The Importance of Parent Engagement in a Child’s Education – Part 1

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - November 6th, 2017

Children spend 70% of their waking hours (including weekends and holidays) outside of school.  As hard as teachers and schools try, you cannot depend on them to give your child all they need when it comes to education.  The research for parent engagement is consistent, positive and convincing – The more involved a parent (or other significant family member) is in a child’s education, the higher the odds that the child will be successful in school and in life endeavors.  All the research points to this conclusion.

Take a look:

Schools would need to spend $1,000 per pupil to equal parent involvement

$1,000 is the increase in per pupil spending that schools would have to make to achieve same results that are gained with parent involvement.

Source: Research study from University of New Hampshire

Kids with involved parents are 52% more likely to get straight A’s

A child is 52% MORE likely to enjoy school and get straight A’s when both parents are involved in the child’s education.

Source:  US Dept. of Education

98% teachers agree that parent involvement equals higher academic achievement

98% of teachers agree that “greater family involvement and support would achieve a strong impact on academic achievement.”

Source: Scholastic and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Children raised in high-language homes have 38-point higher IQs

Children raised in a “high language” household earn 38 more IQ points than children raised in “low language” homes – How much parents speak to their children is more predictive of IQ than socioeconomic status or race.

Source: Study by Drs. Betty Hart and Todd Risley

The size of your home library gives your child a huge educational advantage:

• Growing up in a home with 500 books propels a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than growing up in a similar home with few or no books.
• A child from a family rich in books is 19 percentage points more likely to complete university than a comparable child growing up without a home library.
• To help your child achieve in school, read, respect book, and pass a love of reading down to your children.

Source: Study by M.D.R. Evans, University of Nevada

Better grades, higher test scores, graduate and post-graduate education

Regardless of family income and education levels, and from all ethnic and cultural groups, students with involved parents:

• earn higher grades,
• earn higher test scores,
• graduate at higher rates,
• enroll in higher level programs,
• are promoted, pass their classes, earn more credits,
• attend school regularly,
• have better social skills, improved behavior, adapt well to school,
• graduate and go on to post-secondary education.

Source: A New Wave of Evidence, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

Don’t miss The Importance of Parent Engagement in a Child’s Education – Part 2:

The Importance of Parent Engagement in a Child’s Education – Part 2