Increasing Student and School
Achievment through Parent Involvement
by
Linda Hodges
When it comes to parent involvement and its powerful influence,
the research is broad and clear-over 30 years of research has
proven beyond dispute the positive connection between parent
involvement and student success. When parents are involved,
children have higher grades and test scores, better attendance,
increased motivation, better self-esteem, higher graduation
rates, and a greater likelihood of pursuing a postsecondary
education.
The challenge comes in transforming that knowledge into action,
as many parents simply aren't sure how to play a more active
role in their child's education. According to National PTA
figures, while many parents support learning at home, only
one in four parents are actively involved in their children's
schools. That number shrinks to one in nine among working parents
whose schedules often present additional challenges.
But it is not only students that reap the benefits when parents
are actively involved-schools and communities also show great
improvements. Schools that work well with families have improved
teacher morale and higher ratings of teachers by parents. Additionally,
schools where parents are involved have more support from and
better reputations in their community.
Effectively engaging parents and
families in the education of their children has the potential
to be far more transformational than any other type of education
reform. In fact, a school's practices to inform and involve
parents are stronger determinants of whether inner-city parents
will be involved with their children's education than are
parent education, family size, marital status, and even student
grade level. Since teachers are the crucial link in the partnership
between school and parents, National PTA invited teachers
across the country to submit their "best
ideas" for involving parents and families. Here are a
few of the ideas teachers gave for getting and keeping parents
involved:
When a class or unit concentrates on a specific theme, parents
can be asked to come to class and share personal stories or
items from home that support the theme or assist with class
projects on the units.
Hold an activity night where parents
and students sign up to participate different math and reading
activity workshops sponsored on an evening in the school
gym.
Offer workshops that address parenting
topics, such as effective parent-teacher conferences; motivating
your child to learn; helping your child with homework.
Request that parents come to school
to work with small groups of students to talk about stories
and events in their lives to help make a connection between
academic activities and life experiences.
For more information and tips on how
to use parent involvement to boost student and school performance,
visit National PTA's web site at www.pta.org.#
Linda Hodges is president of National
PTA, the largest volunteer child advocacy association in
the United States.
