Education Today: Are You Invested In Your Child's Learning?
By Jennifer LoPiccolo
As a parent, you know where your child's school is located, yet do you know how to get to your child's classroom? Sometimes our students are unaware they're struggling and don't know how to navigate the educational or social challenges weighing on their academic achievement.
We can no longer depend on educators alone to advocate on our student's behalf; parents must step into the classroom and build a bridge between home life and school life.
Parental involvement is great. Parental engagement is important. However, parental investment is crucial to the success of a child. We invest in the fundamentals of our lifestyle: cars, homes, our retirement, but why should our kid's education be any different?
It should be our top priority. When parents are highly engaged in their sons' and daughters' education, their students are more apt to succeed academically. Yet, when parents are highly invested in their sons and daughters' education, their children are more likely to understand the value of continual learning and discover opportunities for themselves.
According to the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren's Parent and Community Voice subcommittee, there is a dearth of formal avenues for parent and community say at all levels of school decision making in Detroit.
Research from Chicago's Public Schools shows that local school councils (made up of 6 parents, 2 community members, 2 teachers, 1 non-teacher staff, the school principal, and 1 student for high schools) can improve academic achievement more effectively than school structures that don't allow for parent and community voice.[i]
When parents have a defined seat at the education table, they become empowered and see their voice is not only a contribution, but a lever that shifts decisions for their child's education. Are you invested in your student's academic success? Make a seat for yourself at the education table.
*Content provided by the Education Today sponsor.
