It’s a Family Affair Thinking Creatively about Parent Engagement
Dr. Cynthia Treadwell • Cahn Fellow 2021
Parental involvement is key to children’s success in school. Schools are unique ecosystems that engage with multiple stakeholders. One of the most important stakeholders are families. However, in some school communities, parent engagement is a challenge for a myriad of reasons and this often has a negative impact on the success of the students as well as the school community at large. According to Karen Bogenschneider and Carol Johnson (2015), “if this country is going to turn around poor school performance, one of the most significant problems that must be addressed is the high prevalence of disengaged parents. A lack of interest on the part of parents is associated with academic difficulties and low school achievement.”
The lack of parent engagement has been a challenge that has plagued certain demographics, races and communities with low socioeconomic status for a number of years and how to combat this has yet to be determined. What is clear is that we must figure out a way to engage our families in the educational lives of their children in order to ensure that they are successful. “A consistent body of research concludes that parents are the first and foremost influence on their children’s development and school success. When parents are involved, students get better grades and score higher on standardized tests. What’s more, children of involved parents have better attendance records, drop out less often, have higher aspirations, and more positive attitudes toward school and homework” (Bogenschneider and Johnson, 2015).
As a school leader, my school community was no stranger to the challenge and negative impact of low parent engagement. After several years of trying to involve families using a variety of strategies, I grew weary and determined that it was not going to happen. I determined that I would not be able to meet the data metrics set forth by the district that monitored how well parents engaged. I was frustrated and I felt like I had exhausted all that I had. Trying to identify a project for Cahn, I determined that it would be beneficial to engage in a project that could help me identify how to increase parent involvement and engagement. This project proved to be just what I needed and provided me with so much more insight.
