Teachers, parents, and students

Earlier this week I had an awkward moment with a parent. A mom who has been trying to help her child be more successful openly admitted that she was struggling with the worksheet. She had called to pick up a copy of the book, but I don't use a textbook. I hopped online and printed off some information I thought would be helpful. The assignment was to calculate the area of a circle.

The encounter got me thinking. Teachers often send home work expecting the student can get help from a parent; how often are parents unable to help because of their own educational background? Let's face it, teachers complain about a lack of parent involvement- parents complain that teachers don't teach their child. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is doing something to improve the teacher-parent relationship and by extension help students. Miami's Parent Academy has been holding free classes for parents such as "Help Your Child Succeed in Math" and "Teaching Behavior Skills" for the last few years. Philadelphia School District operates the Parent University, blending parenting skills and adult education courses. In Arlington, Virginia, Latino moms attend a class that guides them through school procedures and provides techniques for helping students with homework.

We all know the benefits of involved parents. It appears we have been remiss in teaching some parents how to be involved. I think if more school districts took the extra time and money to set up programs such as these mentioned drop out rates would decline and behavioral problems decrease. We would finally stand a chance at changing the attitude that education is optional.