TEACHER ADVOCACY PROJECT

Teacher Advocacy Assignment

Parental Involvement

Jacqueline Ali, Kulbir Bal, Joe Bump, and Raymond Montour

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College - Arizona State University

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Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the roles parents play or do not play in their students

education and what the possible benefits are of higher parental involvement. Parental

involvement is a commitment from parents to their children and the schools in a positive form.

Through research and personal experience we see a lack of involvement from parents in

secondary education. The research shows reasons why parents dont get involved, ways to bring

them back in, and what affects it will have on students. These results are positive and for the

betterment of all students.

Problem

Background of the Problem:

One of the biggest pitfalls in public education is the amount of parental involvement. It

seems that parents start the school year uninvolved in their students life until they are failing or

unable to participate in extracurricular activities. This seems to be more of a problem in high

school than it does the younger grades. Take, for instance, meet the teacher night. In the younger

grades, parents tend to show up in larger numbers to meet the one teacher that their student will

spend 7 hours of their day with. As the students progress towards high school, the number of

parents who show up seem to stagger off drastically. Part of it could be that the student now

spends the day with four to eight different teachers, based on whether or not the school has a

block schedule. It could also be the age of the student. Parents may feel that the student needs to

take responsibility for their actions. However, this could be disproved by the parent phone calls

that tend to happen more often when their student is failing a class or has achieved a low enough
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grade to keep them from playing football on Friday night. At that point, the responsibility seems

to shift from the student to the parent, leaving the teacher with the blame.

Stakeholders:

This seems to be a problem that encompasses many stakeholders. For starters, you have

the parents and the students. They hold claim as they wrestle with the idea that their student

needs to be more responsible but still feel the need to step in when things get out of hand. The

next claim holder is the teacher. One of the best tools for teachers is having a parent on their

side. If the parent is already on the teachers side, then when the student fails there is less of a

backlash on the teacher and the parent is more likely to see that the student needs to be more

engaged. The school itself is another stakeholder. Having parents lend a hand or volunteer helps

the staff and faculty a lot, even if it is in small ways. Think of the PTSO and all the fundraising

they do to help the school when they are under budget for something. More parents involved

would help the school raise even more money. On a slighter smaller scale, colleges are also

holding stakes in this circumstance. Take the example from the background knowledge of the

student not being able to play on Friday night. If a college scout is there, then that scout will

never see that student play. The college then loses the ability to offer the student a scholarship

and the student misses out on it as well.

Existing Challenges and Barriers:

The challenge already exists in schools to get more parents involved. Schools send out

fliers, call home with voice recordings, and usually have a newsfeed on their website yet most

parents tend to ignore them. This is where the barriers come in. Most parents already have a

hectic schedule. They balance work with home life and do their best to show up to every

performance or sporting event. Now add in that they should be at the school or participating in
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their childs education, and their plate starts to overflow. Finding ways in which parents can be

involved and not spend so much time is the main issue that seems to be facing parental

involvement with their students academic life.

Research

What is parental involvement?

Parental involvement is defined as parents interactions with schools and with their

children to promote academic success, (Bhargava, 2015). As formerly this practice was

considered hands on, before the twentieth century the idea was that parents would have to

approve their childrens teacher beforehand (Bogar, 2014). Though, it would seem that the

current era has left a void in this type of thinking and has left a great decline in communication

between students, teachers, and parents. It goes without saying that students who have parents

tend to have a higher exam scores then their peers who lack their own parents involvement

(Bogar, 2014). This tends to be the case for students in grades below ninth grade, be that the

decline happens once the students reach middle school. The trend is that parental involvement

drops a bit more once the student reaches a high school setting (Bhargava, 2015).

