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Who is to blame for the achievement gap? Every year a new scapegoat surfaces. In the past, principles, teachers, and administrators have all taken the brunt of the blame for some of our failing schools. However, how often do we as parents, grandparents, and guardians evaluate our own contributions towards closing the achievement gap?
According to the Michigan Department of Education,” lack of parent involvement is the biggest problem facing public schools”. There is no excuse for a parent not to take an active interest in their child’s education. There are very simple actions you as a parent can do to not only become involved in your child’s education, but also demonstrate the value of education to your child.
You can set aside a daily scheduled time for your child to finish assignments and study in a quiet area. Set high standards by recognizing and encouraging your child’s achievement and special talents. A parent’s role in their child’s education alone influences the child’s capacity to learn more than any other factor. According to the Michigan Department of Education, “the most consistent predictors of children’s academic achievement and social adjustment are parent expectations of the child’s academic attainment and satisfaction with their child’s education at school.”.
Take an active interest in your child’s education and your child will do the same. You have the power to greatly influence your child’s education more than any educational institution or societal factor. You should hold yourself accountable to your child’s success in school. Are you content with your child’s failing grades or are you challenging him or her to do better? Take a Stand!
Parents, Cap.the.Gap wants to hear from you! Please share how you are making sure your child doesn’t fall in the achievement gap.
Written by, Cap.the.Gap contributor, Tiffany Clark
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About Lola O.
is a self-described Reformer for urban education and advocate for students with exceptionalities. Her interest in urban education reform started in context after surviving, what she calls, the “holocaust of the D.C. Public Schools.” She intuitively knew that there where forces working against her; no one had to tell her that the odds of her graduating, going on to college, and escaping poverty were stacked well against her simply because of her zip code of 20010. She made a pact with God that if he delivered her, she would come back and help reverse these odds for students coming after her. Needless to say, God kept his end of the deal and today she is a graduate of Eastern University with degrees in Urban Studies and Political Science and plans to pursue her Master’s in early childhood administration.
In 2009, she was accepted to the Public Allies class of 2009-2010. Public Allies, started under the leadership of Michele Obama, is a national movement grounded in the conviction that everyone leads; that everyone has gifts and assets that they can contribute to making their communities and society a better place. While serving as an Ally, she had the opportunity to serve with A Schools—Pittsburgh’s premier advocacy group for urban education reform. It was while in this role that she was able to deepen her knowledge on issues plaguing urban schools across the country. She returned from her time with Public Allies believing that the racial academic achievement gap is the biggest threat to the economic prosperity of historically disenfranchised communities and resolved to sound the alarm through a self-initiated blog entitled, Cap the Gap. The title was inspired by the 2010 summer BP oil spill during which the nation cried out, calling BP to cap the break in the pipe that was spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf, causing economic and environmental damage that will be felt for years to come. In the same way, she believes something even more precious is spilling, and that is the lives of tens of thousands of students of color who graduate every year unable to compete in our economy. Without adequate skills, the lives of these students often spill into crime, drugs, welfare dependency, the prison system, and ultimately the grave.
Her hope is to bring together a community of concerned citizens to engage in a solution base dialogue that leads to the close of the achievement gap. When she isn’t writing for her blog, she spends her time serving as a volunteer with Jumpstart, a national organization committed to closing the achievement gap by focusing on early literacy and cognitive development. Her best two hours of the week is spent reading to preschoolers at Leap%2
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Yes, I totally agree. Education is a partnership among parents, teachers, and administrators. As an Educator, it’s really sad to have and see 3 parents out of 100 students show up for Parent Teacher conferences. Once children start going to school, they need their parent’s guidance and involvement more than ever.
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Did you say 3 parents out of 100 students come out for parent teacher conferences,??? wow! I knew parent involvement was on the decline, but not to that degree! thanks for sharing Maria! What do you think is at the source of parents not attending their child’s parent teacher conferences? Could it be that many parents these days simply don’t care about ensuring that their child gets a proper education? I don’t know, but in my opinion for parents not to attend their child’s parent teacher conference meetings is, i hate to say, akin to child abuse. Am i being harsh? What do you think is a possible solution?
