| Parental involvement in education has long been recognized as an important indicator of student academic achievement. Teachers, administrators, policy makers, and our state and federal government continue to recognize the vital role of the parent in education. Policies and mandates, with titles such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, center around the value placed on education as well as the vital role parent's play. Throughout history, national organizations and lawmakers alike have placed parental involvement as a high priority within their platforms. Congress, in its 1994 Goals 2000: Educate America Act, legislated that partnerships must be formed between families and schools. Federal Title I regulations required revised mandates requiring specific family/school connections in order to obtain federal funds for its programs. The National PTA believes that strengthening the connection between home and school is extremely vital. They advocate that parent involvement is crucial to the health and well being of a child. Too often, however, that involvement doesn't occur until a problem exists. Generally, by that time, the teacher, the parent, and/or the student are already extremely frustrated by the situation at hand. It is essential that parents and educators work together in a positive working relationship with the common goal of the successful education of the child.;A parent is a child's first and most important teacher. Children benefit academically when parents and educators work together. However, a strong connection between parents and educators does not come about automatically. As explained in this document, both parties may need to learn new roles and skills and develop the confidence to use them.;School choice, at its most basic level, is a reform movement focused on affording parents' choice in their children's education. That said, the concept and the issues surrounding choice are anything but uncontroversial.;While there are increasing bodies of empirical evidence that schools of choice do indeed have higher levels of parental involvement, it is difficult to determine whether this difference is due to some feature of the schools' administration, organization or policies, or if the difference is driven by the self-selection of parents to the various schooling options. All forms of school choice, such as private schools, magnet schools, open enrollment programs, vouchers, and charters, expand the range of options available to parents.;As educational institutions begin to recognize the vital role that parents play, and in turn parents and teachers begin to work together uniting their efforts with the common goal of the education of the child, it will not only benefit children academically, but it will improve the overall atmosphere of school. Additionally, it is my hope that administrators will see the impact this partnership can have not only on the individual student, but also on the organization as a whole. |
