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Decades of research consistently shows that students whose families are involved in their schooling have better academic, social and emotional outcomes.
That can be a tough statement to read if you, like most parents, work full time.
But studies like the 2019 American Psychological Association (APA) meta-analysis titled “The Relation Between Parents’ Involvement in Children’s Schooling and Children’s Adjustment” are always being published, reminding the world that when families volunteer, show up to school events and communicate regularly with teachers, their children do better in school. The study asserts that when parents are involved in school, it sends a message to their kids that they are valued and school is valued. Families that build social networks at school are more likely to gain information and resources for their kids, including everything from where to find extra help to the best unknown scholarship opportunities. Also, the analysis found that teachers give more personalized attention to children whose families are perceived as being more involved.
All of this may be true, but hearing about these positive benefits can be frustrating if you are working during school hours. Yes, you have more time with your family after school and on weekends, but volunteering in classrooms, chaperoning field trips and being an active PTA member may be out of the question. Even attending after-school events requires rearranging a carefully crafted schedule. One traffic jam or work snafu can throw off all hope of getting to the school’s annual back-to-school bonanza on time.
Don’t worry.
Not every parent needs to clock dozens of volunteer hours (or one volunteer hour) or attend dozens of after-school events. If all you have time and energy for is to respond to messages about your child, meet teachers at curriculum night and regularly talk to your kids about school, that is wonderful. You are doing great.
A note about homework:
While the 2019 APA study found that parent participation at school clearly benefited students, parental involvement outside of school was a bit more nuanced. When parents engage their children in discussions about school and their classes, or provide “cognitively stimulating activities or environments — for example, reading with children or taking them to the library,” students do better socially and academically.
Responding to teacher emails counts as parental involvement. Checking a school folder is parental involvement. Talking to your teenager about their science labs is parental involvement. The best way to support schools is to support your own child.
However, providing homework assistance is negatively associated with children’s achievement. “Although parents’ setting of rules around homework and assistance with homework were positively associated with children’s academic adjustment, other forms of their involvement, such as monitoring, in the context of children’s homework were negatively associated.”
Meeting teachers, responding to emails and talking to your child about what they are learning are the basics. If you want to go above and beyond to get more involved with schools, great! There are plenty of quick and easy ways to support schools even if you are short on time.
Follow school social media accounts.
If you are on social media, follow school accounts and share their community events and announcements. If you have a local following, you’ll increase awareness about the great things the school is doing in the community, and perhaps you’ll get to know other parents and families online. Plus, it will keep you in the loop about what is happening.
Choose your board meetings carefully.
Often, school board meetings can be long and boring. Don’t feel like you must attend them all. However, if teacher pay, school closures, banning books or other controversial issues are set to be discussed, a packed board meeting is essential. Ask school staff members which board meetings are the most important and prioritize your attendance. Also, it’s perfectly fine to leave early.
Donate supplies.
Teachers are always in need of supplies, but they are usually the best stocked in September. If you email a teacher in December or March or May asking what supplies are running low, you’ll be a savior coming through with those boxes of tissues or colored construction paper. Consider setting up a recurring email that goes out every three or four months in which you ask your kid’s teachers what supplies are needed.
Take the surveys.
Schools really do want to improve, and soliciting survey feedback is one way that can happen. Resist the urge to swipe away that email and take the survey.
Offer your expertise.
Let teachers know about specific skills or backgrounds that you are willing to share. World history teachers would love to have a family from Ethiopia do an accuracy check on a slide show about Ethiopian resistance to colonialism. Pictures of Polynesian stick charts from Hawaiian families would be revered by art teachers. Math teachers would welcome a short list of examples about how fractions are used by bakers or pharmacists or retail workers. Talk to your kids about what they are learning in school. If it’s something you have some expertise in, send the teacher a message to thank them for covering the topic and, if you’d be willing, mention that you’d like to help or send in a real-life example.
Show up for middle and high school.
The bar is extremely low regarding parent participation at the middle and high school levels. Many parents never meet or communicate with teachers, so just showing up to one curriculum night or sending a quick thank-you email to a teacher will elevate you to “involved parent” status. However, school involvement is just as important in high school as it is during the elementary years. Consider sending an email to each teacher simply introducing yourself and asking about the best way to stay up to date on your kid’s grades.
Share good news.
The absolute best thing you can do to support teachers and schools is to raise awareness about all the great things happening at school. If your child is going to a great school or has a wonderful teacher, share those stories online and in real life. Tell your neighbors, your extended family, your member of Congress and your social media followers all about it. This is especially important for public school families.
Thankfully, public schools in Washington state are better funded and supported compared to those in other states, but public schools across the U.S. are being devalued and defunded. Rhetoric critical of public schools and teachers has increased. But because public schools are the only spaces in America where every child is guaranteed a free and equitable education, it’s essential they are supported.
Telling the world about how a teacher inspired your nephew to pursue oceanography, or how a school provided a Girls on the Run program with teacher volunteers, or how a leadership club hosted a free community night goes a long way toward highlighting the importance of public schools in our communities.
Most importantly, give yourself some grace. If sometime in December you discover you have only attended one school event, have no idea when Teacher Appreciation Week is and are fuzzy on the specifics of the school mascot, it’s okay. Ask your child what they are learning in school, send a teacher a quick thank-you note or supply check and take a deep breath. When it comes to school involvement, you are all caught up.
