Overwhelming evidence from research suggests that when families get personally involved in education, their children do better in school and grow up to be successful in life. Yet, family involvement is one of the most overlooked aspects of American education. Today, many programs are designed without recognition of the role of families, and consequently many families remain unaware of the significance that their role can have on their child's education.

Family involvement is an important component of the NASA Explorer Schools project. The purpose of the family involvement component is to engage families as partners in the educational process. The family involvement program herein was developed to give families, regardless of their own educational experience, the tools needed to become more actively involved in their child's day-to-day education.