Parents seen as solution to dropout rate

By MERCEDES OLIVERA
Published September 28, 2002

It seems everyone has a theory why Latino students in Texas continue to drop out of school at alarming levels.

Some believe it's because of testing: Those who fail state-mandated tests may prefer to drop out rather than repeat a class or grade with the same teacher. Others say language barriers or cultural misunderstandings between students and teachers are factors.

The dropout problem won't get better by itself.

According to one study, more than half of this year's high school freshmen will never graduate from the state's public schools. In Dallas County, another report shows that there is a 64 percent dropout rate among Hispanics.

David Valladolid may have a solution.

Mr. Valladolid says he believes that any educational system will lose students if the parents aren't involved. He heads the California-based Parent Institute for Quality Education, a 15-year-old program working to establish strong partnerships between parents and schools.

Dallas school officials plan to implement the program at James Bowie Elementary School in Oak Cliff.

"All the great reform measures in the schools in the last 20 years will not work effectively unless they involve the student's family and extended family members," said Mr. Valladolid, who will be in Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday to kick off the program.

His argument is simple, he said.

Children bring a "suitcase" with them their first day of class, he said. Inside it are the child's values, aspirations, language, cultural traditions and customs. But in the classroom, the child must confront a different reality and is asked to choose between two cultures, he said.

However, he said, when parents and extended family members - tías and abuelos - are involved in creating a learning environment at home, children are better prepared for school and don't have to face those conflicts.

The program - to be coordinated locally by the Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Organizations - works with parents once a week for nine weeks. The first session is spent planning the curriculum for the workshops that parents will attend during the following weeks.

The program will conclude with a graduation ceremony in which parents - many of whom have never completed high school or college - receive a certificate in front of their own children. Parents lead by setting the example.

Half the sessions focus on how to create a learning environment at home and to promote a child's self-esteem. Everyone is involved at home in ensuring that a child's love for learning is stimulated.

Equally important are the rest of the sessions, which focus on preparing a student for college. The idea that all children can attend college is planted in the parents' minds.

The program has been credited in California with increasing SAT test scores in some instances, organizers say. The Stanford Research Institute, in an initial assessment, found that the program helps raises the parents' awareness of their rights to be involved in their children's education.

René Martinez, special assistant to DISD Superintendent Mike Moses, said the idea that Latino immigrants don't want to be involved in their children's education is a common misconception.

"All the data shows that immigrant parents, especially, want to improve the quality of life for their children. Education and access to college are some of the top priorities in the minds of these parents," said Mr. Martinez, who works with dropout prevention efforts in the district, which now has a Latino student population of almost 60 percent.

Mr. Martinez said Bowie elementary will become the model for expanding the parental program to other DISD schools.

"And we don't want to stop there," he said. "We're exploring how to tailor the program for nonimmigrant parents, too.

"We want to empower all parents in the instructional lives of their children."