When parents participated in a program that emphasized structured involvement in the classroom, their children perceived the climate of the classroom more positively than did children of non-participating families. Increased grade point averages and improved achievement scores are related to family school collaboration projects. Family involvement leads to increases in student self-esteem levels. Structured collaboration programs have also been linked with emotional well-being, parenting skills, and confidence.
Teachers are more positive about their jobs when they perceive parents to be supportive.
Schools that promote active family involvement have shown decreases in absenteeism and discipline problems. Providing counseling services to children and neglecting the systems to which they are members, will often produce minimal results, and in fact could be considered unprincipled counseling. For example, by encouraging a student to go home and share his feelings of anger with his parents, without knowing the parents or their potential reactions, the counselor may be setting the student up to fail. That is, actively involving the client's support systems in the counseling process. Individual change may not be possible unless family, school, community, and sociocultural systems are considered.