Research: Parent Involvement and Educational Outcomes

Research: Parent Involvement and Educational Outcomes

EDU647: Families, Communities, & Diversity

Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is a critical part of a child’s education. Research shows that the more the parents are involved at home and at school, the more the better the students do in school. Teachers should encourage parents to be active in their child’s education because it allows them to know how their child is doing and what is happening in the school. Families that are involved enhances the child’s learning. There are multiple articles that discuss parental involvement and how it helps increase the child’s learning and social development. The two I will be using are Parental Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School and The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children Ages 3 to 8. These two articles explain the impact of families that are involved in their children’s education.

Family Influence on Learning

Parents who are actively involved in their child’s education and work in collaboration with the teacher, the more successful the students become. Research shows that “family and community involvement has shown that children are more successful in school when their parents and teachers communicate well and work together effectively. Countless studies indicate that, at any grade level, including prekindergarten, challenging curriculum, important learning goals, effective assessments, responsive feedback for students, and parental involvement are important for increasing student achievement, attendance, behavior, and other important school outcomes (Voohoris, Maier, Epstein, & Lloyd, 2013, pg. 1, para. 2).

Children need support from their parents. ““Supportive parenting practices” refers to activities that parents conduct to support their children’s development and well-being” (Vhooris et. al., 2013, pg. 40, para. 4). Parental involvement is considered a pathway for schools to help enhance the student’s achievement (Nokali, Bachman, Votruba-Drzal, 2010). Not only does parents being involve enhance academic achievement, but it also helps increase children’s social developmental skills. “Findings suggest that parents continue to have considerable influence on children’s development as children progress through school” (Nokali et. al, 2010, para. 49.).

Children mimic what they see and parents should be role models for their children. Encouraging them to do their best and always supporting them lets them know that you care. Teachers should get to know the students and their families which in turn will help to better understand the values, daily demands, stressful circumstances, and resources (Amatea, 2013, Chapter 5). Sometimes parents cannot always be available depending on what is going on in their lives. Even though “numerous studies document the positive outcomes of active participation by family members in children’s education, many educators are beginning to recognize that expecting caregivers to demonstrate greater involvement than they are capable of may have negative effects on both the student and family” (Amatea, 2013, Chapter 5, para. 2).

In conclusion, parental involvement is beneficial to a child’s education and social developmental status. Parents have the opportunity to help their children grow in their learning process, and when children see they have the support they need they are willing to do better in school. Not all students learn or behave the same. Getting to know your students and their families will assist you in helping them reach their goals. Work in collaboration with parents to see how their children learn the best and find out ways they are helping them at home. Continue to encourage parents to be involved with their children’s education because they will know how their children are doing in school.

References

Amatea, E. S. (2013). Building culturally responsive family-school relationships (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Nakoli, N., Bachman, H., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2010). Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School. Child Development, 81(3). x. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2973328/.

Voohoris, F., Maier, M., Epstein, J., & Lloyd, C. (2013). The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children Ages 3 to 8. In MDRC. Retrieved from https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/The_Impact_of_Family_Involvement_FR.pdf.