What if you could get your school’s parents more engaged in their child’s education? You’re undoubtedly aware of the research results on the benefits to student learning when parents are engaged in their child’s education. Some of those benefits include:
- better student attitudes about learning;
- higher grades and students who do better on tests, particularly in reading and math;
- improved social skills, better behavior, and decreased truancy and skipped assignments;
- higher expectations for students;
- increased student self-confidence and feelings of acceptance and respect; and
- lower dropout rates and increased graduation rates.
And beyond the benefits to students, more engaged parents also provide:
- increased teacher morale;
- improved school reputation;
- higher opinion of parents by the teachers; and
- increased parent confidence (feel more capable of helping their child, more comfortable being at the school, and increased confidence in their parenting skills).
Benefits of parent engagement include:
- helping their child to set educational goals and encouraging them to achieve their goals;
- staying informed about their child’s progress (through academic scores, visiting the parent portal, communicating with teachers); and
- supporting and advocating for your school with the local school board, federal, state, and city governments.
As you can see, engaged parents create a win-win for everyone involved, from the student to the school staff. However, the most significant impact comes from the expectations or aspirations parents have for their child. Parents’ attitudes and influence within the walls of their own homes effect generations.
The level of impact engaged parents have is powerful, regardless of the parents’ education, income, or other socio-economic factors. When education is encouraged at home, that influence is greater than any other single factor (teachers, social group, peers). So, why wouldn’t we, as educators, do everything we can to help parents become engaged and help them feel included as part of the support team so vital to a student’s success? Of course, we would. Our goal is to put every student in a position to be successful, right?
So, before we look at specific ways to encourage parent engagement using our school websites, social media, and one-on-one events, we must make sure parents feel welcome and valued, or our other efforts will fail.
How to make parents feel welcome and valued
First, we must acknowledge that every parent brings a variety of attitudes about school, based on their own experiences growing up, with them. That baggage, good or bad, has very little to do with our school, but perception is the reality, so we must begin by showing parents respect and begin to earn their trust.
Begin by looking at your schools’ customer service toward each customer group. How do you welcome prospective parents, newly enrolled parents and students, existing parents, and new staff members? What is their initial impression of your school and your culture? These interactions—whether online, over the phone, or in person—must be consistent with your desire to get parents engaged in their child’s education.
Customer service breaks down barriers
If your customer service levels are lacking, fix it quickly. If that means training your staff in the customer service standards expected at your school, make sure your next few months of professional development training does just that (and include all your staff, not only teachers). If you are interested in on-site customer service training for your staff, we can help with that, too.