It is shown that most parents will only involve themselves when there are behavior or

academic problems (Bogar, 2014). This will increase when the students reach higher in their

schooling, but at this point it is nearly too late to correct these type of problems. Because when

students have their parents continuously involved in their academic careers the child will have a

greater sense of coping with academic challenges, (Bogar, 2014). But, with school work

increasing in secondary school by a factor of nearly double from their elementary school days

(Bogar, 2014). With these added pressures, most students easily find themselves overwhelmed.

This fact can easily lead to discouragement without the proper support system. Though, the
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reasons tend to be out of the parents hands. The variables can include the ideas of

neighborhoods, race, gender, and socioeconomic status. As for the neighborhoods, it would seem

they are either classified as inhibitors or promoters of academic success, (Bhargava, 2015). It

seems that the idea revolves around the social disorganization theory, which dictates that

neighborhoods cant maintain social or physical order, this leads to mistrust and strains positive

influences for children and parents (Bhargava, 2015). But, a greater contributor is the parent's

own academic background, seeing as that is something that can be addressed inside the family

home.

In cases such as the parents own academic background tends to be significant, as some

parents can be overwhelmed by their own childs studies. The article Involvement of Elementary

School Students Families in Education- Related Activities Outside of School, which was written

by the National Center of Educational Statistics goes on to talk about this exact idea. In most

cases, parents who have an education that exceeds high school are more likely to participate in

something educational with their child by nearly eight percent (NCES, 2015). The number

increases with those who have their graduates degree the percentage increases by nearly thirteen

percent from those who only have a high school education (NCES, 2015). It would seem that the

more education on has the greater the odds that they will share that desire with their children.

The statistics also take into account the social positional variables.

Reasons why parents are not involved

What could be the reason that a parent would not be involved in the students education

or school? In the article Education and parental involvement in secondary schools the author states
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some reasons that this involvement is deficient are: Parents could be embarrassed; Parents may

feel education is not important, parents themselves may lack knowledge and education, and

Parents may feel unwelcome in schools due to schools not understanding the non-traditional

families. Often times, parents are facing a change in their home environment and due to financial

constraints or other reasons; they feel embarrassed to come to school and openly speak to the

teachers or principals. This embarrassment can occur due to lack of speaking and understanding

English. The parents may be illiterate or unable to speak English (LaBahn, 1995). Not

everyone has a go-get-it attitude where they can face any problem or situation by attacking it up

front. Another reason for this embarrassment is often times they are themselves lacking formal

education. They feel that if they cannot communicate properly or add to the discussion at school,

that their opinion does not matter. They feel that what they may have to offer is unimportant and

unappreciated ( LaBahn, 1995). This lack of knowledge or education is often looked down on

in society and the parents themselves feel that the teachers may think less of them if they go into

the school.

Another reason for the lack of parent involvement is that they may not value the

education. The value of a formal education exists only if the benefits are seen by the parents for a

better life. If the child is going to join the family business or lend a helping hand on the family

farm, then the education needed to do those jobs can be taught by the parents themselves. In this

case going to school is insignificant in the parents eyes and only is happening to fulfill

governmental requirements.

Finally, the parents may not participate in the childs school life because they feel

unwelcome at the childs school. Often times the schools do not know how to handle the

untraditional families that exist in todays society. The nontraditional family is struggling to
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deal with many factors that affect every member of the family (LaBahn, 1995). The parents are

often divorced and may or may not be remarried. With issues such as joint custody, the child

may be staying at two different homes through the week and not have a consistent caretaker.

Also, the family can often face financial constraints due to a divorce where the parents may be

working more than one job to make ends meet. This can often cause a lack of free time to spend

with the children or come to the school to see what the children are learning. All these factors

can affect why a parent may not be actively involved in the childs school life. In parental

involvement in education it states that parents, working with schools and the community, are a

vital resource in improving schools and neighborhoods. Further, mothers and fathers contribute

significantly in creating a nurturing environment in which children can grow and learn.

