Schools Working To Increase Parental Involvement

Jennifer Ludden

Research overwhelmingly shows that parental involvement in a child's education improves academic performance. But there are a lot of reasons why parents keep their distance -- including cultural and class divisions. Guests discuss strategies to get parents more involved in their kids' schooling.

In Detroit, a prosecutor is making headlines for proposing jail time for parents who don't attend teacher conferences. It's one of the more drastic efforts to get parents more involved in their kids' education. More than 20 percent of parents did not attend teacher conferences in 2007, according to the Department of Education. In some districts, the share can be much higher.

Research tells us that children perform better in the classroom if parents are more involved at home and in school. Still, there are lots of reasons why parents keep their distance from the education system. We'll talk about some of those reasons and what schools are doing to get parents more involved.

If you're a parent and you don't attend parent-teacher conferences, tell us why not. What are your schools doing, or what should they do to encourage parents? Give us a call: 800-989-8255. You can send us an email. The address is talk@npr.org. Or you join the conversation at our website. Just go to npr.org and click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 2, 2010 4:52 AM
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