The route to school success

Begin with the end in mind.

Those six words encapsulate ages of wisdom and comprise the second of Dr. Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. With elementary school beginning this week, they also are an ideal launching partner with the first habit, Be proactive.

Parents and grandparents of children in preschool or kindergarten, this editorial is for you. It's also for teachers of kids in these age groups; for big brothers and big sisters, for aunts and uncles; for anybody who wishes to make a profound impact on the little ones who are about to embark, wide-eyed and wobbly kneed, on the path of formal education.

Do these simple things consistently and you'll dramatically improve that child's chances of succeeding throughout school, in a career and through her or his lifetime.

First, read with the child. Research shows that spending just a little time reading to a child significantly tilts the odds of academic success his or her way.

According to a Programme for International Student Assessment study published in November 2011, "Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores...than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family's socioeconomic background."

Another rather astonishing result of the study, which included the parents of 5,000 students, is how little it takes a parent to make a positive impact on her or his child's education. According to Andreas Schleicher, who oversees the Programme for International Student Assessment, "just asking your child how was their school day and showing genuine interest in the learning that they are doing can have the same impact as hours of private tutoring. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level or social background."

There's magic in books, and yes, we mean that quite literally. According to a study published in 2005 by researchers in the U.S. and Australia, a study based on 20 years of data:

"Children growing up in homes with many books get three years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of parents' education, occupation, and class. This is as great an advantage as having university-educated rather than unschooled parents, and twice the advantage of having a professional rather than an unskilled father. It holds equally in rich nations and in poor; in the past and in the present; under Communism, capitalism, and Apartheid; and most strongly in China."

According to the study, called "Scholarly Culture and Educational Success in 27 Nations," Chinese children whose homes contained 500 or more books got 6.6 more years of schooling than did Chinese children from homes with no books. The study said as few as 20 books in a home make a marked difference.

So, teachers, encourage parents to complement your work with their children in these simple but highly effective ways. The results will speak for themselves.

Editor's note: Data for this editorial comes primarily from the outstanding book by Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum called "That Used To Be Us: How America fell behind in the world it invented and how we can come back."