They requested that I share with them what I learned from teachers. The parents expressed clear opinions about their children's education and indicated awareness of school situations and problems. From Head Start and kindergarten teachers I learned that the children are very well prepared, have good social skills, excellent cognitive development and enough English proficiency to do well in school. All the parents have visited their children's schools. Head Start teachers would like more parental involvement.
Language barriers are a problem for both parents and teachers.
All the teachers would like to continue contact with our program in the fall, and welcome our input. This inquiry has raised some new questions for me. This project has been valuable because it has provided useful information and feedback from parents and teachers, and has laid the groundwork for an ongoing follow-up of our families and their experience and participation in the educational process. I plan to continue this project during the next school year. As a practitioner working in the family literacy program at the International Institute, I have often wondered how the children perform in school once they leave the program and to what extent the parents become involved in their education.