Parent Engagement in the

Classroom
By: Sarah Hartwell

https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/gearupkindergarten/images/GUKParentsChildrenActivitiesp
art2.jpg
What is parent engagement in
the classroom?
“Parent engagement in schools is defined as parents and school staff working
together to support and improve the learning, development and health of
children and adolescents.
Parent engagement in schools is a shared responsibility in which schools are
committed to reaching out to engage parents in meaningful ways, and parents
are committed to actively supporting their children’s and adolescents’ learning
and development.”
“Research shows that children are more likely to succeed
academically and are less likely to engage in violent behavior
if their families are involved in their education. Many parents
say, however, that they feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in
their children's schools. Teachers often feel under attack by
parents who are highly involved.” (Education world.)
 Build a Bridge:
● “Be sure the first contact with parents is a positive one.
● Communicate with parents straightforwardly and simply, avoiding educational "jargon."
(especially in your newsletters.)
● “Ensure that all parents have regular access to clear, concise, and easily readable
information about their children's school and classroom.”
● “Ask parents to share their concerns and opinions about school, and then address those
concerns.”
● “Accommodate parents' work schedules.” (If you have to set up meetings or classroom
appearance.)
● “Sustain parent engagement by addressing the common challenges to getting and keeping
parents engaged such as scheduling conflicts, transportation, making parents feel
welcome in the school and supporting teachers in building relationships with families.”
● “Accommodate language and cultural differences.”
“The report, a synthesis of research on parent involvement over the past decade, also found
that, regardless of family income or background, students with involved parents are more
likely to:

● Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs
● Be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credits
● Attend school regularly
● Have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school
● Graduate and go on to postsecondary education.
"School-aged children in both two-parent and single-
parent families are more likely to get mostly A's, to
enjoy school, and to participate in extracurricular
activities and are less likely to have ever repeated a
grade and to have ever been suspended or expelled if
their fathers or mothers have high as opposed to low
levels of involvement in their schools." (Fathers' Involvement in
Their Children's Schools, a report from the National Center for Education Statistics)
Cons:
● Helicopter parents: “Some parents take their involvement too far. They are at
school so much that they become a source of distraction for their child, or
their child's classmates and teachers.”
● “It's important to remember that school is a place of learning as well as a
workplace.”
● “Teachers don’t want to be placed in the awkward position of reprimanding a
student who is not following instructions because he wants to talk to his
mom.”
● Being overly involved can lead to stepping in too frequently to deal with
issues the child should handle.
● Also, not all teachers are comfortable with a parent volunteer in class. Some
students are too distracted by the presence of their parents, which can cause a
lack of focus or behavior problems. A parent can help the school without
My position:
I believe that parent engagement is a great idea. Parents should encourage
and help their children with their school work and other school experiences. I don’t
think that parent engagement should get to the point where it’s excessive though, for
example the helicopter parent who is always in the classroom. Children need to have
a sense of independence away from their parents, if their parent(s) are in their
classroom everyday it could lead to distraction and the students won’t gain any
independence.
Plan of action:
In my future classroom I aim to have parent engagement. I don’t want the
parent’s engagement to be too overwhelming for my students though, so I
would limit having a parent in the classroom to no more than once a week, or
maybe every other week. It is important for my student’s parents to encourage
and support them in all aspects of their school work. To help the parents to
know what is going on in my classroom I will have a newsletter that will go out
every other week. This will also list activities and events that parents can be
involved in.
In Conclusion:
● Parent Engagement is where teachers, school staff and parents work together to improve
the learning development of their student(s).
● When parents have been involved in their student(s) academic lives it has been shown to
have a positive impact on their grades, behavior and social skills.
● I believe that parent engagement is important, but to an extent where it’s not over used.
 Sources:
Question mark: http://cliparts.co/cliparts/kcM/bx7/kcMbx7Egi.jpg
Bridge picture: http://thesavvynetworker.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8352e94c269e20120a93c7aa3970b-pi
Family picture: http://umchealthyfamilies.org/content/general/header-family_1_1.jpg
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr200.shtml
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/what-research-says-about-parent-involvement/
http://education.seattlepi.com/advantages-disadvantages-parent-involvement-education-4072.html
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/getting-parents-involved
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr200.shtml
http://www.nea.org/tools/17360.htm
Ap picture: http://wchsgleaner.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/AP-classes.jpg
Graduation picture: https://learnvest.global.ssl.fastly.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/paying-for-
college1.jpg
Family engagement picture: http://www.clipartkid.com/images/195/volume-26-issue-1-january-2004-
pages-39-62-1H1oUN-clipart.png