Do You Have a Parent Involvement Disconnect?

(From an article published in Principal magazine Volume 84 Number 4, March/April 2005, page 6)

John H. Wherry, Ed.D.
President, The Parent Institute

See how well this describes the parent involvement program at your school:

• Overall, you have developed a solid relationship between home and school.
• Parent participation at conferences and parent organization meetings is no less than it has been in recent years.
• When teachers request assistance from parents, they usually get it.
• Your school sends home regular notes, newsletters, and other materials that help parents support education and their children's school success.
• Parents generally seem comfortable with their children's teachers.
• Home and school communication, while not perfect, is working well.
• Parent involvement can be improved, but the school's efforts are paying off.

If that description fits, I congratulate you, urge you to keep up the good work … and strongly suggest that you keep reading! Despite your current parent involvement efforts, you may still have a “parent involvement disconnect.” But you be the judge.

As part of ongoing research at The Parent Institute, we recently conducted separate surveys of educators and parents about parent involvement. We asked both groups: Which of the following do you feel are the most important things parents can do at home to help their children do better in school?

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