Study: Parents Not Doing Enough

Deborah Tuff
News 14 Carolina

If parents in North Carolina could be graded on how involved they are in their child's education, officials say they would get a failing grade.

"It's pretty clear that parents and state officials and community groups really have a ways to go," said Edwin Darden, director of education policy for the Appleseed Foundation -- a national public interest group.

A study done by the group shows that six years after the No Child Left Behind Act went into effect, parents and schools still aren't on the same page.

After conducting interviews with parents, schools, and state leaders this is what they found:

•Cultural barriers play a large role in how much a parent is involved in a child's school.

•If a parent wants to be involved, sometimes schools don't make them feel welcomed.

•Information sent home for parents isn't clear.

•There's a communication barrier between parents and the public school system.

Debra Horton, president of the North Carolina PTA, agrees with the findings.

"The parent involvement report for North Carolina was not ... surprising -- they were just validated. This is the work we've been doing for a number of years, the findings were very consistent with what we know, not only in North Carolina but nationally," said Horton.

So, how can the problem be fixed? Darden says the answer is simple.

"Schools need to make more sincere efforts to reach out to parents in more creative ways," he concluded.

One parent says that simply being a parent should be reason enough to be involved in a child’s day-to-day activities.

"You go in there saying ‘I am doing this for my child, my child deserves this, my child deserves that, this school deserves this, this school deserves that’ and you go in and get it. Don't be intimidated, go in with your child in mind," said Trilby McClammey.