Parental Involvement: Essential for Academic Success - Research Paper

Introduction

A significant number of research papers done on parent involvement in their child's academic activities do not downplay its importance. Parent involvement shares a direct correlation with excellent performance at school, class attendance, behavior at home and school, and graduation rates (Machen, Wilson, & Notar, 2005). Parental involvement can be either by helping with a child's studies at home and participating in school activities; it helps the children to develop an acceptable attitude towards education and high self-esteem. To create an environment that is conducive for learning, schools should frequently communicate with parents on student progress, support community based developmental activities that prepare young children for school, and strive to provide parent education throughout the year to help them support their child's learning (Judson, n.d.). Preferably, a comprehensive curriculum should be adopted to ensure that both teachers and parents are involved in helping students to achieve their academic goals. A comprehensive curriculum is useful and more practical because it not only supports academics but also physical, socio-emotional, communication (language and literacy), and cognitive development. A comprehensive curriculum model would be instrumental in engaging parents from all populations in their children's learning since it helps them to share and support the child's goals and in-classroom experiences, despite the backgrounds of their nationality or culture.

Problem

The beliefs of the parents affect their involvement in the education of their children. For instance, having negative feelings about the child's school can limit the parent's interactions and engagement with the institution (Berthelsen & Walker, 2008). Additionally, parents who do not have high expectations of their children's commitment to schooling and academic achievements tend to avoid involvement with the children's education (Berthelsen & Walker, 2008). On the other hand, some parents do not take any active role in their child's education because they believe that academic success is the responsibility of teachers only (Berthelsen & Walker, 2008). Since some schools have excellent teachers with an admirable reputation in academics; parents might feel that the educational needs of their children have been fully met, thereby failing to get involved. However, teachers might need a partnership with parents not only to help the child to develop literacy skills but also to teach them to obey rules (Choi, 2017).

Other parents might not value parental involvement in education due to various barriers. For instance, parents with busy schedules which do not allow them enough time with their children often fail to supervise the homework given by teachers. Also, lack of time, money, and energy limit the involvement of economically disadvantaged parents in their children's education (Williams & Sanchez, 2013). Negative interactions and experiences with the school during childhood can be a barrier to a parent's involvement in his/her child's education. Moreover, cultural differences can affect communication between teacher and parents. To overcome such challenges, schools should create a positive environment for all parents, and establish realistic, workable strategies to involve them (Williams & Sanchez, 2013). The desired outcome can be achieved through a comprehensive curriculum because it encourages positive interactions between teachers and parents to help children reach their educational goals inside and outside the classroom.Population of Impact

The barriers to parent involvement in education affect not only teachers but also students. If parents are not involved, the burden of educating the children, and instilling essential virtues and developmental skills in the children is entirely placed on the hands of the teacher. On the other hand, lack of parental involvement might affect the children's behavior and attitude towards education negatively. Teachers should strive to make parents understand and embrace the importance of making a child's education to continue outside the classroom.

Conceptualization of Parental Involvement in the U.S.

Under U.S. law, parental involvement is defined as the participation in regular, meaningful, two-way communication involving the academic learning of a student and other school activities (US Legal, 2019). Parental involvement ensures that parents play an integral role in their children's studies, they actively participate in their child's education at school, and they partner with educators. The U.S. allows parental involvement based on the most current research, to meet the highest technical and professional standards, to promote high levels of achievement for all children (Department of Education, 2004). The program or strategy used should not discriminate any child or parent based on gender, color, age, disability, and national origin. Parents with limited proficiency in English should also be involved in the education of their child by passing information to them in ways they can understand, either written or oral translations (Department of Education, 2004). Parents with disabilities should be communicated to appropriately, just like those lacking proficiency in English.

Advantages

When educators and parents work together, children tend to perform better in school and have a positive attitude towards education. Also, according to Goodall and Montgomery (2014), parental engagement with a child's learning can boost the child's self-esteem, and increase motivation towards academics. Apart from improving learning outcomes, parental involvement leads to a stable parent-school relationship, which facilitates an efficient flow of information for the good of the child (Goodall & Montgomery, 2014).

