Parental Involvement - What Does It Really Mean?

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

Improving parental involvement in the lives of our students is one of the most challenging tasks facing educators today. "We offer wonderful events, but families don't come." is a typical statement heard in many of America's schools. In trying to understand why, researchers have discovered one fundamental problem: schools don't always know what parent involvement really means.

One popular notion is that parents are "involved" when they actively participate in school-sponsored activities or help out at school in ways visible to their children and others. However, research has discovered that parent involvement at school does not affect a student's academic achievement, yet this is where most schools focus their energies when trying to promote parent involvement. They judge their parent involvement programs by how many parents actively participate in, and support the school by attending parent training workshops, reading in the classrooms, helping their children do homework, attending parent advisory committee meetings all activities requiring high levels of commitment and participation.

True parent involvement has two key elements. First, parents are supportive. They encourage their children and are sympathetic, reassuring, and understanding. They show a high level of commitment to their children and their education. Second, parents are active. They are doing something that is observable. This combination level of commitment and active participation is what makes a truly "involved" parent.

Rethinking Parent Involvement

All schools have parents who display a broad spectrum of involvement: parents who are committed to their children but do not participate, those who participate but are not necessarily supportive, and parents who neither support nor participate in their child's education. In rethinking parent involvement, schools might better evaluate the degree of involvement by separating the notions of support and participation (see the chart below for four basic "types" of parents).

Four Types of Parents

    1.    As the chart depicts, at one end of the spectrum are parents who are both supportive and willing to participate (upper left quadrant). They are likely to attend workshops and conferences, respond to notes and telephone calls, and get involved in decision-making roles through advisory committees and planning teams. However, this is not a comfortable role for many parents, nor should it necessarily be considered the ultimate goal of parent involvement.
       
    2.    Some parents simply are not "joiners", even though they may care deeply about their child's education (lower left quadrant). For them, several kinds of approaches hold promise. Newsletters with suggestions for home activities have proven to be successful, as have school-based activities where there is "safety in numbers" (for example, "make-and-take" workshops) and meeting parents on their own turf through home visits.
       
    3.    Perhaps a rarer parent “and the most difficult type to identify" is the one who pays lip service to education by attending events, but is not supportive at home (upper right quadrant. This type of parent, for example, may attend a parent-teacher conference only to go home and ignore or mistreat the child.
       
    4.    Parents who are unsupportive and do not participate (lower right quadrant) are obviously the most difficult to reach, but perhaps the most important group on which to focus efforts to improve communication. First, it is essential to determine the basis for their lack of involvement. In many cases, the reasons stem from the fact that the parent's own problems take precedence over his or her child's education. If the situation involves an abusive environment, the only kind of solution possible may be to refer the parent to an outside agency. Parent liaisons or parent advocates who provide one-on-one assistance have successfully addressed the needs of these parents.

As expected, lack of parent participation is a prevalent problem among America's schools today. But more disturbing is the number of parents who are perceived as unsupportive and the effect this has on their children. These parents may be at risk themselves. They could be drug addicts, alcoholics, child abusers, or they may simply have bad memories of their own school experiences and denigrate the value of education.

Gaining parent support for their children and for education is a prerequisite for improving parent involvement. The best way to elicit the support of parents is by improving communication. Studies have shown that initial efforts to build support through improved communication with parents ultimately results in more involvement. However, one can't always measure this improvement by attendance at workshops or parenting classes.

Meeting Parents Where They Are

So, what is the key to improving communication? Meeting parents where they are.

For example, one school located in one of the most at-risk districts in Phoenix, Arizona realized that many of its parents fell into the category of non-supportive, non-active parents. In an area of high transience and drug trafficking  and located in a "red light" area of the city with a high crime rate this school originally planned its program around weekly workshops on "Good Parenting Skills". These workshops  offered in English in a district with a majority of native Spanish speakers – were poorly attended because they were not meeting the need of the parent population.

Over time, program staff concluded that to effectively "involve" parents is to meet them where they are. Interviews with parents revealed that what they really wanted was to learn English, so the school revised its notion of parent involvement and responded to a real need by offering English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. As a result of gaining a better understanding of the English language, these parents became excited about reading with their children.

The secret of any one parent involvement strategy depends upon how well it matches up with an individual parent's needs. The secret is to get to know who your parents are and to have in your school's repertoire as many options for involvement as possible. Doing so ensures an appropriate match between a parent's level of commitment and willingness and ability to be involved.

Some parents may respond best to take-home activities or home visits that allow them to be involved without going to the school. Others may appreciate the opportunity to make connections with other parents at the school through non-threatening events such as awards nights and suppers.

Many schools have successfully hired parent advocates who help parents meet their own needs. Some of these liaisons are professional social workers or counselors, while others are local residents who are parents themselves. Depending on the services offered, the latter have been extremely successful in working with parents of at-risk children.

Getting Off to a Good Start

While getting all parents actively involved in their children's education and the school is a valuable goal, it may be an unrealistic starting point for improving parent involvement, especially among populations at risk. Results from the "Arizona At-Risk Pilot Project" conducted in 1988, suggests that the most effective means to involve parents are ones that:

    1.    establish a personal rapport between someone from the school and the parent, and
    2.    do not initially require high levels of commitment or participation.

Something as simple as a friendly conversation with the classroom teacher can go a long way toward building parent support.

The "ideal parent" is one who is willing and able to participate and is committed to his or her child's education. This type of parent is a rare breed among at-risk populations. However, there are many things schools can do to improve parent involvement. Assess parents' needs. Get to know them individually. Offer a broad range of activities to encourage support and participation, including non-threatening, low-commitment opportunities. Personalize home-school communications. Making parents feel comfortable is an important first step toward improving parent involvement.

Source:
Materials development supported by funds from the former Region VII Comprehensive Center at the University of Oklahoma.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.