Strong Families, Strong Schools: Parent Involvement in Education

Posted on November 16, 2017

Why should parents get involved in their child’s education? Because parent engagement can make a dramatic difference for the academic success of children from test grades to attendance to homework completion to continued education.[1] By supervising, supporting and advocating, parents can be engaged in ways that ensure that their children have every opportunity for success.

Parent Engagement at Home

Being involved in your child’s learning not only helps them to achieve more academically, but it also offers you the fulfillment of making a difference in their education. Here are some simple steps that can add up to creating a positive learning environment at home.

– Read with your children and talk with them about the books and stories you’ve read.
– Talk with your child about school every day and what they are learning.
– Ask them to teach you something they learned to help solidify their understanding of the topic.[2]
– Set aside a specific time for homework assignments and sit down to discuss your child’s homework at least once per week while they work.
– Organize and monitor your child’s time to ensure it is used wisely.
– Advise the teacher of any issues at home that may affect the child’s school performance.
– Consider involving grandparents in their grandchildren’s education.[3]

Studies show that school climate is at its best at schools with involved parents.[4] Parents who are involved with their kids’ education also feel better about themselves and about the school itself and parents’ feelings about their child’s school, whether positive or negative, influence how they choose to get involved in activities.[5]

It’s important for family members to remain involved from all the way through the education process – from elementary school through high school.[6] With younger children, it may be easier to keep up with report cards and progress reports when parent signatures are required, not to mention having time to connect while driving the kids to school. But when students reach middle and high school, connecting with kids about their studies can become more challenging as communications, extracurriculars, jobs and even adolescence surface.

Parents’ greatest learning support occurs at home through regular communications and positive expectations.[7] While offering support and guidance at home is the first step in getting involved in a student’s academics, it’s certainly not the last.

Parent Engagement at School

Developing a relationship with your child’s teachers and keeping in touch with them often is the first step to becoming a more engaged parent at school. A 2007 study found that 78% of parents surveyed participated in a parent-teacher conference and 74% showed up to a class or school function.[8]  Becoming active in a school’s parent group is another key way to increase involvement. According to PTO Today, building parent involvement is the single most important thing that parent groups can do.[9] Here are a few ideas parents can use to contribute to a successful learning experience at school:

– Support and attend school activities like program, plays, and performances.
– Volunteer in the classroom or be a chaperone on field trips or for special events.
– Attend parent-teacher conferences.
– Vote in school board elections or run for office yourself.
– Participate in PTA/PTO or other parent organizations, clubs or committees.

When meeting with their teachers, focus on how well your child is learning the subject matter, not just the graded outcomes. Reinforce the classroom teaching of a problematic subject by talking about it in new ways: “What’s your favorite part of the story? How would you change the ending?” or “How much would this sweater be with 25% off the price? What about one quarter of the price?” Let your child know that you are interested in them learning the subject matter, not just getting the grade, and be enthusiastic about gaining knowledge

Keep up with your child’s progress through their grades and report cards (or teacher meetings), but don’t only focus on success or failure. Encourage your children through poor performances, set improvement goals and reward achievement of those goals. Framing things in a positive light is more motivating to a child and can help them do better in the long run.

Think Bigger

Advocating for facility, program and equipment improvements with local school boards as well as with state and federal government can help to ensure your school has the resources they need to provide a first-rate education to every student. School surveys can be part of this advocacy when you ask the right questions. Developed with parents and caretakers in mind, the Pride Surveys Parent Engagement and Perception Survey covers everything from school and family involvement to academic achievement, general school life, student safety, and impressions about drug use. Parents will be able to engage easily with the data and use it in a variety of settings, such as PTA meetings, to help jumpstart discussions and boost engagement.

The Social, Emotional and Bullying Behavior Survey (SEBBS) collects data and delivers reports that assess middle school students’ bullying perceptions and problem behaviors that affect student engagement. With SEBBS, schools can discover underlying causes for unwanted conditions such as increased absenteeism, lower academic achievement, and increased substance abuse.

The benefit of choosing a survey company is that we take the guesswork out of the surveying process to ask the difficult questions. Browse the different types of scalable student surveys we offer and find out why Pride Surveys is the best choice to help you survey your school. Questions? Give us a call at 800-279-6361 or fill out our quick online contact form.

 

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[1] “Involvement Matters: What to Tell Parents.” Retrieved 9 November, 2017 at https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/399-involvement-matters-what-to-tell-parents.

[2] “Students Learn More If They’ll Need to Teach to Others.” Retrieved 9 November, 2017 at http://www.futurity.org/learning-students-teaching-741342/.

[3] “8 Ways to Get Grandparents Involved in Your Children’s Classroom.” Retrieved November 9, 2017 at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-carpenter/8-ways-to-get-grandparents-involved-in-your-childs-classroom_b_5701364.html.

[4] “Benefits of Parent Involvement in Education.” Retrieved November 9 , 2017 at https://www.verywell.com/teachers-benefit-from-parent-involvement-3288061.

[5] “Special Report/School Climate Urban Parents’ Views.” Retrieved November 9, 2017 at http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept08/vol66/num01/School-Climate@-Urban-Parents’-Views.aspx.

[6] “Supporting Parent, Family, and Community Involvement in Your School.” Retrieved November 9, 2017 at http://www.pacer.org/mpc/pdf/titleipip/SupportingInvolvement_article.pdf.

[7] “Supporting Parent, Family, and Community Involvement in Your School.” Retrieved November 9, 2017 at http://www.pacer.org/mpc/pdf/titleipip/SupportingInvolvement_article.pdf.

[8] “Back to School: How Parent Involvement affects student achievement (full report).” Retrieved 8 November, 2017 at http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Parent-Involvement/Parent-Involvement.html.

[9] “Involvement Matters: What To Tell Parents.” Retrieved 9 November, 2017 at https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/399-involvement-matters-what-to-tell-parents.