Schools Must Work For Parent Involvement
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When people talk about why schools work or they don't, parent involvement is always identified as a key reason. There is a persistent hue and cry that if only parents were more involved, students would be more successful.
There is no doubt that when parents are involved it helps students. It also must be said, however, that parent involvement does not make or break successful schools, effective teaching does. This is documented by ample research.
There are those who say that the problem is parents who don't care or are apathetic. I'd like to say that in 42 years in public education I've never met parents who didn't care or didn't love their child. I've met more parents than I can count who were frustrated with their child's behavior and/or academic performance. I've met many parents who don't know what to do to get help for their children in school or out. I've met parents who were terrified about going to a parent conference because they didn't understand the words that teachers were using and were embarrassed to say so.
I also know that, according to National Adult Literacy Surveys, at least 25 percent of adults in this country are functionally illiterate. So, when written notices are sent home for parent conferences or school activities, at least a quarter of the parents in this country likely can't read them. And many parents who can read in their first language cannot read English.
So, how do we get parents involved? Parents will come whenever they can show the pride that they have in their child, as will aunts, uncles, cousins, guardians and special friends. Parents will come and applaud their child portraying a potted plant on the stage and saying nothing. They will point and take pictures and shout out their
