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Jessica Skender
Ms. Bennett
British Lit
5th
Parent Involvement in Education
Parents play a very important role in the child’s life, but have you ever stopped to see
what influence they have in their child’s education. Parents are always encourages children to do
their best in school so that they will achieve the highest expectations possible for both the parents
and child, but how much of an impact does that really make. Parents can get in involved in other
way with their child’s education, than just simply telling them to do better in school or telling
them to do their homework. When parents are involved in their student’s education studies show
that it leads to higher test scores and higher academic grades.
Parent Involvement has greatly increased in the last couple years. Studies shows that
parent of all students in all grades are attending more meetings than before. A study showed that
all aspects of parent involvement had increased from 1999 to 2003. In the year 2003 77% of
parents attended meetings with teachers in contrast to 73% in 1999. It was also proven that in
2003 there was a higher percent of parent who did volunteer work at the school, and a higher
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percent of parents who attended school functions (childtrendsdatabank.org). More parents are
starting to realize the impact that getting involved can have on their child’s education.
Is it possible for home life to affect a child’s education? Yes, in fact a student’s home life
plays a big role in both the child’s schooling and a parent’s involvement in a child’s education.
Higher income families are more likely to be involved in their children’s education. Students
who have parents of higher education are more likely to be involved. If a parent has a good
education than they will want the same for their child, this means that a parent will help the child
to succeed and go the extra mile to ensure that their child is getting the most out of their
education. There are many other factors besides income level can contribute to parent
involvement. For instance, parent who do not speak English or are not fluent in English are less
likely to be involved in their child’s education than the parent who have English as a first
language. A student’s home life plays a big part in their parent’s involvement
(childtrendsdatabank.org).
If a student has a parent who cares about the education and wants to get involved in their
student’s work than the student will be more likely to achieve a higher test average and have
higher over all grades than a student who has parents who are not involved in their education.
Research shows that students that have parents who do care about their education and get
involved are more likely to succeed in school than students of parents who are not involved.
Research also says that when parents are involved in their child’s education they will have a
higher grade average and score better on tests. This proves that parent involvement definitely has
a positive effect on a student’s education.
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There are many ways that parents can get involved in education. Many times the school
has organizations that help keep parents involved. The best know organization is PTA. That
stands for Parent Teacher Association. PTA is an organization specializing in helping parents to
stay involved in their child’s education. The PTA believes, “Parent involvement is crucial to the
health and well-being of a child. As a parent, you are the most important influence in your child's
success in school and in life “(National PTA). PTA is not the only organization out there. Many
schools have their own forms of PTA. Schools realizes that having parents that are involved in
child’s education is good for the students.
Education Week says, “When schools, families, and community groups work together to
support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school
more” (Parent Involvement). When people work together to ensure that children get the best
education possible the outcome can be amazing and can have a big impact on the future. Parent
involvement does not just help a child in the short run. Students who have parents who are
involved in their education are more likely to have a successful life. This may sound farfetched,
but if students learn from their parents, at a young age, the keys to be successful, and those skills
will follow them for the rest of their life. Research show that students who have parent who are
involved are more likely to attend school regularly, and are more likely to continue their studies
at college than other students. Parent involvement can also help a student’s social skills. This
means that those students are able to adapt well in school. This includes making friends and
being social at school and attending school functions. Parent Involvement also helps a student’s
manners. Students behave better and are more respectful to teachers and other adults. The
thought that parent’s help shape the life of their children is very important, that is why it is very
important for parents to stay involved.
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Another way that parents can get involved in their child’s education is through the
parents’ relationship with the teacher. Teachers often set up conferences with parents to get to
know them because teachers realize parents are very important in their student’s life. When the
parents make an effort to get to know the teacher better there is more opportunity for them to be
involved. If the teacher trusts the parents and knows that they are good people she will trust them
more around the students. The teacher may ask the parent to do volunteer work around the
school. This is also helpful because the parents and teacher can work together to ensure that the
child is doing the best work possible. When the parents are comfortable with the teacher it makes
it easier for the parents and the teacher to communicate. Parent to teacher communication can be
very positive for students because when the parents and teacher communicate it is easy to what a
student can do to improve their work. Parents may have ideas for the teacher about what would
help their child and the other students to understand the material better. When teachers and
parent work together it is very helpful all people involved (naeyc).
What happens to a student if their parents are not involved in their education? Not all
parents are going to be as able to be involved in their child’s education then they would like to
be. Parents who work a lot of hours are not going to have as much time for children. How will
this affect the child? Students who do not have parents who are involved generally do not excel
as much in school as the students who have parents who are involved. Parents who are not
involved is generally not because they do not want to be involved, rather they do not have the
time. It is also hard for parent to stay involved if the family is not what people look at as a
traditional family. When you have a single parent or parents that are in the process of getting a
divorce sometimes their child’s education will be tossed to the side. This is not because the
parents do not care it is more because the family is having issues right now (LaBahn, Jeri). This
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relates greatly to what I stated earlier about how home life has a major affect on a child’s
education. When parents stay involved in their child’s education the outcome is very beneficial
to the child and the child’s academic performance.
When the thought of parents being involved in education is first brought up it may not
seem like that big of deal. Parents are with their children for a very large amount of time. They
are the people that teach their children how to do everything. So it only makes sense that they
should be involved in the education part of their lives. Children look up to their parent; they are
their role models. When someone that a person looks up to tells you them to do something that
person will usually do it; when parents tells their children to focus on their education the children
will more likely than not listen. Parent involvement is very important in a child’s education; it
leads to higher test grades and higher over all grades.
