PTA Take Your Family to School Week
February 10-16, 2008
A How-To Guide on Promoting Father Involvement
Father Involvement Tools Home | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3
The Importance of Father Involvement*
PTA knows the value of fathers' involvement in the
education of our children—and has from its earliest
days. Likening the home-school partnership to a
three-legged stool of mothers, fathers, and teachers,
the organization formally strove to engage fathers more fully in their children's development even while still called the National
Congress of Mothers.
| "No true-hearted man will shirk his duty in this crusade for the children, a warfare as glorious, I think, as men ever
waged on a field of battle." —Alice McLellan Birney, cofounder and first president of PTA, at PTA's third annual convention, February 1899 |
And just as early, men responded to the call, working to further the PTA Mission in big and small ways. Later leaders continued to be inspired by the notion of the sturdy three-legged stool, and male involvement and leadership in the organization increased. As one 1970 article in the PTA national magazine explained, "Through the PTA a good deal more of that essential element, father, has been put to work to produce improvements in homes, schools, and neighborhoods and in community, state, and national services for children and youth."
Today, there is documented evidence of what our founders knew instinctively: Children benefit from their fathers' involvement in their schools.
Research by the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that this is true even when a child's mother is already
involved in the school. A father's involvement "exerts a distinct and independent influence" on a child's success in school.
| "I want to make it clear that when I say 'the PTA,' I am speaking of the organization at its best….I am thinking
of the PTA in its inclusive, organic form. I see it
beginning with that all-important trio— a mother, a father, and a teacher." —B. K. Olmsted, past president of Delaware PTA, in "Men Speak Out for the PTA," The PTA Magazine, February 1970 |
What, then, are the benefits of father involvement? When fathers are involved in school, their children:
- Learn more.
- Perform better in school.
- Exhibit healthier behavior.
- Have fewer discipline problems.
- Are more likely to participate in extracurricular activities.
- Enjoy school more.**
Tell fathers how important they are! And use the upcoming PTA Take Your Family to School Week, February 10-16, 2008, to
re-emphasize our founders' vision of having all parents—mothers and fathers—involved in children's education.
PTA Take Your Family to School Week is celebrated the week leading up to PTA Founders Day, February 17, to honor our
founders' vision of building lasting family-school partnerships.
| Father Involvement Resources |
*Membership in PTA is open to anyone who is concerned about the education, health, and welfare of children and youth. When speaking of fathers and father involvement, we are referring to the involvement of not only biological fathers but stepfathers, adoptive fathers, foster fathers, grandfathers, uncles, older brothers, family friends, and other male role models. All men can offer valuable contributions to schools, PTAs, and children's lives. |
** Sources:
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools, NCES 98-091. By Christine
Winquist Nord, DeeAnn Brimhall, and Jerry West. Washington DC: 1997
U.S. Department of Education. A Call to Commitment: Fathers' Involvement in Children's Learning. Prepared by the National Center for Fathering. Washington DC: 2000.
