Changing the Nature of Parent Involvement

Abstract

THERE'S parent involvement and then there's parent involvement. There's the kind that has parents volunteering their time in schools, making costumes, or organizing and staffing the school carnival fund-raiser. This is helpful activity by any measure -- helpful in the service of kids and not to be minimized. But there are other levels of involvement at which parents might have more significant impact than just giving of their time and money. For example, Maryland's Parent Advisory Council has a vision of involvement in which parents, families, educators, and community members work together as real partners, hold themselves mutually accountable, and have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed at improving the achievement of all Volunteering at their child's school might be the first step on a ladder of multiple levels of parental influence. The second level might be faithful attendance at school conferences and school activities. Up from there could be serving as a parent representative on school improvement committees and spending time in classrooms, tutoring or reading one-on- one with students. Next on a scale of increasing importance might come parents holding up their end of the bargain by making sure their children do their homework, have a quiet place to study and materials at hand, and attend school on time, every day. And yet even this important level of involvement might not have as much impact as having high expectations for their children's effort and behavior -- which, to continue with this rough metaphor, would be my pick for the top rung. Too frequently, however, parent involvement is defined as those activities that are easiest to measure. Currently, 17 states have grant or award programs that encourage schools or districts to involve parents in their children's education or recognize those that do so already. But are these programs based too conveniently on hours volunteered, money raised, conferences attended? And 15 states have policies that encourage, urge, expect, or direct employers to enable parents to attend school activities such as parent/teacher conferences. Though these activities are important, it's often easier for educators to talk to parents about what they can do for the school than it is to listen to parents about what they know their kids need to be successful. Unfortunately, sometimes when parents appear not to care, it's because they know that what they have to say won't be heard. Statewide Parent Advisory Council When state superintendent Nancy Grasmick appointed parents from across the state to the Maryland Parent Advisory Council, her goal was to generate big-picture ideas on how to improve working relationships between parents and school personnel. In February, the council released nearly two dozen recommendations addressing the five themes of accountability, training, leadership, partnership, and communication. The recommendations, which call for action mainly at the state level, include the following. Accountability. Require each local school system, along with representatives from advocacy and community groups, to assess regularly the effectiveness of parent and community involvement policies and practices and, based on the results, to develop improvement plans that will be incorporated into the systems' master plans. Provide support to local school systems in creating a family involvement satisfaction survey and administering it annually to parents. The results of the survey would be factored into the annual performance evaluations of administrators and other staff members. Create incentives for the state department, districts, and schools to develop more effective communication and partnerships with parents and the community, including businesses. Training. The state education department should assess the training needs of local school systems with regard to parent and community involvement and then provide appropriate technical assistance, resources, and mentoring. …