The Schools’ Crucial Ingredient: Parental Involvement
Posted By The Editors | September 2nd, 2011 (1 hour ago) | Category: Education | No Comments »
Print This PostBy Kenneth J. Cooper
A decade after the No Child Left Behind Act became law, the achievement gap still yawns as schools across the country reopen for a new year.
Parental involvement in their children’s education is a documented boost to student achievement, a long-established relationship that the controversial federal law recognizes in an overlooked provision. No Child Left Behind requires every school and every district that receives funds for remedial programs under the act’s Title I to have a written policy on parental involvement. Ninety percent of school districts receive the funding.
Usually, discussions about schools and black parents, in particular, tend to focus on their shortcomings as involved parents: they don’t read enough to their young children; or have enough books in the home; or show up for PTA meetings and teacher conferences.
The four coauthors of a 2007 book, “Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships,” take a different approach. The easy-to