It is not just the parents that may not be interested in getting involved, but rather the

students may also play a role in keeping parents away from their school. If the student is not

wanting the parent to come to parent-teacher meetings or want them to know what grades he/she

is getting, they may not be communicating information correctly to the parents. Often times, the

students end up not getting newsletters or information relayed to the parents. Also, they tend to

play the victim if they are not getting good grades by telling the parents that the teacher does not

like them and is therefore giving them bad grades.

How parental involvement affects grades

Grades are a reflection of student achievement and can be used to then correlate student

achievement with parental involvement. Even though there are many different factors that

determine student achievement, grades is the most definitive factor to use to correlate student

achievement with parental involvement. According to Christopher Spera in his article,

Adolescents Perceptions of Parental Goals, Practices, and Styles in Relation to Their

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Motivation and Achievement, parental involvement plays a positive role on students grades.

The study found that a strong relationship between parental involvement and students

motivational outcomes then reflected by grades. It shows how important parental involvement is,

especially during adolescence (Spera, 2006). According to the study, parental involvement is so

much more than just attending a Parent-teacher conference or coming to Parent Night. Parental

involvement includes the stake that parents take in their childs education. This includes knowing

about what students are working in on the classroom and short-term and long-term educational

goals for their children. The study looked at parental involvement in three different areas such as

schoolwork, school functions, and parental monitoring. It found that students perceptions of

their parents educational goals and values were most predictive of their reports of parental

involvement in schoolwork, accounting for approximately 47% of the variance in parental

involvement, which is a large effect size by accepted standards (Spera, 2006). Ultimately, if

students feel that their parents are taking a large stake in their education, they are more likely to

receive higher grades in their classes.

In another article by Sakshi Bhargava and Dawn P. Witherspoon called, Parental

Involvement Across Middle and High School: Exploring Contributions of Individual and

Neighborhood Characteristics, it discusses how parental involvement plays a role in students

academic success. This includes the link to higher academic performance and motivation. They

discuss how parental involvement is important during adolescence because many students during

this time experience a drop in academic performance and then are at risk of dropping out of

school. Bhargava and Witherspoon also discuss how parental involvement evolves as students

grow older. This includes taking a more hands off approach when it comes to homework

assistance and volunteering at school but allowing them to promote their childs decision making
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ability and communicating the value of education with them (Bhargava and Witherspoon, 2007).

Even though parents do not have to show up to their childs school often, it is important to ask

their child how they are doing in school, what are they learning about in school, and to promote

the value of their education in order to push for their childs success. From both article it

discusses how students need to feel that their parents have a stake in their education.

Possibilities with parental involvement

As we compiled the research on lack of involvement from parents in their students life,

we came across some of the amazing things that could happen if parents are involved. There are

two articles that discuss very similar ideas and that is bringing in parents to teach students.

Empowering Parents of Multicultural Backgrounds focuses on the idea that there [are] many

funds of knowledge to be tapped when we bring parents in (Hensley 2005). When the

researcher was doing a unit on gardens in her classroom, she found help from a students father;

Jacob helped us prepare and plant a vegetable and flower garden (Hensley 2005). This

relationship not only helped the students see a new way of learning, but also helped the parents

see that they were valued (Hensley 2005).

Furthermore, in Funds of Knowledge for Teaching, we are told that by capitalizing on

household and other community resources, we can organize classroom instruction that far

exceeds in quality the rote-like instruction these children commonly encounter in schools (Moll

1992). Funds of Knowledge for Teaching also represents a downfall in their own system. They

originally did case studies in the neighborhoods and houses of students at a school and then

relayed that information to the teachers. This transmission model meant that there wasnt a

deep connection between teachers and parents or between schools and parents. However, even
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without the deep connection, the parental involvement did bring about change in the school. The

research showed that parent-teacher relationships can become the basis for the exchange of

knowledge about family or school matters, reducing the insularity of classrooms, and

contributing to the academic content and lessons (Moll 1992).

