by Jeannine Johnson

Created on: April 24, 2009   Last Updated: April 25, 2009

When parents are asked to take a more active role in their child's education, what specifically is being asked of them by teachers and school boards? Parents already supply help with homework, hire tutors, and supply their child and sometimes the classroom with paper, pencils, pens, folders, binders, calculators and any other tools needed to get work done. Parents take part in school fund raisers, volunteer in the classroom, take part in the PTA and attend school board meetings to be aware of what is going on with their child's education. It may be true that not all parents participate in the aforementioned activities, but on a whole there are a greater percentage of parents that do participate in some if not all of them.

When I was in school my parents were never concerned about the quality of education I was receiving, there was confidence in the curriculum and its dissemination by my teachers. As the number of school age children grew in our country and a need for more schools prompted the need for more teachers, the quality of our teachers was not a priority. Now that there is a refocus on education and the performance of schools, and most notably teachers; the focus is being turned to the parents and their involvement in their child's education or lack of.

Many parents want their child to succeed and do whatever it takes to assist them in this endeavor. Our society uses academic achievement as a standard for success, therefore parents are always going to be involved in their children's education. Gone are the days were children go home to find mom waiting with cookies and milk as she helps with homework. Now, both mom and dad are at work and depending on their age, children are going to after school programs or daycare, before they even see a parent at 6:00pm. Science fair, history day, peach blossom, exit exams, star testing and a variety of other special projects require parent involvement on a regular basis. More schools have come up with technologies to give parents updates on their child's progress; parents have internet access to their child's grades, recorded messages give information regarding attendance, and newsletters keep parents apprised of activities going on at school.

It is true that teachers need parent support in order for students to have academic success. This support may come in the form of re-enforcing classroom etiquette, assuring that students are doing homework and turning it in on time, making sure the student keeps paper and pencils to complete assignments, keeping in touch with the teacher so that they and the child know that you are interested in their performance at school, and attending open house and other functions that may require parent participation. Parent involvement does not alleviate the duties of teachers or the school board, it is supposed to function as a partnership to assist in the continuing success of the student.

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