Grade Level reading

Parent Engagement

Parents are the first and most important teachers in their children’s lives. Research shows that students are most successful academically and socially when their parents are involved and engaged in their learning. There is no set of policies that will replace parents’ role in their children’s education.

Improving parental engagement can help turn around the nation’s achievement problems. Study after study has demonstrated that reading well by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward academic success, and ultimately, economic self sufficiency. But the latest national test scores show us that two out of three American students are not reading proficiently by fourth grade. The numbers are even more alarming for low-income children who depend on education to lift them out of poverty. While this reading crisis points to the need for better school curriculum and instruction, it also demands more attention to the child’s early years when much of the cognitive, social and emotional development occurs.

Parents are critical to this equation, yet many do not recognize the important role they play. They lay the foundation for learning long before their children reach the schoolhouse door. Parents provide the lively and constant verbal interaction at an early age that promotes vocabulary development, a critical predictor of third-grade reading achievement. They teach their children the social and emotional skills needed to sit still, pay attention and cooperate at school. They ensure that their children get proper health care and monitoring for developmental delays. They set routines that help children attend school on time every day. Above all, they read to their children.

Unfortunately not all parents can fulfill these responsibilities, especially in high-poverty communities. In some cases, the parents don’t have the educational background or English language skills to prepare their children for school. Other times, parents simply aren’t aware that a good preschool or good attendance in the early grades is crucial to reading well by the end of third grade. And they don’t realize that third grade reading proficiency has such a profound effect on a child’s future.

Funders and advocates can support parental engagement programs that seek to fill these gaps, reaching out to parents to help them become partners in their children’s education. The best programs go deeper than fliers sent home in backpacks or a single committee with a few active parents on board. They provide two-way communication that encourages parents to interact and join teachers in the education process. Many of these programs collaborate with community and faith groups to promote social connections. They tailor their approaches to the community, recognizing cultural identities and building trust among parents. They send teachers to visit homes and explain the need for preschool or other interventions. They apply metrics to assess their success.

Parental engagement has been built into federal education law since 1973, but U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan acknowledged in a recent speech that his department has done a “mediocre job” of supporting such programs. He has proposed doubling the money spent in Title I schools to about $270 million. Another $145 million could be available through the Family Engagement and Responsibility Fund, a state-led grant program to support local efforts.

News and Resources

The Family Engagement in Education Act encourages schools to meaningfully engage families in their child’s learning, which research has found to be an effective strategy for improving achievement and school attendance, as well as reducing dropout rates. Under H.R. 5211, introduced by Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Todd Platts (R-PA), state agencies would issue local grants for building parent involvement in schools and learning.

America’s Promise Alliance has created a toolkit for boosting parent engagement as a dropout prevention measure. The toolkit includes informational resources, a webinar, and information on recruiting and organizing parents.

The Pew Center on the States released this report on state policies to support parental engagement in preK. Involvement early on can set the stage for active parenting throughout the school years.

For more information and sample materials to guide parents, see:

Managed by: The Hatcher Group