RESEARCH has shown that increased parent involvement in education generally translates into increased student performance. As a result, parents should take note of the No Child Left Behind Law that addresses accountability in education and whose mandate will go into effect in two to three years. The law allows for the creation of charter schools and enables parents to use federal funds to send their child to a higher performing school and for their child to receive tutoring.
Parents are the primary agents responsible for ensuring their child’s future success and should not rely solely on administrators to hold teachers accountable in a district accustomed to low expectations and low student achievement. This school year, the JFK administration took steps to increase student achievement consistent with the district and school action plans but were met with resistance by teachers satisfied with the status quo. Based on this experience, I would like to offer some suggestions to other parents on issues they should consider if they decide to exercise the options provided for in the law.
Parents should obtain a copy of their child’s report card for the year and compare the grades with the results of their child’s performance on standardized tests once they become available (Advanced Placement in June and the Stanford Achievement Test 9 in August). Parents should be concerned if there is little correlation between the two forms of assessment used to report student performance.
Parents should ask their child’s teachers what topics they will be covering during the year. Parents should be concerned if teachers are unable to articulate the relationship of what they are teaching to the district’s content area standards, SAT 9 instructional objectives or content clusters, and the expected schoolwide learning results which are integral to the accreditation process.
Parents should inquire about the accreditation status of the school. Parents and students are stakeholders in the accreditation process whose input must be welcomed and encouraged. Although the current accreditation model focuses on student learning, it is not immune from other stakeholder groups trying to advance their own agenda at the expense of an entire school community. Parents should be concerned if one stakeholder group feels their viewpoints should take precedence above all others in the accreditation process.
Parents should provide teachers with all the contact numbers where they can be reached in the event of a problem. Parents should be part of any intervention used to improve student performance in and out of class. Parents should be concerned if teaches do not make an attempt to contact them when a problem arises during the school year or if the first contact they receive comes from the school administration.
Parents should inquire about fees or contracts teachers may impose as a class requirement. Parents should be concerned if the fees or contracts violate existing board policies or Guam Public Law 14-130 that governs non-appropriated funds. Student learning should never be compromised as a result of adults mishandling non-appropriated funds.
Parents should encourage their child to attend classes especially if their child attends a school that uses a block schedule that only has 90 instructional days for each subject area. Parents should inquire about teacher attendance rates since teachers are responsible for delivering instruction. Information on teacher attendance is contained in the education department’s management information system and should be made available to parents upon request. Parents should be concerned if a teacher has a higher absentee rate than that of their child without a valid reason for the absences.
In closing, the No Child Left Behind Law provides the opportunity for parents to have their child attend higher performing schools in two to three years. This paradigm shift in accountability should be embraced if the future generations of Guam are to compete in the global economy by being an educated and informed citizenry. Parents should be concerned because ultimately, a neglected child becomes a concern for all segments of our community (GovGuam, the business sector, the media, the military, etc.). As a sitting senator in Congress said, “It takes an entire village…” Biba i famaguon-ta giya Guahan! ISIDRO SANTOS YATAR
Santa Rita, Guam
