COMMUNITY COMMENT: Parental involvement helps determine child's success
Indiana's school bells are ready to ring, but to many educators the strongest influence on academic achievement can seem far beyond their control.
That primary factor is parental involvement. While parents are uniquely responsible for raising their children, research confirms parents also are uniquely influential in their children's performance in school.
Studies reveal that parents impact academic achievement far more than school-based factors such as teacher quality or education funding. The 2009 book, "Creating an Opportunity Society," cites decades of research, concluding, "The basic finding has been replicated so many times that the immense influence of the family on child development and school achievement is now a settled issue."
Many parents are involved. The National Center for Education Statistics finds 89 percent of students have a parent who has attended a meeting at school and 94 percent have a