Parental Participation in Education

The significance of parental involvement in education has been documented over the years by psychologists and educational theorists and debated by many parents and legislators in the United States. Academic Joyce L. Epstein wrote: "The evidence is clear that parental encouragement, activities and interest at home, and parental participation in schools and classrooms positively influence ...

The significance of parental involvement in education has been documented over the years by psychologists and educational theorists and debated by many parents and legislators in the United States. Academic Joyce L. Epstein wrote: "The evidence is clear that parental encouragement, activities and interest at home, and parental participation in schools and classrooms positively influence achievement, even after the students' ability and family socio-economic status are taken into account."

Researchers have consistently found that an active partnership between a child's parents and school can boost the performance of students and improve their life but when it comes to family circumstances, data from the National Center for Education Statistics (1998) found that 72% of schools with low levels of poverty report that the majority of parents attend school open days. This compares to a figure of 28% of parents attending when there are high levels of poverty. Susan Jarmuz-Smith, writing in the National Association of School Psychologists' magazine (2011) cited the work of Christenson, Rounds, and Gorney (1992) who discovered that any amount of parental engagement positively affects children. Jarmuz-Smith believes "that overall, the key to parent involvement is providing meaningful engagement opportunities that offer concrete ways for parents to build knowledge of and the capacity to involve themselves in the educational system. If we ask parents to help, research shows they will." In The Journal of Educational Research (2000) Reuven Feuerstein reported that increased communication from a school naturally increases parent involvement. He explains: "Just the small act of communicating with parents about the needs of the school motivated parents to become involved. " The goal, then, Feuerstein argues, is to provide concrete ways for parents to engage and in return to keep the lines of communication open.

In terms of the legal argument for participation, the main laws here are the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The ESEA, previously the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandates involving parents as partners in education. Professional organizations such as The National Association of School Psychologists' Principles for Professional Ethics also play a key role by stating that school psychologists must aim to "encourage and promote parental participation and respect the wishes of parents," while The National Association for the Education of Young Children stresses the importance of parent involvement and parent-staff communication in its guidelines.

Joyce Epstein, director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at John Hopkins University, reported in 1997 that there are six different types of parental involvement. These areas include: providing information about student progress and opening up a pathway for parents to communicate with schools; providing information to parents about child development and age-appropriate expectations; encouraging volunteering to fit in with parents' schedules; ideas and strategies on how parents can assist with homework; a two-way connection between community, business and schools, and helping parents to become involved in organizations, committees and school boards.

In School, Family, and Community Interaction: A View from the Firing Lines (1994), Cheryl L. Fagnano and Beverly Z. Weber referred to the research of Ann Henderson. Writing in 1987, Henderson conducted an extensive review of parental involvement and found that involving parents in their children's formal education improves achievement and that parental involvement is most effective when it is comprehensive, long lasting and well planned. She also reported that there are "strong effects" from involving parents continuously throughout the school lives of their children In Early Childhood Research & Practice (2008) Hamida Amirali Jinnah and Lynda Henley Walters question the inclusion of parents as they are expected to offer subjective impressions rather than professional opinions or objective observations. Some critics argue that much of the research into parental participation is focused within elementary education and have called for more research in other areas, including middle and high schools. Others in the field believe that as a child grows up parental involvement is less common and therefore becomes difficult to quantify.

Since the educational reforms of the late 1980s American parents have played a more active role in governing schools, in receiving information and in gaining the right to state a preference for a specific school. The Goals 2000 Educate America Act vowed to provide resources to states and communities to ensure that all students reach their full potential. The Act stated "every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children."