4.6 Parental and Community Involvement

Active engagement by parents, community members, and civic and business leaders is a critical contribution to a school system’s success. According to the National Parent Information Network, educational experiences and outcomes improve substantially when parents and communities are involved in schools. Successful parent involvement programs have the following characteristics:

• Primary educational environment comes from the family;
• Parent involvement in a child's education is a major factor in improving school effectiveness, the quality of education, and a child's academic success;
• The benefits of parent involvement in a child's school are not confined to preschool or elementary school but extend through high school; and
• Low-income children and children of color have the most to gain when schools reach out to involve their parents.

Community involvement ensures overall support for public school systems and demands accountability for the education of children. All of these forms of involvement can lead to more effective educational reform as parents, community institutions and businesses better understand the nature of challenges in the schools and seek to ensure that students develop their full intellectual potential as well as self-expression and civic responsibility.