Now both of these articles talk very specifically of lower income neighborhoods and

schools that are very multicultural which is a very prevalent theme in the state of Arizona as well

as many others. However, the same can be said of any school regardless of social class or

diversity. It is important to know the parents of the students not only to bring in new knowledge

to the classroom or have experts in certain matters help out, but to also show parents that

students and the school value them. This relationship between the parents and the school fosters

a community of learning and growth where students see what they are learning matters and that it

isnt just all rogue memorization to pass a test. Parents make a difference in students lives and

as educators, we want it to be for the best.

Solution

As we look at the information compiled from research, the answer seems to be quite

simple; take the school to the parents. By doing so, the parents are more likely to see the impact

they can have on student education as a whole. We need teachers to reach out to the community

by more than just simply sending out fliers and newsletters and hoping that parents read them or

listen to voicemails. They need to physically go to the places in which parents are. If they feel

nervous or embarrassed to come to the school, then meeting them in a place they are comfortable

will lower that stress. These are also the places where we can see what knowledge they can bring

into the classroom. Most students will never tell their teacher that their dad is a guitar player who

writes songs like we see in Empowering Parents of Multicultural Backgrounds. By getting this
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one parent involved, students saw the power of having another expert in the classroom and soon

more parents got involved because the students saw the positive growth. This positive experience

led to continued participation by parents. It is about more than meet the teacher nights or

conferences. These are small snapshots of a student's education that do not paint the whole

picture. Knowing parents is the first step to parental involvement in the classroom and school. As

the parents feel comfortable around the teachers, they will feel comfortable bringing their

knowledge into the classroom. They do not have to be highly educated or an expert at all things.

If we can highlight a singular thing that they excel at or can educate students on, they will see

how they are valued and needed. In the end, a parent who feels valued will be more likely to help

out than a parent who feels like they are just filling space.

Summary

Parental involvement is one of the most unappreciated aspects of the educational system,

be it better or for worse. The issue being that parental involvement can have lasting issues on

their child. The grand side of this is that any level of involvement from the parents has lasting

benefits for their child. Though, with the neglect of parental involvement tends to leave the child

in a less than desirable circumstances. The children tend to not hold strong test scores and can

leave them vulnerable to outside influences. Yet, this also holds true to parents themselves.

Seeing as they have everything stacked against them: work, family, education, etc. This however

can be corrected and create a better sense of dialogue between parents, students, and teacher by

bringing the school to the parents. With greater involvement from teachers this can be achieved,

with simple face-to-face meetings and outreach attempts.

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Works Cited

Bhargava, S., & Witherspoon, D. P. (2015). Parental involvement across middle and high school:

Exploring contributions of individual and neighborhood characteristics. Journal of Youth

and Adolescence, 44(9), 1702-1719.

Hensley, M. (2005). Empowering Parents of Multicultural Backgrounds. In N. Gonzalez, L. C.

Moll, & C. Amanti (Authors), Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households,

Communities, and Classrooms (pp. 143-151). Routledge.

Kanbayeva, A., Bogar, Y. (2014). To what extent does parents involvement in middle school

influence childrens educational progress?. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences.

LaBahn, J. (1995). Education and parental involvement in secondary schools: Problems,

solutions, and effects. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State

University from http://www.edpsycinteractive/files/parinvol.html

Mall, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching:

Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. From

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405849209543534

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2015). Involvement of Elementary School Students

Families in Education- Related Activities Outside of School.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_sga.asp

Spera, C. (2006). Adolescents Perceptions of Parental Goals, Practices, and Styles in Relation to

Their Motivation and Achievement. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 26(4), 456-490.

Texas Univ., Austin. Center for Public Policy Priorities. (1999). Parental Involvement in

Education. Measuring Up The State of Texas Education. A Special Report of the Texas
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Kids Count Project. S.l.]: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse.

http://library.cppp.org/files/10/Microsoft%20Word%20%20Parental%20Involvement.pdf