No More Islands: Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs
Decades of research show a clear and positive relationship between family involvement and positive outcomes for children and youth. Among the benefits achieved when families’ active engagement in their children’s learning at home, in school and youth programs is supported are: higher student grades and test scores, better attendance, more homework done, fewer placements in special education, more positive attitudes and behavior, higher graduation rates, and greater enrollment in postsecondary education. No Child Left Behind, the Workforce Investment Act and other federal laws now require family involvement in both school and youth programs.
In its new 152-page report, No More Islands: Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) asserts that given the importance of families to a variety of positive youth outcomes and the emphasis placed on family involvement in federal law, young people should not be treated as “islands” by school and youth programs, separate from the context of their families. No More Islands is the result of analyzing over 100 evaluations of school and youth programs published in AYPF’s series of compendia on effective programs. Of these effective school and youth programs—known for their youth development approaches, including focusing on the resources and assets of youth, rather than on their problems—27 described family involvement of varying degrees.
These 27 programs used four broad categories of approaches to family involvement:
- Communicating with Families and Reinforcing Program Goals
- Designating Staff to Coordinate with Families and Professional Development
- Designing and Implementing Family Member-Related Services and Activities
- Expanding Family Member Roles and Relationships
Among recommendations derived from these approaches, AYPF encourages schools and youth programs to increase all family involvement, and particularly collaborative family involvement focused on the assets that families can offer programs and youth.
No More Islands examines family involvement strategies discussed in evaluations of the following school and youth programs:
- ABACUS (Academic Bilingual and Career Upgrading System)—New York, NY
- Abecedarian Program—Chapel Hill, NC
- Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)—nationwide
- Alaska Onward to Excellence (AOTE) & Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (ARKSI)—AK
- Beacons—nationwide
- Boys and Girls Clubs of America—nationwide
- Calvert—Baltimore, MD
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools—NC
- Child-Parent Center—Chicago, IL
- Community Schools—nationwide
- Equity 2000—CA, MD, RI, TN, and TX
- ¡Español Aumentativo! —Houston, TX
- 4-H—nationwide
- Girls, Inc.—nationwide
- Head Start—nationwide
- High School Puente—CA
- High Schools That Work—in 36 states
- High Scope/Perry Preschool—Ypsilanti, MI
- The Home Visitation by Nurses Project—Elmira, NY and Memphis, TN
- I Have a Dream—nationwide
- KIPP Academies—Houston, TX and Bronx, NY
- Multisystemic Therapy—SC, TN, and MO
- Project GRAD—CA, GA, NJ, OH, and TN
- Project PRISM (Pre-Engineering Instruction/Science and Mathematics)—New York, NY
- Sacramento START—Sacramento, CA
- Success for All—nationwide
- The Union City—New Jersey—School District
No More Islands may be purchased for $10 from the American Youth Policy Forum, 1836 Jefferson Place, NW, Washington, DC 20036 (prepaid orders only please, includes shipping and handling in the contiguous United States). Call 202-775-9731 for special rates on bulk orders. For an online version of No More Islands and for further information on AYPF’s compendia of effective programs and other reports please see our website: www.aypf.org.
The activities of the American Youth Policy Forum are made possible by the support of a consortium of philanthropic Foundations: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, Ford Motor Company Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, General Electric Fund, William T. Grant Foundation, George Gund Foundation, J&M Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, KnowledgeWorks, McKnight Foundation, Charles S. Mott Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds, Joseph and May Winston Foundation, and others. No More Islands was supported by the McKnight Foundation of Minneapolis.