PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION : It’s Back to Basics for Parents : Many don’t know how to help their children do better in school, so schools must reach out and teach them, too.

Because I teach at a LEARN school, I wasn’t shocked or even surprised to see how poorly these schools ranked in the latest report of test scores for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

For the most vehement critics of the LEARN school-reform program, the scores most certainly point to LEARN’s failure. But for me, they point to LEARN’s most formidable challenge.

There is no delicate way for me to say what I have come to believe is true after years of teaching in a community much like the one I was raised in: A major reason for the academic failure of many students is their home environment.

Research has confirmed that the home environment is a powerful factor in determining the academic success of students--their level of school achievement, their interest in learning and the number of years of schooling they will complete.

In the past, experts would have labeled my students as culturally disadvantaged, linguistically deficient or the victims of poverty. Such positions, however, are wrong and smack of condescension. I see such students as members of communities that are alive with dialects rich in logic and color, and with strong traditions that serve to cultivate familial warmth and cohesion that many mainstream American families lack.

It is not so much their socioeconomic status or cultural background that is critical to children’s academic success, but what parents do in the home. For example, do parents help their children establish goals and budget their time? Do parents give priority to schoolwork? Does the family read and discuss books, the newspaper, magazines and quality television programs?

For many of the families of my students, no is the answer.

It is becoming common for students everywhere to attend school lacking important skills and habits. They seem unable to manage their time or set goals for themselves. They get to classes late, unprepared and, worst of all, unmotivated. They find reading laborious and writing difficult. They fail or struggle for a barely passing grade in math, English and science. And on statewide tests, they perform terribly.

If LEARN campuses make a concerted effort to address the challenges of the student’s home environment, student performance levels will rise.

What makes me say this so boldly?

The firm belief that I am doing all I can as a teacher and the strong conviction that I cannot do it all myself. There was a time when I believed teaching methods were to blame. So I vigorously embraced innovative strategies. I used socially relevant lessons, computer assisted instruction, cooperative learning, sheltered English techniques, and on and on. But as evinced by the latest CTBS test results, teaching methods are not enough.

Moreover, as a Latino, I speak boldly from a classroom environment freed of old barriers: Today, no child is slapped for speaking her home language in the classroom. Today, we have Cinco de Mayo, free lunch programs, bilingual teachers.

But I have found that these elements are not enough.

The other half of the picture is the student’s home. To effect change there is LEARN’s biggest challenge because many parents are not easily reachable; many hold two jobs or are intimidated by the school system.

Note that I do not accuse the parents of apathy. On the contrary, I believe that parents want their children to succeed but they do not know how to go about helping them.

This, then, is what LEARN schools must do: Teach these parents strategies to create home environments that complement the classroom.

This will be a challenge because homes everywhere have been changed by a media culture that has taken the place of reading, conversation and family interaction. A challenge because many adolescents have caved in to the lures and pressures of the street. And a challenge because for some cultures, the process of schooling is seen as one that begins in the classroom and not in the home.

LEARN’s architects are aware of these challenges. Indeed, one of LEARN’s goals is to increase parent involvement in school management and decision-making as well as extracurricular activities and fund-raising. Realistically, however, it is only a handful of parents that get involved with such activities.

LEARN schools will need to fulfill the more difficult pledge to create programs that reach that large silent majority of parents who may not want to get involved in school politics but do want to learn how to help their children to succeed. To achieve this, LEARN schools must become true community centers, as described in the founding document of the program.

Unless this effort is made, LEARN’s central purpose, to raise student performance levels, will ultimately fail.