Parental Involvement and Student Success

Abstract

The main purpose of this action-research project was to discover what parents think about their overall relationship with their children's school and then use this information to build stronger relationships with them. I wanted to find new and meaningful approaches that would get parents more involved in their children's education. I was also determined to review successful literature that has already been completed in the field and decide how to implement that into my classroom. Some of my questions for this study included: What are parents' initial perceptions of their communication with their children’s school. How do I improve the parents perception of the school? How do I get the parents more involved in the education of their children and how do I maintain this involvement? These questions would hopefully give me a better idea as to how parents view their role between them and their child's school. I also wanted to see what type of work and programs needed to be put into effect in order to increase the amount of involvement parents have with their children's school. I hoped to gain essential knowledge needed to bridge the gap between parent-school communications and overall involvement in the education of their child. Past research has focused on this topic but I felt like this type of research should be done within each school district because each district has its own needs. Past and present research about the need for improved parent-school communication has given many recommendations but I believe few have been very successful and most have been subjective.