Parents who supervise their children's schoolwork and monitor their friendships, who regularly communicate with teachers, and who participate in school governance are, quite simply, more likely to have children who succeed. Communities, too, play an essential role. The Harvard Family Research Projects own research has shown that low-income families often involve themselves in elementary students' learning in creative, informal ways, but other research has pointed out that family involvement significantly drops off during the high school years. Despite the barriers, teachers must find ways to reach out to minority families through evening phone calls, informal chats before and after school, and parent education classes. And teachers must be trained to understand issues of culture, class and ethnicity.
Educators are often reluctant to engage low-income, minority families.
However, as Jefferson Davis High School and the Santa Monica-Malibu district illustrate, the power of partnerships can be transformative. Before statistics worsen in Massachusetts and across the nation, before the divide becomes any more difficult to bridge, let us collectively reassert ourselves in an effort to stem the seemingly relentless tide of dropouts. Schools need to make minority families and communities full partnerships in the learning process. It is far from a simple solution, yet it may be the only one that works. Heather B. Weiss is founder and director of the Harvard Family Research Project, part of Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.