Comprehensive Curriculum

The comprehensive curriculum increases a child's learning outcomes both inside and outside the classroom. It includes goals and objectives, which tell the teacher the purpose of experiences or activities. The goals are based on a specific group of children or each child in the class; they are developed to help to meet a child's interests. Moreover, they facilitate physical and motor development, socio-emotional growth, approaches to learning, cognitive development, and language development (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.).

The comprehensive curriculum provides a framework to assist teachers in planning experiences and activities that are appropriate for age and child development inside and outside the classroom. The activities help children to construct their own knowledge, development of skills, and understanding through active exploration, and investigation of materials and centers (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.). The curriculum addresses both outdoor and indoor environments, to allow independence and ownership of space by children. Materials and centers are used to facilitate cognitive development and to meet other developmental needs of a child (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.).

The comprehensive curriculum makes work easier for teachers; it includes strategies and information that helps that help the teacher to create an environment suitable for achieving a child's learning goals and objectives. Teachers are guided to help them create experiences and schedules, use scaffolding to advance a student, and to use questions to promote critical thinking (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.). Moreover, the curriculum helps teachers to plan lessons that include classwork and individual child development goals.

The curriculum has an assessment component, through which information about the progress of a child is gathered. The strategies used in assessment may include but are not limited to child drawings and writings, work samples, anecdotal notes, recordings of conversations or work. The evidence on child progress is gathered by both teachers, and the parents, thereby promoting parent involvement. The teacher uses the information gained from process monitoring to communicate to parents on strategies to set goals for the child.

The comprehensive curriculum actively includes all children in classwork, despite their nation of origin, culture, or ethnicity. The curriculum offers guidance on how to adapt to activities and the environment, to ensure no children are left out despite their uniqueness in educational needs or learning styles (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.). Additionally, the comprehensive curriculum provides guidelines on how to include the ethnicity and culture of children in the classroom environment. Therefore, parents from diverse cultures, or with limited proficiency in English have not been left out their child's learning either.

In the comprehensive curriculum, the family is an integral part of the child's education. Parents are encouraged to form partnerships with teachers to help in achieving the academic goals of the student. The curriculum recognizes parents or guardians as the first teachers to their children (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.). Teachers are guided on how to identify and understand a family's ethnic practices and culture, and to honor them in the classroom. Also, the curriculum ensures that parents are included in lesson planning, planning goals for the child, and following the academic progress of the child; moreover, it ensures that excellent school-home relations are made. The comprehensive curriculum strives to curb limitations to parental involvement by forming strategies on how to make parents understand the expectations of the child, what happens in the classroom, and the importance of their participation in the child's education (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.).

Strategies to Involve Parents in Education

Acknowledging Cultural Differences. After analyzing three types of parental involvement - volunteering at school, communicating, and learning at home - the study by Huntsinger and Jose (2009) revealed that parents from different cultures have varying perceptions of involvement. For example, middle class, white, American parents tend to volunteer more in school compared to their Asian counterparts (Huntsinger & Jose, 2009). These parents view volunteering as a way of helping teachers do their work better, to benefit the child (Baker, 1997).

On the other hand, Chinese parents tend to get involved in their children's education by teaching them (Huntsinger & Jose, 2009). The comprehensive curriculum overcomes cultural barriers by giving information to teachers on how to interact, and recognize the ethnic practices and culture of each family. Increased understanding of the nature of minority parental involvement in education will lead to a successful long-term parental involvement and more collaborative school-home partnership (Kim, 2009).

Maintaining a Positive Attitude. The comprehensive curriculum recognizes the importance of parent engagement in education; therefore, teachers identify and respect parent's personal believes and attitudes to ensure that their involvement in education is not hindered. The desired outcome is achieved by making the parent feel valuable through communication, posting good learning progress, and respecting the parent's ethnicity and culture (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.). Ultimately, the efforts to create a positive attitude benefit students, teachers, and parents (Jeynes, 2010).

Addressing Language Barriers. Generally, parents feel intimidated by the language used in school, if they are not proficient in it (LaRocque, Kleiman, & Darling, 2011; Zarate, 2007). This problem can make parents withdraw from engagement in scho...