Home | What's New | Information about Children & Families | State & Local Statistics | Family Involvement | Welfare Reform | Community Systems | Recommended Reading | Links to Related Sites | Who We Are | Site Map

PARTNERS IN LEARNING: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAD MAKES   The conventional wisdom of yesterday held that fathers are important primarily as heads of households and breadwinners. Researchers considered fathers superfluous to children's development and focused on mothers. If they looked at fathers at all, it was to measure the effect of their absence, not their presence. Then dramatic demographic shifts in family structure brought the father's role to the forefront of national attention. In 1994, 19 million children-urban, suburban and rural, from every racial group -were growing up in father-absent homes. More than half of all children born in 1992 will spend all or some of their childhood apart from one parent, and in 9 out of 10 cases, the child will be separated from the father. Across the country, researchers began to examine the implications of these changes. Emerging results make it clear: from infancy on, dads are important to their children's development. James Levine, in New Expectations: Community Strategies for Responsible Fatherhood, cites numerous research examples, including: ~ Infants score higher on certain assessments of intellectual and motor development when fathers are actively involved during children's first six months. ~ Premature infants whose fathers spent time playing with them had better cognitive outcomes at age 3, whether or not the father was living in the same household. ~ Girls who have a warm relationship with their fathers feel more competent in math and are more secure in their femininity. It's not surprising, then, to find that a new report released by the U.S. Department of Education emphasizes the important role that fathers can play in helping their children learn. Based on a nationwide survey of almost 17,000 parents from different racial-ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, the study found that: ~ Many fathers in two-parent families, as well as fathers not living with their children, have low involvement. ~ Single fathers are far more likely to be involved in their children's schools than fathers in two-parent families. ~ Children do better in school when their fathers are involved. This is true whether or not their fathers live with them, or whether or not their mothers are also involved. ~ The relationship between fathers' involvement and children's success in school is important, regardless of income, race-ethnicity, or the parent's education. ~ Children are more likely to get mostly A's, and less likely to repeat a grade, if their fathers are involved in their schools. ~ Fathers-and mothers-are more likely to be involved in their children's education when schools welcome family involvement.  The full report of Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools can be viewed at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/fathers/index.html Written by The Family Connection for Partners in Learning [Vol 1:2, 1998] a newsletter of the Indiana Center for Family, School & Community Partnerships. If you would like more information about involving fathers in their children's education, contact the Center at 317-205-2595 or email: fscp@indy.net Back to Partners in Learning Contents | Return to top | Next Article: Simple Strategies for Involving Men

Home | What's New | Information about Children & Families | State & Local Statistics | Family Involvement | Welfare Reform | Community Systems | Recommended Reading | Links to Related Sites | Who We Are | Site Map