts:
Parents as the primary resource in the education of their children is best exemplified in home learning. Home learning is the activity, or set of activities, that parents and family members may engage in to help their children succeed academically. This partnership role between parents and/or family members and schools may have the greatest impact on achievement.
Parents and community members as supporters and advocates for the education of their children is facilitated through site-based school restructuring. Restructuring schools to create parent and community partnerships with schools focuses on organizational structure. Changing activities; creating new relationships between parents, families, communities, and schools; and implementing innovative strategies are ways that schools can restructure to facilitate parent and community involvement in this role.
Parents and community members as participants in the education of all children incorporates a broader vision in the partnership between schools and the populations they serve. Districtwide programs provide the vehicle for parents and community members to be involved in roles that reach beyond the immediate impact of an individual child to the impact on all children in the district.
