By Julianne Foelske

Many Lutheran schools are interested in improving student achievement, building trust between families and the school, and helping students make greater academic gains. An increase in parental involvement has been shown to achieve all of these goals. Lutheran schools should develop a parental involvement plan for the benefit of their students and families.

Before looking at the benefits, it is important to define parental involvement. Parental involvement can be viewed as any attitudes, behaviors, or activities that happen in or out of school that support a child’s academic and behavioral success in school (Young et al., 2013). Parental involvement can include participation in activities at school, such as joining the school’s parent organization, volunteering in the classroom, or attending field trips; participation in activities that happen at home, such as helping with homework and demonstrating a positive attitude about education; and communication between the parents and the school in forms such as phone calls, text messages, emails, and parent-teacher conferences (Karakuş & Savaş, 2012).

Parental involvement is associated with successful students. In fact, parental involvement of any kind has been shown to be consistently related to a child’s success in school (Kaplan Toren, 2013). The impact has been shown across a wide range of age levels and populations. Parental involvement raises a child’s perceived level of competence and autonomy, offers a child a sense of security, and helps the child to internalize the importance of education (Young et al., 2013). Parental involvement directly supports a child’s learning while at the same time indirectly encouraging overall achievement (Young et al., 2013).

Parental involvement begins with and builds trust between families and schools. Research has shown that when parents are more trusting of their child’s teacher, they are more likely to be involved in their child’s education. As parents become more involved in their child’s school, a higher level of trust is built between the parents and teachers (Karakuş & Savaş, 2012).

Parental involvement is especially important as the child becomes an adolescent, directly affecting the adolescent’s personal, social, and academic development (Cripps & Zyromski, 2009). Research has shown that a lack of parental involvement, combined with a lack of communication between parents and adolescents, increases the adolescent’s risks of teen pregnancy, a sedentary lifestyle, and substance abuse (Robl, Jewell, & Kanotra, 2012).

The child’s mother is often more involved in her child’s education than the child’s father. However, research has found that when fathers encourage educational achievement, set clear expectations and goals for grades, are supportive yet demanding, and communicate with their children consistently about education, their children have higher levels of achievement (Rapp & Duncan, 2012).

Lutheran schools should intentionally develop a parental involvement plan. There are several factors to consider when developing a plan. Research has shown that parents from different ethnicities view parental involvement in different ways. While parents of different ethnicities do support their children academically, their support comes in different forms, based on their culture (Rapp & Duncan, 2012). It is important that teachers and administrators learn about cultural differences and how parents may view parental involvement.

Lutheran schools will need to use extra effort to engage parents who have low socioeconomic status (Rapp & Duncan, 2012). Many different factors may contribute to this lack of participation, such as inflexible work schedules, lack of transportation, or a negative attitude based on the parents’ own school experience. Parents of a lower socioeconomic level may lack the resources needed to provide a home environment that promotes intellectual stimulation or to set education as a high priority (Rapp & Duncan, 2012).

A strong relationship between parents and teachers is a vital part of an effective parental involvement plan (Rapp & Duncan, 2012). Teachers can work to establish a strong, trusting relationship with the parents of their students by meeting with parents before the school year in order to get acquainted, by inviting parents to visit the classroom frequently throughout the year, and by showing they care about the student and the student’s family. An equally important part of an effective parental involvement plan is communication. Teachers should communicate early and often with the parents of their students and focus primarily on positive aspects of the student’s academics and behavior (Rapp & Duncan, 2012), such as when the student does well on a project, shows dedication to his work, or is helpful to his classmates. Parental involvement will increase as the relationship between parents and teachers grows and as communication increases.

It may take effort to develop and implement a successful parental involvement plan. However, students and families greatly benefit from parental involvement. Lutheran schools should work to create and implement parental involvement programs.

Julianne Foelske (MLC ’07) is an MLC graduate student. Her emphasis is special education.

References

Cripps, K., & Zyromski, B. (2009). Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Parental Involvement: Implications for Parental Involvement in Middle Schools. RMLE Online: Research in Middle Level Education, 33(4).

Kaplan Toren, N. (2013). Multiple Dimensions of Parental Involvement and Its Links to Young Adolescent Self-Evaluation and Academic Achievement. Psychology in the Schools, 50(6), 634–649. doi:10.1002/pits.21698

Karakuş, M., & Savaş, A. C. (2012). The Effects of Parental Involvement, Trust in Parents, Trust In Students and Pupil Control Ideology on Conflict Management Strategies of Early Childhood Teachers. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 12, 977–985.

Rapp, N., & Duncan, H. (2012). Multi-Dimensional Parental Involvement in Schools: A Principal’s Guide. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 7(1).

Robl, J., Jewell, T., & Kanotra, S. (2012). The Effect of Parental Involvement on Problematic Social Behaviors Among School-Age Children in Kentucky. Maternal & Child Health Journal,16, 287–297. doi:10.1007/s10995-012-1187-4

Young, C. Y., Austin, S. M., & Growe, R. (2013). Defining Parental Involvement: Perception of School Administrators. Education, 133(3), 291–297.