Family Matters

This morning a mother (we'll call her Liz) related a situation in which she was trying to be an engaged parent, but was encountering resistance from her daughter's school. The school put out a brochure about a program offered for advanced students. In the very first paragraph of the brochure was as statement about materials and texts for the program being provided at no charge to the student. The statewide program is part of an initiative to close the achievement gap between students of families in poverty, and those who are not, and offered challenging and unique opportunities.

When this student enrolled in the program a notice was sent home from the local school asking for payment for textbooks! For disengaged parents, the story probably would have ended there, with the student not participating in the advanced program. If the family were able to afford the text, most parents would have simply written a check at that point. Liz, however, was engaged in helping her daughter pursue learning opportunities.

Liz called the school to to talk to the program coordinator. The coordinator said it didn't matter what the brochure said "they had always done it this way" (charging students for texts and materials). After much discussion, and no change, Liz asked to speak to the principal, believing that surely this an oversight or a mistake. The principal's response was "I don't know what to tell you - we have always charged students for their texts for this program." Liz again pointed to both the brochure and the website, but the principal referred her on to the district administator. Most parents would have given up by now, but Liz persisted.

The district administrator looked at the brochure and website, and told Liz that in spite of what the materials said, and the fact that the program was funded directly by the state, this district had always charged for these textbooks. She told Liz her daughter's participation was optional. Liz, understanding that school budgets are probably as tight as her budget at home, asked the district administrator how other districts provided the texts. The district administrator not only did not have an answer, but her only offer of help was to "ask that question when they had the statewide program meeting next year."

More positive family engagement.... Liz then went to the internet, and searched for the state Department of Education office that was responsible for this program, and called the state to find out if there had been a program change. FINALLY she got a response. She was told that in fact students should not be charged for materials. The woman on the phone offered to call the local district and school get the resources that students need, regardless of their financial means. The following afternoon, Liz got a call from the local school coordinator (who now was irritated that Liz had gone over her head) stating that materials and text would be provided at no expense for program participants.

This is a great example of a positive parent engagement, but how many students in our schools today have parents that would have persisted to this degree? How many students have been excluded because they could not afford the materials? What about parents or caregivers that don't speak English? There is no way they could have navigated that maze.

As educators, we all started out wanting the best for all children. But institutional culture and habits can get in the way of our real mission. When we begin to default to "we've always done it this way" and begin to see parents as a "pushy nuisance" as this school coordinator now views Liz, our culture is no longer supporting the maximum potential for ALL students. If we really want to close the achievement gap, and see all students reach their full potential, we must become vigilant about potential barriers, and do everything we can to remove them. And we must not only be grateful for engaged parents like Liz that help us to spot the barriers, but we must find ways to engage other parents to help remove obstacles as well.

What examples have you found in your own school that are barriers to family engagement and student achievement? What does your school or district do to address and change those things? What other great examples of outstanding family engagement can you think of where families have helped us liberate greatness in all students?

Algebra is Optional

In the last decade, there have been more than 20 studies of engagement undertaken by organizations like Gallup, Towers Perrin, Blessing White, and others. There seems to be fairly universal agreement that our society is not engaged. Gallup, for example, in its survey of 3 million American workers, found that only 28% were engaged, 54% were putting in time for a paycheck, and 18% were completely disengaged, spreading their unhappiness in the workplace, actively looking for other employment, or in the worst cases, actually working against the interests of the organization.

The education division of The Engage Institute has polled more than a quarter of a million families of school aged children across the United States. The results aren't much different. The overall level of family engagement in the educational life of children looks a lot like the profile of American workers. And yet twenty years of research has shown that family engagement is the most reliable predictor of student success. Legislative initiatives like No Child Left Behind will never have their intended effect by pushing test scores as "performance indicators" unless we first find ways to re-engage families as partners in helping students succeed.

Families don't have to volunteer in a classroom, tutor Algebra, speak English, or even know how to spell chemistry to be engaged in their child's education. Research shows that if families and caregivers will do three things, they can help their child do better in school and make enormous strides toward reaching their maximum potential. Families need to (1) set high (but not unreasonable) expectations, (2) help children take responsibility for their education and take advantage of all opportunities to learn (and model this behavior in their own lives), and (3) talk to their children often about their goals and help them plan for the future.