Educators err when they marginalize parents

By EDWIN DARDEN and WARLENE GARY

As we enter the backstretch of another school year, students have endured the latest round of state exams and standardized tests -- a spring rite of passage in the No Child Left Behind era. Schools that flub these exams could get labeled as persistently failing and potentially face "reconstitution," a polite way of saying that principals, teachers and other personnel will be axed and new blood recruited.

In the five years since Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act, this prove-what-you-know ritual has played out repeatedly in school districts throughout the country -- often with mixed results. In the meantime, as students prepare annually for these crucial exams, parents are told -- condescendingly -- that their best contribution is to make sure their child has enough sleep the night before and eats breakfast in the morning. It is time for that view of parent involvement to end.

Some enlightened school systems don't need to be convinced about the connection between robust parent involvement and impressive academic accomplishment by kids. In Mobile, Ala., the Mobile Area Education Foundation engaged parents, businesses and ordinary citizens around a "Yes We Can" theme that transformed the school-community relationship, resulting in higher test scores -- even for children from low-income families.

In 2005, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools created The Parent Academy, a year-round initiative that trains parents to become equal partners in supporting and improving their children's education. And in Yakima Valley, in Washington state, Spanish-language radio station KDNA broadcasts vignettes and public-service programs on parent involvement in schools to its rural listening area.

Engaging parents is not only a great idea, it is federal law. The No Child Left Behind Act explicitly states that parents have a right to know information about the academic performance of their child and their child's school. Likewise, it gives them a legally enforceable right to be part of improvement plans drafted by struggling schools.

Of course, we don't need a law to tell us what social-science research has made clear for years: Students of all ages, races and socioeconomic status aim higher -- and are more likely to get there -- when parents play a meaningful role in their education.
For reasons that remain elusive, educators commonly devalue parent contributions. Some mention the pressure of testing and accountability. Others say it is a matter of money. Still others simply don't believe, despite the evidence, that parents can help. And for many low-income parents, factors such as inflexible work schedules, language barriers and an unwelcoming school climate can seem like impenetrable obstacles to active engagement in their child's education.

A recent study of 18 school districts in six states by Appleseed, a national legal advocacy organization, found little in the way of formal programs to bring parents through the school door.

The report, "It Takes A Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act," concluded that administrators and teachers need to provide clearer and more timely information to parents; that teachers and principals have to do a better job of reaching out to low-income and non-English-speaking families; and that the federal government needs to more vigorously enforce this portion of the law, which has thus far relied primarily on wishful thinking.

This is the year that elected officials will take a close look at No Child Left Behind in preparation for renewing the law. There are signs that government leaders are starting to recognize that parent engagement is crucial if the law's grand vision is to translate into meaningful, long-term changes at our nation's struggling schools.

It is no exaggeration to say that the central role of public education in our democracy hinges on recognizing the power of parental involvement and public engagement. Without it, educators will continue to work in isolation, flouting the law and leaving out the very people who have the greatest influence on the academic success of all children -- parents.

Edwin Darden is director of education policy for Appleseed. Warlene Gary is chief executive officer of the National Parent Teacher Association.

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

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