• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9

There are 5,277 charter schools serving 1.6 million students

A new charter school will typically spend approximately
$1.5 - $2 Million on non-wage spending a year

Our target audience are the Charter School executives, superintendents and the movers and shakers in education

75% of principals make the final decision on what products to purchase for their schools

A new charter school will spend anywhere from $3.5 to $8 million on facilities in its first year of operation, prior to opening its doors

Charter Schools have 100 percent control of the budget for their school site. As a result, charters operate much like small businesses –
principals are free to work with any vendor they choose

We cover what is relevant for both day to day operations and long term strategy in the Charter School environment.

Charter Schools Today is nationwide, covering nearly 100% of the charter schools in all 39 states

Charter Schools Today is nationwide, covering nearly 100% of the charter schools in all 39 states

Increasing Parental Involvement Crucial to Student Success By: Jacqueline Bodnar

One major educational issue that schools across the nation face today is that of parental involvement. For years, researchers have demonstrated the powerful connection between a student’s success in school and their parents’ involvement in their academic journey. Yet, despite all the benefits, schools still have to struggle to get parents involved on a regular basis. Nevertheless, since parental involvement is so crucial to a child’s educational experience, it is a mission worth undertaking and re-evaluating. The key to increasing parental involvement starts with an understanding of the issue and how a school can go about reaching out to them.
 
What is Parental Involvement?
While we think we know how important it is for a parent to be involved in their child’s education, we may not be so clear on just what that involvement means. According to the Portland-based Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NREL), ‘parental involvement’ is a broad term that can cover a variety of different actions. Those actions, according to NREL, can include parents taking part in such things as attending school functions, responding to school obligations such as parent-teacher conferences, helping their child with homework, encouraging them, making appropriate study arrangements, modeling desired behavior (such as reading for pleasure), and actively tutoring the child at home.
 
Also included in the definition of parental involvement can be parents serving as advocates for the school when they are outside of the home, by such actions as volunteering at the school or playing an active role in decision-making when it comes to planning and developing the educational community.
 
Why Does it Matter?
Right off the bat, it stands to reason that, if a parent is involved in a child’s education, there is a higher likelihood of success for the child. The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) agrees. When parents are involved in the process, NCPIE finds that students do better in school and in life, parents become more empowered, teacher morale improves, schools improve, and this all combines to create stronger communities.
 
The Michigan Department of Education also agrees, reporting that decades of research has shown that parental involvement results in students getting higher grades and having higher graduation rates. Additionally, the students have better school attendance, increased motivation and self-esteem, lower rates of suspension, decreased usage of drugs and alcohol, and fewer instances of violent behavior.

Where’s the Support?
Research supports strong parental improvement as a key to school success. Yet there are factors that affect which parents will be capable and eager to participate in their child’s education. According to Child Trends DataBank, the following factors impact parental involvement:
 
• Research shows that students perform better when they have their father as well as the mother involved, even if he doesn’t live in the home.
• The younger the child, the more likely the parent is to be involved. Participation is at its highest in primary grades, and wanes later.
• Hispanic and African American students are less likely to have parents who attend school events or volunteer.
• Parents with higher levels of income and education are more likely to be involved.
• Non-native English speaking parents are less likely to participate.

While the research shows that there are economic and demographic issues that tend to affect the parental participation levels, it is still imperative for schools to work on motivating all parents. Many are just not sure how to get involved and may have had parents who were involved in their education. Once they know the importance of participating, and what they can do, they will be more likely to take an active role.
 
IThese factors require some greater explanation, however. For example, when a father is also involved with his child’s education, it is natural that the mother will be able to use her discretionary time to do other things, such as volunteer. A father being involved in a child’s education is also indicative of him being in the child’s life, clearly a very important factor in and of itself. Two parents sharing tasks means there is time to do activities outside of basic necessities. The increase in parental involvement for younger children is influenced by the fact that there is more need for supervision and help during the earlier grades; as a result, parents are called upon to chaperone and assist with events more often than in the older grades when there are fewer opportunities for parents to become involved.
 
Parents who have chosen to work at home to accommodate parenting, may also return to working outside of the home as their child gets older, which may influence the time they would have had to spend volunteering. For parents in minority demographics, becoming involved is a bit more complicated. This is not necessarily a result of their minority status, but is rather linked to their socio-economic status, and how the two correlate. Often, and unfortunately, these parents are working longer hours and in less flexible environments and therefore have more challenges to overcome to become involved.
 
Similarly, parents with higher income and education are better equipped, often in positions that offer more flexibility. It is understandably a daunting barrier for those parents who do not understand or speak English to become involved in their child’s school if they cannot communicate or feel that it is a challenge to communicate. This is perhaps staved off in schools where there are numerous families in this same situation, where parents can form a community and the school is directly or indirectly able to accommodate; however, this is not always the case. Motivating parents may be, and probably is, a part of the issue for some parents, but it is more often having the ability, time, and resources to participate that inhibits this involvement.
 
Increasing Participation
Most schools are already doing things to help increase parent involvement on their campus. Now is a good time to determine whether what they are doing is working; if it’s not, adjustments can then be made. What works for some schools may not work for others. It’s really a matter of knowing who the parents are and how they can best be reached.
 
Some charter schools have taken a proactive approach by requiring parents to volunteer for a certain number of hours each year, or to attend a predetermined number of yearly functions. Others have opened their doors to offer classes for parents, so they learn the skills and tools they need in order to then guide their child. Other options include:
 
• Holding at least two activities per quarter that families can get involved in.
• Put students’ work on display to the community.
• Invite parents to visit the school and meet with teachers and staff.
• Talk to parents about their goals and any issues they may have with their child’s education.
• Let parents know that the success of their child is dependent upon their involvement, and then show them how to get involved. Many parents are just not aware of the impact they can have, or how best to participate.
• Encourage parents to help children with their homework and to review the finished work they take home.
• Have families establish a routine that involves study time, chores and a bed time, and monitor all out-of-school activities.
• Motivate parents to model reading for pleasure in front of their kids, and to read with them.
• Create a newsletter for parents, to keep them informed of what is going on in the school. If the school has a high non-English-speaking or English-Language-Learners (ELL) population, consider making the newsletter two-sided so that a Spanish version can be included.
• Get parents excited about the possibilities that a good education brings to their child. That excitement can be passed down as parents teach their son or daughter that the sky is the limit and that an education can take them many places.
• Provide childcare for some of the volunteer opportunities.
• Evaluate what daytime volunteering events the younger, non-school-age siblings can attend.
• Think about the potential for volunteer activities that can be completed off-site, such as grading papers.
• Determine which activities can be done during non-working hours as opposed to during the work day.

 
Other Factors and Beyond
It is difficult to say to what extent factors can have an impact on parental participation. Some parents may work odd shifts, making it more difficult to attend events. Others may not have transportation or may have other factors that impede what they can do to get involved. But these don’t need to be barriers to having them get involved in the home.
 

Schools across the nation do recognize the need for strong parent participation. With being in the education field they are at the helm of not only teaching the children, but playing a guiding role in letting parents know just how important their involvement is. Every step that schools take along the way is a step in the right direction. There will never be a way to reach every single parent out there and get them involved. But each time one more parent engages in their child’s education it’s one more bright future.

###

Sources:

Children’s Trends DataBank Parent Involvement in Schools.2003.

Michigan Department of Education. What Research Says About Parent Involvement in Children’s Education. March 2002.

National Coalition for Parental Involvement in Education.http://www.ncpie.org

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Parent Involvement in Education. August 2001.