| Citation: | Hampton, F., Mumford, D. A., & Bond, L. (1998). Parent involvement in inner-city schools: The Project FAST extended family approach to success. Urban Education, 33(3), 410-428. |
Annotation:
Researchers give a complete description of student achievement outcomes from Project FAST (Families Are Students and Teachers), the extended family concept, including philosophies and practices, based on results from a 4-year study in East Cleveland School District. In the FAST program, students entering kindergarten stay with the same teacher through the second grade. The program includes annual sessions of summer enrichment with their teacher, and year-round interactions between school and home. The process involves much more than teachers getting to know their students. Teachers become the Òextended familyÓ for students and their parents. Findings showed that after one year, the program's effects on student achievement were impressive. All but one class of students were performing significantly above that of other students in the same school and of the students at large in the district. Researchers compared the mean performance of Project FAST students in the East Cleveland School District on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and Terra Nova with (a) the mean performance of same-grade students in the school and (b) the district wide mean performance of same-grade students. Teachers who volunteer for FAST commit to multiyear assignments of students to teachers, in addition to participation in a summer school program, so some screening of teachers must take place. Although records of individual parent or guardian attendance at monthly meetings were not kept, attendance was reported to be high. This high attendance level could have contributed to the success of the program. Observations show that a strong relationship-oriented program coupled with effective teaching and parent involvement averts the economic and social barriers to student success.
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