Joining hands - A parental involvement program

Although teachers and administrators often go to great lengths to involve low-income families in school projects, their attempts often are unsuccessful. In this article, alternatives to traditional concepts of involvement and different behavioral styles are discussed. Joining Hands, a model project designed to encourage low-income and minority parents to become more active in their children's academic education, is described. The first phase of the project, a parent training program, offers parents inexpensive strategies and techniques that they can use to prepare 3- and 4-year-old children for successful school experiences. The second phase of the project, a series of teacher in-service sessions, is aimed at sensitizing school employees to the concerns, needs, and problems of low-income and minority parents.