Parent Involvement in Schools [14 Expert Ideas]

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Recent surveys among teachers have revealed that about 25 percent of them consider their relationships with parents as a capital cause of stress in their jobs. This is certainly a lot.

Ideally, the teacher should be parents’ best ally in the education of children. This is why, strong communication is fundamental to this partnership and to building a sense of community between home and school.

Successful parent involvement in schools can improve student behavior and attendance, and also boost student performance.

What parents want

The first day of school is a major transition for most students. It is also a major transition for their parents.

It wasn’t long ago that their children were learning to walk and talk, in the safety of their home environment. Now, they are on their own, left in the care of school, learning from teachers and other children. In order to feel reassured, parents want to know the following things:

What their child is expected to learn this year
Homework and grading policies
Regular updates on their child’s progress
Timely notice when performance is slipping
A calendar of events and meetings
Information on student safety

There are a number of ways that schools can use to ensure parent involvement in schools. Here is a list of practical suggestions of some traditional (low tech) or more modern (high tech) ways:

Low Tech Ways of Parent Involvement in Schools and Student Learning

Meet the teacher/Orientation Day

Organize a separate orientation day for students and parents in the beginning of the school year. Introduce yourself, tell them what they should expect, explain the school policies. Most important, tell them how to reach you and how often they will be hearing from you.

School-to-home notebooks

Record students’ progress and request a confirmation by parents that they are fully aware. It can have the form of a signature or a short note.

Report cards

Go beyond the traditional score card. Include soft skills such as socializing, communication, leadership, taking initiative and so on. If there is a portfolio or projects, don’t forget to mention them too.

Letters

Reserve letters for all formal announcements. A point to remember is that with letters it is the school speaking, not the teacher.

Phone calls

Don’t wait until student performance deteriorates. Make it a habit to call parents once a month to give them a quick update on their child’s progress. It doesn’t have to be bad news to make that call.

Parent-teacher conference

Arrange separate meetings with parents of individual students for a detailed discussion on the student’s progress. Face-to-face meetings is probably the best way to share your observations and suggestions. It is also the best way to listen to the parents’ questions and build rapport.

Training workshops

Invite experts to talk on topics that parents are interested in. It could be child psychology, learning difficulties, first aid, internet safety, bullying, child nutrition, the list is endless. Even better if the expert is one of the parents.

Open lessons

Teaching is a subtle process, and its mechanics are frequently not easily detectable by the lay person. So, do not assume that your breakthrough methodology will be applauded or even understood by every person in the room. More often than not, a lot of explaining is necessary.

Open lessons give you the opportunity to showcase your best material. Use them to demonstrate what you do and most of all why you do it. Make sure everybody understands the logic behind your every move.

Events

Aimed primarily at students, events like theatrical shows have the added bonus that they give you a chance to meet with parents in a more casual setting. A great way to have fun and establish bonds at the same time.

Parent Involvement in Schools [14 ideas] — The teacher should be parents’ best ally in the education of children.

Hi Tech Ideas for Parent Involvement in Schools

Emails

No matter how convenient they can be, emails can be easily misunderstood in both meaning and tone. So, to be safe, reserve important news to give over the phone or in person. Use emails for small, harmless bits of information.

Newsletter

An excellent form of communication to remind parents of upcoming events, meetings or school activities. Best feature: the call-to-action part, where parents are asked to respond (by either calling, booking a seat, or even voting).

Surveys

Ask for feedback, ideas, preferences, and suggestions. With so many free online survey tools available, there is no reason to use the outdated print format. Therefore, use surveys to measure, assess and evaluate pretty much everything: from facilities to teacher performance.

Website / Blog

Having basic school information online is a must. Your online spot can include a calendar of events, announcements, photo libraries, archives, and student projects, depending on your monthly budget. It can also provide information about the local community, even teacher profiles and homework assignments.

Social media

Your chance to meet parents were they are! The list of available social media seems to be ever increasing as your free time is ever decreasing.

However, this is a whole new chapter in itself and deserves a separate article. For the time being, if you share pictures of students, make sure you have written parent permission.

Conclusion

As a final note on parent involvement in schools and student learning, remember that all methods of communication that involve personal interaction are stronger, especially if it is one-to-one interaction.

In that light, nothing can beat a teacher-parent meeting or even a phone call. Reserve these for your most important messages.

But if you want to establish a regular communication channel, you need something simple and convenient for parents, with lower involvement for more frequent use. In that case, all the high tech ways can reduce the hassle and become a positive routine for both parents and teachers.

Some Extra Tips on Parent Involvement In Schools

Summing up, here are some final tips for teachers:

Make sure parents feel listened to. Communication is not a one way street. Parents need to voice their opinion and they need to know that they have been heard. In cooperation with the school, arrange regular opportunities within the school year, where parents sit with a teacher and have a focused conversation about their children. It is important that these meetings are clearly signposted as ‘parents days’, so that parents will come prepared and will know that this is their chance to contribute to the conversation.
The simple things work best. Sometimes it is the simple, low-tech ideas that go a long way. Make it a habit that every time a student does an outstanding piece of homework, you send a stamped postcard home. It may go up on the fridge noticeboard, the mantelpiece or a photo box, but it will surely be a talking point for some time.
Give feedback. Once teachers hear the parents’ ideas and opinions, they must let them know they have been heard. Most parents feel they are never listened to. So, send them a summary of their ideas and suggestions, give them feedback and thus let them know that their ideas have been taken on board.
Be creative in where you hold events. The school is not the only venue that can host events. Find places that parents are already comfortable in. Try the local sports club, the largest bookshop, the nearest cinema, even the city hall. The same can happen online. Facebook groups offer a safe controlled environment for such interactions.
Involve parents in research. To take ownership in their child’s learning, parents need to be involved not only reactively but also proactively. Before embarking on a project, send them questionnaires. If possible, organize small focus groups, so that you will get more in-depth feedback.
Give a peek into lessons. Open lesson days are a great idea, but what about those parents that have little or no time (and energy) to attend them? Create video recordings of the open lessons, and have them playing in a loop on a monitor in the front desk. Even the most distant parents will be tempted to take a look.
Invite parents to speak. Invite parents with different jobs into the school to talk about what they do, and more importantly, what skills are essential to their jobs. It will give students an insight to the real world, and will get parents personally invested in the learning process.