Cherie A. Lyons, principal consultant with the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, discussed strategies for increasing parental involvement, an important predictor of student achievement in schools.
The half-day session was held at Garapan Elementary School and drew the participation of teachers and parents.
Lyons talked about how parents should play an active role in their child’s education.
“When parents are involved with their kids, we see those students achieving higher. They get into college. They don’t drop out. They don’t cause discipline problems. They do better in school. They have higher grades and they graduate. The partnership between parents, the community and school is critical,” she said
In her presentation, she discussed the three features that define effective parental community involvement: communication, participation and governance.
Communication should be two-way — from schools to parents and community, and from parents to community to school.
This allows for a better understanding of the different factors that will help a student achieve his or her full potential at school.
Lyon said it is also the responsibility of the school to initiate communication so the parents can be aware of what is happening to their children at school and how they are performing academically.
Participation of the parents and community is essential, and results in lower absenteeism, truancy and dropout rates, she added.
Governance, for its part, requires the establishment of specific structures that allow parents and the community a voice in key school decisions, Lyons said.
“People support what they help to create,” she added.
This includes development and improvement plans in school that are beneficial to students.
“Parents and teachers have different information about the kids. That is why partnership between the teacher and parents is important,” Lyons said.
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning is a private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to making a difference in public education.
