Actively involved parents are becoming an endangered species. They start out strong in primary education- going to PTA meetings and attending field trips. Yet, when their children move on to higher education in middle and high school, their roles almost diminish. Secondary educators have been struggling to re-connect the gap between students and parents. In this paper, I will describe the signs educators’ notice when a student is lacking a sufficient amount of parental involvement and continue to explain the current methods used to address the issue. From here, I will highlight the benefits of good parental involvement and how communication between teachers and parents affects the education system. Finally, I will describe a new approach to parental involvement and ways we can encourage it- focusing on what it means for the future of education. This research paper will be most beneficial to current secondary high school educators trying to establish the needed involvement, as well as students pursuing any form of an educational degree at State University.
Acts such as No Child Left Behind established different requirements, which focused on parental involvement in lower income and minority families (Bracke and Corts, 189). While programs like this are excellent in their efforts, they do not attack a main problem-teachers lack the experience of communicating efficiently with parents. Isa Korkmaz conducted a study on what teachers had to say about the problem of parent involvement. Teachers believed that “Parents should take responsibility in their children's education… Parents should have a good communication with teachers and other staff in school… Parents should provide a good atmosphere for their children to study at home… ...
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One of the primary causes of a failing education system is the insufficient amount of support from parents to improve education. For instance, majority of parents who send their children to impoverished schools are not playing an active role in their children’s education. Consequently, there are many factors that keep parents away from supporting their children’s educational needs. Parents may be working more than one job to maintain a roof...
...or parents to become actively involved in their child’s academics. Research supports that as a child ages parental involvement decreases, this is a vast problem that through communication, school activities, sending parent notices, and etc. could be fixed.
Helping with homework and discussing topics in which the child may be having difficulty with can help them perform better in school. Parents need to be more aware that the time spent at school may not be enough for students to receive proper teaching instructions. There should be some interaction with studies outside of school hours. Unfortunately, for students who are at a socio-economic disadvantage often struggle in school, particularly if parents lack higher levels of education. In the book, Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s school, Kozol (1992) believed that, “the poorest parents, often the products of inferior education, lack of information access and the skills of navigation in an often hostile and intimidating situation to channel their children to the better schools, obtain the applications, and help them get ready for the necessary tests.” While parents are receiving the necessary information regarding their child 's education, they are not responding because they either did not understand the purpose nor did they investigate it. It’s not that many parents don’t care to know, they just seem to lack the understanding or
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Hickman, C. W., Greenwood, G. E., & Miller, M. D. (1995). High school parent involvement: Relationships with achievement, grade level, SES, and gender. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 28, 125-134.
Parent involvement affects all aspects of a child’s education. Parents must be involved as teachers, learners, supporters, and advocates of their child’s learning (Hopkings). Studies show that kids who know that their parents are involved and interested tend to take more responsibility for their own learning and behavior. Schoolwork and grades improve. Work habits improve. Less work is handed in late. Fewer referrals for behavior problems are made. Attendance increases, and fewer kids show up late for class (Hopkings). With all this information documented it shows the true importance of parent involvement in education. The more involved the parents are, the better off each child will be. So when you become a parent, get involved in your child’s education!
Parental involvement promotes the social growth of a child. Children whose parents are involved in their education have many advantages. They have better grades, test scores, long-term academic achievement, attitudes and behavior than those with disinterested mothers and fathers (Gestwicki, 2001). Parents becoming involved in their child's schooling creates extra sources of social constraint to influence the child's behavior (McNeal, 2001). For example, parents talking to their children and becoming involved in the school conveys a message to the child of education being important. Parents should be talking with your children's teacher and letting her know about your family. The more she knows about your child, the better she will be able to connect with your child.
Parent involvement is a major topic of concern among policy makers, educators, and researchers (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, & Maritato, 1997; Rouse & Barrow, 2006; Young, Austin, & Growe, 2013) for more than 20 years. School districts, educational leaders, and researchers all agree with the premise that strong school-family partnerships improve children’s learning and outcomes. Parents and schools, separately or together, represent noteworthy influences on the essential sources of support for children’s learning and development. Children develop within multiple contexts, and development and learning are optimal when effective networks and permanencies among these systems are created. Semke and Sheridan (2012) affirm methods
14.5% of Public School Principals agreed that lack of parent involvement was a serious issue. The only other issue public school principals found more prevalent than lack of parent involvement was poverty. 14.9% said that poverty was a serious issue in their school. I have a theory that most of the parents struggling to involve themselves in education of their children are struggling with poverty. There is some evidence to back this up. Childtrends found that students above the poverty line consistently had more involved parents than of student living at or below the poverty line. 45% of children above the poverty line had a parent volunteer at the school while only 27% of those below the poverty line could say the
To conclude, my research shows a clear link between parental involvement and children performing better in school. Children who's parents are involved in their education are showing better performance and are achieving higher grades. They also show better behaviour, more enthusiasm, ambition and higher levels of engagement. compared with children who's parent are not involved in their education. My research also shows that parental involvement has great benefits for both children and parents in many ways, so much so that the most effective schools are those who encouraged parents to be involved.
Parent involvement is one of the most influential aspects of student motivation. The parents are the initial teachers of the child before the child goes to school and encounters education through a teacher. If a parent is completely engaged in the learning process with a child, there can be growth between the child and the parent simultaneously. The parents set an example for the child, so that the child understands that help is in the classroom and at home. Alma Wright, a first and second grade teacher, believes that parents in the classroom are a good way to stimulate children. She says, “Their active participation is a positive influence. The school is open for parents to share their talents and motivate their children” (Drew, Olds, and Olds, 1974, p. 71).
Research shows that children do better in school when parents talk often with teachers and become involved. Kids whose parents interact with teachers usually get higher grades and test scores, develop positive attitudes about school, and are better behaved. Parents and teachers need to communicate on a regular basis, not just at parent/teacher conferences. But sometimes, a parent doesn’t know just how to go about getting involved or how to make that positive connection with the teacher and/or school.
Parents are an important ingredient to the perfect education. Parents who aren't involved in their children's education only impede the efforts made by teachers and students to create a good education. These parents are oftentimes uninterested with their children's education as a whole. To achieve perfection in the educational system, parents have to take an active role in that education. Parents who don't include themselves in their children's education aren't always informed about the student's progress, aren't aware of the current curriculum, and don't have any idea of the student's strengths and weaknesses in school. An involved parent is informed and sometimes included in the decision-making process. Parents who take an active role are kept informed of the progress made by their children. The parents know the curriculum and assist the children with their nightly studies, and can discuss their children's feelings about education.
There are a variety of thoughtful and interesting conversations about everything from resource allocation, to the impact of race on educational achievement, to the most effective uses of technology, to redefining education to meet the needs of the 21st century – topical and relevant discussions that never seem to include parents. Parents aren’t completely ignored, but more often than not, the role they play isn’t a substantive part of the discussion. Their involvement becomes a less than critical part of any proposed solution. I believe we can make the argument that a significant part of the solution to the educational challenges we face requires meaningful parent involvement, not just lip service.