Parents have a unique perspective on schools; they are experts on the effect schools have on their children. Often what is working or not working in schools is clear to parents by how their children talk about and apply what they are learning. However, despite their “insider” view, parents are often excluded from helping make decisions on the education of their children. With limited contact with teachers and administrators, there is rarely a clear path for parents to follow to affect the school’s curriculum, culture or practices. But schools need parents. Overcoming systemic challenges, such as closing the achievement gap and ensuring all students are college-ready, requires engaging parents as partners in and champions for change.
Many schools do not recognize the untapped potential in their parent community. And among the schools that do, many struggle to mobilize parents in meaningful ways. A challenge for all schools is to ensure that traditionally underrepresented parents (low-income parents, parents of color and those who are non-English speaking) participate and that equitable communication provides a safe environment in which to share ideas.
Constraints on time and resources often prevent large comprehensive high schools from regularly communicating with parents and encouraging their active involvement. In small schools, however, the foundation for parent involvement is part of the personalized environment and powerful teaching and learning that focuses on knowing students and their families well, and integrating that knowledge into the curriculum. Small schools recognize the influence parents have on students’ success and break down traditional barriers to school-family connections.
Why do small schools build parent awareness and engagement?
- Parents as powerful allies. When parents are fully involved in schools—from working with their children at home to advocating for strong public education in the community—everyone benefits. Students with involved parents, no matter their background, earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, and are more likely to graduate and go on to college.
Parents who have a voice in the school develop greater confidence in themselves and the school. And as they evolve as leaders, parents gain the skills, knowledge and contacts to better support their children’s learning in the classroom and at home. As they become involved in schools, parents communicate and model the importance of education to their children. Parents are also valuable resources for engaging other parents, leveraging connections in the community and sharing their expertise in the classroom. Schools cannot do the job they need to do alone. Parents are an essential part of what make great schools great.
How do small schools involve parents in the work of the school? Some strategies, as discussed in The Case for Parent Leadership, include the following:
- Expand the notion of “parent.” For some young people, parents are not the only people involved in their lives and education. Grandparents, other relatives, guardians, and family friends also nurture and represent the interests of students. While parents play that role for most students, it is not fair to assume that is the case for all students. By getting to know students through personalized learning in a personalized environment, teachers and schools staff can learn about and reach out to the people central in students’ lives. Limiting that view to only parents could hinder the success of some students by excluding the extended group of people who help shape their lives.
- Welcome parents on their terms. Start with where parents are; never underestimate what they can bring to the table or assume they know more than they do. Parents are most likely to become involved if they understand they should be involved, know they are capable of making a contribution and feel invited by the school.
Effective small schools recognize that schools can be intimidating places for parents. Creating an environment where parents feel welcome and encouraged to share their ideas is the first step toward building the bonds of trust and respect necessary for strong involvement. Schools need to review how they traditionally reach out to parents and assess the effectiveness of those approaches. Communication plans need to target parents from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. Newsletters, web pages and speeches can be useful to disseminate information, provided the messages are clear, free of jargon and relevant to parents’ experiences. However, to motivate and prepare parents for involvement, more personal and active approaches are necessary. Focus groups, leadership training, on-line conversations and forums are ways to not only convey information but also to ask parents to share their ideas, plan a process and take action.
Schools also need to be creative in terms of when and where they involve parents. For example, are activities for parents held in the day, at night, at the school, in local churches or other community locations? Are meetings and materials translated? Are parents invited by mail, on the phone or in person? How do all of these factors combine to make parents feel welcome and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate? The success of any effort to build common ground with parents requires that schools identify and respect the many issues—racial, ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic—that affect parent involvement.
- Support powerful roles for parents. In nearly all schools, parents are encouraged to help their children at home and volunteer for specific tasks at the school. These are time-tested roles, and both parents and schools feel comfortable with them. But parents can, and should, have a voice in major decisions that affect their own and other children.
In small schools parents are active and meaningful participants in school governance bodies and school improvement teams. Parent representatives serve in key roles on committees throughout the school and are voting members on school decision-making bodies. Parents participate in action research, making decisions about programs and hiring, school improvement and contributing to problem solving at every level. Playing a leadership role does not necessarily come naturally for parents, especially in a school culture that has historically supported deference to teachers and principals. Schools include parents in professional development days and school reform conferences to help them acquire the skills they need to be effective leaders and advocates in the system.
- Examine attitudes toward authority, participation and service. Typically, parents who want to be involved with their children’s school join the PTA, help to fund raise, attend plays and sporting events, and volunteer in the classroom. Parents usually expect to fight for their own children’s success, but feel it is the school’s responsibility to play that role for students whose parents are not involved. In most schools, teachers, principals and staff feel that the safety, integrity and success of the school is largely their job to oversee and are wary of who they allow to influence the vision or daily operation of the building.
This traditional model of authority, participation and service inhibits parents from assuming new roles as partners and leaders. Those new roles require everyone in the school community to understand and support the valuable contribution parents can make. It means a shift in the status quo. In their new roles parents take on greater responsibilities such as collaborating with administrators, holding schools accountable for all students achieving at high levels, identifying and securing resources for schools, and advocating for education in the media.
- Partner parents, their children and school staff to develop curriculum. Research reveals that even as children mature into adolescence, parent involvement in their learning remains important. Unfortunately, most large schools lack the structure and culture to support parent involvement, which progressively declines as students move through elementary and middle schools to high school.
In effective small schools, parents understand the vision of the school and are active partners in designing curriculum.Teachers, students and their parents meet regularly to review student’s work, craft learning plans, assess progress, and set behavioral expectations and academic standards. By becoming actively involved, parents become aware of what their children are learning and how they can help them progress.
Review this element on the Oregon Small Schools Initiative School Change Rubric Self-Assessment Tool.
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