CFY believes that the home holds the greatest untapped potential for improving children’s school performance and life-long success – and we as a nation have the capability to unleash it.

Since we began operations in 1999, the body of academic research supporting this belief has grown and become impossible to ignore. This research is focused in two areas: parental involvement and the Home Learning Environment (defined as educational resources in the home and parent-child interactions around learning at home).

The most compelling research findings include:

• The impact of parental involvement at home is significant, positive, and larger than the impact of school itself.*
  
  
• The Home Learning Environment is one of the strongest predictors of achievement in reading and math for 10- and 11-year olds. In fact, for math, a strong Home Learning Environment has the same impact as attending a better preschool and primary school.**
  
  
• Family and home environment account for eight of the 14 factors related to the achievement gap.***
  
  
• A case study on low-income students who 'succeeded against the odds' showed that what they had in common was a strong Home Learning Environment.**

These findings demonstrate that powerful gains are within reach for families that have the resources and know-how to create a strong Home Learning Environment. But what about families that either do not have the resources or do not have the know-how? Is there a way to help these families improve their Home Learning Environment?

We believe the answer is yes:

• The will is there. Ninety-seven percent (97%) of the 3,416 parents we surveyed in the 2008-09 school year said they would like to be more involved in their child's learning. Seventy-three percent (73%) of parents surveyed said they wanted their child to obtain a college degree.
  
  
• All parents can learn how to strengthen their Home Learning Environment. Research shows that the quality and frequency of learning activities in the home is not directly tied to parents' educational attainment or their household income.**

References:
*Desforges, C., & Abouchaar, A. (2003).

**Sylva, K., et. al. (2008).

***Weiss, H., et. al. (2009).