Yes, about 3 or 4 parents. I’ve experienced it and Landis is experiencing now at his school. Some parents are simply not available and don’t have the time, and some won’t go for whatever reason. I wouldn’t necessarily call it child abuse,… but I would refer to it as child neglect. I think the value of parent involvement needs to be stressed before and when a child starts a school. Schools may want to have parents sign a commitment statement to make parents accountable. We signed one for Ifika’s school. Maybe schools should give incentives and consequences for parents who are involved and not involved in their child’s education. Incentives such as scholarships, free school trips, etc. and consequences such as can’t participate in school activities, or graduate. I know some schools are doing something like this. Most importantly, parents need to understand how much power they have in the education of their children. I also think parents need to be valued. Schools could have parent appreciation week or month with activities and events for parents so a relationship can be established. The saying is true for children and adults, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Just my thoughts.See More
Wow, Maria, this is great! Talk about a solution based dialogue! Your ideas are very creative! I think offering scholarship to the children of parents who participate in their child’s education is very innovative and would go over extremely well. I would love to have you or Landis come on my radio show I am lunching in a few weeks to share your ideas with Cap.the.Gap subscribers! Inbox me if you would be interested. Anyone else out there want to join in on the conversation and add their ideas?
HI…My son’s teacher told some parents that it was not necessary for them to come to the parent-teacher conference. I think that was bad advice but to some parents it was a relief I know. I recently spent 2 weeks in my son’s classroom & …it truly was an eye-opener. I did not see very much “learning” going on, now that’s what I think is a shame.The children were out of control….and the teacher was still teaching. The kids walked in and out of the room without permission…they hit, they bumped, they were just down right unkind to each other. I blame the Principal because I believe it starts from the top. I voiced my dissatisfaction to the Vice Principal who was going to pass on my feelings to the Principal…..no promises were made for any change but at least someone listened.
Thanks Cynthia for sharing! My question, in your opinion, what do you think the principal can do to help change the climate you just describe in your son’s classroom? How might she include parents in helping to change things? Also, than…ks for serving in your son’s classroom! I think if we had more parents serving in their child’s classroom we wouldn’t have the behavior issues you just mentioned. What do you think? What do you think of Maria suggestions for helping to get more parents involved? Thanks for joining the discussion!
HI…My son’s teacher told some parents that it was not necessary for them to come to the parent-teacher conference. I think that was bad advice but to some parents it was a relief I know. I recently spent 2 weeks in my son’s classroom & …it truly was an eye-opener. I did not see very much “learning” going on, now that’s what I think is a shame.The children were out of control….and the teacher was still teaching. The kids walked in and out of the room without permission…they hit, they bumped, they were just down right unkind to each other. I blame the Principal because I believe it starts from the top. I voiced my dissatisfaction to the Vice Principal who was going to pass on my feelings to the Principal…..no promises were made for any change but at least someone listend.
You are always going to have parents who really are not interested in their children’s education, no matter what you offer them. Remember a lot of these children are children themselves.Their interest are not in trips. Maybe supermarket gif…t cards. Listen…our school provided each child a uniform…blazer,shirt,pants,belt, tie &socks…thats everything except for the shoes & underwear!! Would you believe that there are so many students that come to school without their uniforms?? Well they do and no much is done about it….shame on those parents. They also provided each child with a coat, gloves & hats for the winter….don’t know what happened to those either….hmmmmm. Do you really think these same parents are going to care about incentives….I don’t think so.
I do know that the Principal can change the climate but he would have to take a stand that would be unpopular. What would happen to the children whose parents don’t send them to school with a uniform. It’s not the children’s fault…so how …do you get that to change…hard choice isn’t it. Everyone talking about education and you sending kids home because the parents could care less that you don’t have a uniform….hmmmm. How about the kids that come to school with uniforms on…but they are so dirty you wish you could take them off and wash them. White shirts are grey with stains, horrible, just a shame. We need to stop playing and treat our children like they are future college students. Lets not give up on them because they will certainly give up on themselves.See More
While I agree there are always going to be parents who just don’t care (which is life in general), you always have to start somewhere. This is about reaching people and changing lives for those who are interested in change. Yes, SOME pare…nts may not care about incentives, but some will. Of course if you are going to create incentives, research should be done to find out what would be valuable for the parents and students. Again, one way this can be done is by establishing a relationship with the parents. By getting to know the parents, maybe we can try and understand for example, why their kids are coming to school without uniforms or with dirty clothes, etc. I certainly agree that change starts from the top because they are the ones that set the atmosphere. An effective Principal can make a school good, but an effective Principal with a healthy relationship with his or her students, parents, and staff can change a school from good to great. We can talk for hours, days, weeks, even years talking about the problems and blaming other people, but I would rather put that same energy or more in finding solutions. If we keep asking ourselves, “How?” our mind stays active searching for possibilities. Once we say, “No or that’s not going to work” , our mind closes the door to what is possible.
Thanks ladies for your comments! I think this was a great conversation and I hope you guys will continue to share your thoughts on future post! please invite your friends, co-workers and family member to join in the conversation as well! lets cap the gap once and for all! blessings