No Parent Left Behind

By Linda K. Jones

This article was originally written by me on 3/23/2007 for the Westside Towncrier. A call to prioritize resources for parent education and training.

At the school level, parent understanding of school achievement data is needed so parents can push and/or assist educators to make improvements based on that data. At the public and community level, parent knowledge of test scores and data is required for informed public dialogue and decision-making.

In 2007, in the beginning of the school year, I wrote an article calling for parent leadership training. As new emphasis is being placed on teacher accountability, I proposed that we dedicate the time and funds locally to include parents, an important partner in the education of our students. I truly believe that the reason many public schools have such an increase in incidents of violence and student apathy on their campuses is because this key component is lacking. I will admit as a parent myself, the red tape under the guise of "policies", the complexity of the curriculum and the challenge of balancing our own personal and work commitments have created challenges and obstacles to parent involvement. However, as a society, we cannot allow this to become an excuse and just leave it to the system to inspire and teach our children. A wise friend once told me, when a mother sheep allows her calf to be raised by wolves, then that calf will become the product of its environment and will have none of the characteristics of its natural mother- it's called survival.

I commend the Westside Union School District for adopting parent involvement and home-school compacts at each school site [2007]. Though this is a start, the push needs to now move from "parent involvement" to "parent engagement". I'm sure that is a scary thought for both the parent and the school. However, we can no longer afford as a society to just drop our children off. We need to define parent engagement in the standards-based context. As I have mentioned in earlier articles, the idea is to go beyond parents' traditional roles (bake sales and homework help) to focus on parents' potential for helping improve student achievement.

As parents, we need to both influence and partner with those institutions that are responsible for developing and maintaining an educated, safe and humane society. In order to reach this generation of parents, the education community will have to think outside the box and understand that just as they are still trying to master the complexities and fall-out of "standards based reform", it is that much more difficult for parents who do not have the background that they do. While the education community is looking back and pulling the children and the teachers to the front, let's not forget our parents, as they are the ultimate key to our success. "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking that they don't have any." -Alice Walker.

The views stated above are not representative of the Westside Union School board but of the individual authoring this article.