5 ways to create meaningful parent involvement

Meaningful parent involvement not only benefits the whole classroom, but every child you are teaching. This type of two-way communication is crucial for students’ academic and social success.

The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education researched critical school-home connections and concluded, “No matter their income or background, students with involved parent(s) are more likely to have high grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school.” These six main benefits of parent involvement are only the start to why educators need to attempt to create meaningful parent involvement.

While educators can support students in the classroom, interacting with the parent(s) encourages positive reinforcement outside of the classroom and is crucial to children’s academic achievement. While not every parent is able to provide the same time commitment, they should have the same opportunity to be involved. But how do you provide these opportunities to your students and their families? Here are 3 immediate things you can do to get parent(s) involved:

1. Get creative with your parent collaboration spaces

Typically, there are standard collaboration practices such as open houses, phone calls and emails, and parent-teacher conferences. But to bridge the gap between parent(s) and teachers you must get creative! Try making holiday celebrations, class parties, after-school clubs, and movie nights into parent-teacher collaboration opportunities.

2. Use social media at your school to connect to parent(s)

Social media ties into every aspect of parent engagement. Creating a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram that can be updated with weekly assignments, goals, and parental opportunities can guarantee communication between parent(s) and their child’s classroom. Engaging parents through social media will also ensure their immersion into the new world of education, facilitating conversation about the importance of using social media tools in the world today. You can even provide podcasts, video clips, webinars, and video conferences to reach the largest audience. Try creating a parenting series using social media tools including online surveys, homework help, helpful resources, current events, and more. Get social!

3. Bridging the gap between home and school with online student portals

Parent(s) love to see their child’s progress, so connecting with them through an online student portal gets rid of those pesky transportation and scheduling issues. Student portals contain lots of information including class schedule/information, grades, assignment comments, exam schedules, and due dates. Keep in mind that parent(s) have a lot going on, just as you do, and need an easy way to keep track of their students’ academic and social progress outside of in person opportunities. Parent involvement isn’t always hands on in the classroom, but rather a support system at home. Take advantage of those existing online resources!

4. Do parent workshops!

Parent workshops work to build parental involvement while providing, yet another, space for parents and educators to work together. While planning for these workshops ask parents to join the planning team and encourage communication between parents to get more involvement. These workshops should be targeting the parents only, providing them with handouts, prizes, discussion topics, and a special thanks for attending! Some topic ideas can include keeping our youth safe on social media, raising responsible teenagers without micromanaging, and encouraging youth about avoiding risky behaviors.

5. Assign reading journals and homework logs

By creating an interactive at home parent involvement “check”, you as an educator will be able to see which students’ parents are involved and those that are not. It will hold parents accountable to be involved in their children’s education, as well as holding the students accountable for finishing their homework.  

Educators need to create meaningful parent involvement! Although five ways were mentioned, there are tons of ways to bridge the gap between parents and teachers to benefit the classroom, you just have to keep looking for ways to do this.