Parent and Community Involvement in a College/Career–Ready Culture: Texas Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, Number 2

This brief addresses the questions: "What are some examples of underachieving schools that have involved parents and community partners to increase student achievement through building a focus on college and career readiness? How do they solicit community response and what contributions have parents/community members made to support a college and career readiness environment? What does the research say about this topic?"

The literature addressing how family and community involvement impacts a culture of college and career readiness suggests there is a positive association for certain types of involvement. Providing support and encouragement, as well as assisting with planning, increases the probability of attending and graduating from college.

Key Points

• Make efforts to include families in postsecondary planning.
• Provide information to support postsecondary planning throughout a student's education.
• Address linguistic and cultural barriers, parental time issues, and other factors across populations that are traditionally underrepresented in institutions of higher education.