Parenting Includes Education
Parents a key factor in student academic performance reproduced by Troy Media HERE
The only way to improve education is for parents, teachers, schools, and the government to work together
Few topics ignite as much debate among parents and educators as K-12 education. While both parties strive for quality, one side often advocates for increased competition, while the other pushes for more funding. However, this apparent conflict is fostering innovation and greater parental involvement, particularly in North America, where the stakes are high.
My interest in this topic deepened when I learned about the success of states like Montana and North Dakota. These northern U.S. states boast impressive academic performance despite operating with comparatively lower state funding. At the same time, a proposal in Alberta to enhance parental involvement in K-12 education caught my attention. This initiative includes helping parents become better informed about how to choose the right school for their children.
In Alberta, the discussion surrounding K-12 education frequently focuses on provincial funding levels. While adequate funding is undoubtedly essential, it is not the only factor influencing academic outcomes. Increasingly, experts argue that parental involvement, school choice, and competition among schools are equally crucial in shaping students' educational success.
Provincial funding has fluctuated over the years, impacting the resources available to schools. Well-funded schools can offer smaller class sizes, updated textbooks, and a variety of extracurricular activities, all of which enhance the learning experience. However, even in these schools, academic performance often correlates with the level of parental engagement.
Alberta’s K-12 education system faces unique challenges, particularly due to rapid population growth. As more families move into the province, schools are struggling to keep up with the rising number of students, leading to crowded classrooms and stretched resources. Despite these challenges, Alberta continues to perform well on national academic metrics, thanks in part to a strong educational framework that supports diverse needs and high standards. Yet, the strain on funding and infrastructure means that innovative solutions, such as increased parental involvement and school choice, are more critical than ever.
Research consistently shows that students with involved parents are more likely to succeed academically, have better attendance, and display more positive attitudes toward school. Parental involvement can take many forms, from attending parent-teacher conferences and volunteering at school events to helping with homework and creating a learning-friendly environment at home.
Dr. Emily Roberts, an education specialist at the University of Bangor, notes, “Parents who actively participate in their child's education provide crucial support that goes beyond what schools can offer. Their involvement bridges gaps that funding alone cannot address.”
Moreover, parental choice and competition among schools significantly impact student performance in Alberta. The ability to choose between public, separate, charter, and home schooling allows parents to select the environments that best meet their children's needs. This freedom fosters competition among schools, driving them to innovate and improve their offerings to attract and retain students.
Parents, however, face significant disadvantages as advocates for enhancing their children’s educational experiences. While teachers may be sympathetic to parents’ concerns, they are bound by union obligations and hierarchical structures that often place student interests secondary to other considerations. Unlike teachers, parents have no union to advocate for their interests. Unions often control key leadership positions such as superintendents, principals, trustees, and school boards. By law, when a student is at school, the teacher assumes a parental role—known as "in loco parentis"—which can further marginalize parents' influence.
Despite these challenges, parents are stepping up. Some are setting criteria for hiring school principals, while others are preparing to run for school board positions. The time parents spend with their children—about 3,000 hours annually, including holidays—far exceeds the 1,200 hours students spend with teachers in K-12 education. How much of this time is dedicated to education depends on various factors, including school schedules, family routines, screen time, and extracurricular activities. Teachers, managing multiple students, often have limited one-on-one time with each child, whereas parents, particularly those involved in homeschooling, can offer more individualized attention.
Most importantly, the contribution of both parents and teachers to a child's education should be complementary, not competitive. Unfortunately, this crucial collaboration is often overlooked in educational curricula. Educational leaders should ensure that parent-teacher engagement is constructive and mutually supportive, rather than competitive or combative.
Reducing K-12 class sizes from current levels to 12-15 students is necessary for personal attention to significantly impact academic performance. In communities where funding is limited, parental involvement and choice become even more critical. Parents can supplement the resources and support that schools may lack, advocating for their children and ensuring they receive the attention and help they need, especially in larger classrooms where individual attention may be scarce.
Initiatives to boost parental involvement are yielding significant benefits across Alberta. Schools are implementing programs that encourage deeper parental engagement in their children’s education. Workshops on effective parenting strategies, open communication channels between parents and teachers, and flexible event timings to accommodate working parents are all steps in the right direction.
In countries like Canada and the U.S., parents are deeply involved in decision-making and school activities. In contrast, Finnish parents tend to place greater trust in the education system and are less involved in school governance. The U.S. and Canada offer more school choice options (public, charter, private, homeschooling), while countries like Finland and Japan have more standardized systems. In Japan, parental involvement is often driven by cultural expectations for academic excellence, while in Finland, there is less pressure on parents, with stronger trust in the education system. In the U.S. and Canada, socio-economic status significantly affects the level of parental involvement, whereas in Finland, the education system is designed to minimize these disparities.
Ultimately, while increased provincial funding to accommodate rising K-12 enrollment remains essential, recognizing and fostering the invaluable roles of parental involvement, choice, and competition can create a more balanced approach to improving academic performance. A collaborative effort between schools and government, parents and teachers, across Alberta will ensure that every child receives a quality education, regardless of funding challenges. - Editor
Editor’s Note: Next week I'll address the “Covid-hangover” and its impact on students, parents and the overall education system.
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4moJust a few thoughts on the Parenting article and Education. I agree parents need to be more active in the education of their children. On the Education system I would encourage Parents to understand truth, our society thinks it is relative. While other think it is Absolute. I get discouraged when I she the women in our society making advancements and then Education system not understanding what a woman is. So to the Parents I would recommend you have your children taught in Truth. There are a lot of good alternative choices today in the Independent and private schools verses the public system. I would lean on the 3R’s, classical music and arts, as well as strong history component and I personally use the Biblical view to develop my worldview. I most recently was on a school board and the cost in the public system is about $ 14,500/student while in the Alternatives the cost was down to $ 9,500/student. So if we are putting more into the Education system it needs to be tied to meritocracy. Any way a few thoughts on this topic.
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4moVery rightly so Perry, good (and even not-so good) parents are significant trust holders with their children (and the notion of what is a child for our species nowadays extends beyond the K-12 scope). If we presume that parents bring trust, teachers bring knowledge, and schools bring economic sustainability, parental involvement in education as well as politics (the art of governing people for people's own long term good, from emergence, to integration. to safety and security) is truly the right ingredient to boost.