Ideas to Promote Parent Involvement

Kids perform better in school when parents are involved in their education

According to a May 2008 research study by University of New Hampshire researchers Karen Smith Conway and Andrew Houtenville, students perform much better academically when their parents play an active role in their education. As an educator, you can utilize methods that go beyond parent-teacher conferences and report cards to help increase parental involvement in the academic lives of your students.

Parent Resource Room

Stock your parent resource room with books.

Leah Davies of Kelly Bear recommends that teachers "establish a comfortable place in each school where parents feel welcome to come with their young children to learn or work on school projects with other parents." She says a parent advocate or family resource coordinator could staff a parent resource room. The latter is someone who establishes a link between families and school and community resources such as medical treatment, childcare, parenting classes and libraries. Education World suggests you stock the room with materials on issues like child development, health and safety and drug education. You can also provide sample textbooks, educational software programs, audio and videotapes. You may even want to have a small library of children's books to encourage parents and kids to read stories together. Invite parents to the resource room at your next parent-teacher conference, and send the children home with literature explaining what the room is all about.

Use the Internet

Class websites allow parents easy access to their child's education

Exchange email addresses with parents, and maintain regular contact. Tell them they are welcome to email you anytime with questions or concerns about their child's progress in class. Many teachers nowadays have class websites, according to Education World. You don't have to be a professional web designer to build a website; there are free online programs especially for educators that make building a site easy. Your site can include parent pages, allowing parents access to their child's education from their own computer. Use the site to display student work, announce class news and invite parents to class events. You can look at other class websites to get ideas for your own. Keep it simple, as some parents may have a slow Internet connection and may get frustrated if there are too many pages on your site.

The Weekly Folder

A weekly folder can keep parents updated on student progress.

Have your students bring home a folder each week that can include their classwork, progress reports, a class newsletter and event calendar. You can also include worksheets with fun and educational activities that parents and students can do together for extra credit. Include a sign-off sheet to ensure that the students are showing this weekly folder to their parents.

References

• Education World: A Dozen Activities to Promote Parent Involvement
• Kelly Bear: Increasing Parent Involvement in School
• University of New Hampshire: Parental Involvement Strongly Impacts Student Achievement, New Research Finds

Resources

• Hotchalk: Create Your Own Class Website
• Scholastic: Class Homepage Builder
• Project Appleseed: The National Campaign for Public School Improvment