Parent Involvement and Engagement at Rural Secondary Schools
When students transition from elementary to secondary school, multiple obstacles—more pronounced in rural, high-poverty districts—impede parent-school partnerships. To combat these challenges, school staff should provide curriculum information to encourage parents to engage with their student’s academics, organize workshops about post-secondary options to develop parents’ high educational aspirations for their students, and develop flexible parent programming to support the needs of different groups of parents.
This report discusses how to involve parents in secondary students’ academics, encourage parents to hold high educational aspirations for their students, and respond to parents’ needs with respect and flexibility when designing parent programming. It also focuses on strategies for rural school districts, and profiles two research-backed parent involvement and engagement programs.
Partner to improve high school success
Successful partnerships between schools and parents of secondary students improve student success. When students transition from elementary to secondary school, multiple obstacles—more pronounced in rural, high-poverty districts—impede parent-school partnerships. To combat these challenges, school staff should provide curriculum information to encourage parents to engage with their student’s academics, organize workshops about post-secondary options to develop parents’ high educational aspirations for their students, and develop flexible parent programming to support the needs of different groups of parents. Successful secondary schools target both parent involvement and parent engagement
Successful secondary schools target both parent involvement and parent engagement
Use communication and parent-focused assignments
At the secondary level, parents may be unfamiliar with their student’s coursework. In addition, students become less willing to share information about their lives at school. In response, school staff should clearly and consistently explain deadlines, course objectives, and student progress to parents through multiple channels (e.g., phone calls, in-person meetings, posts online). These actions improve parents’ ability to understand their student’s school lives—if parents are aware of deadlines, they can help their student complete schoolwork on-time and effectively. Moreover, educators can use parent-student-school contracts and targeted assignments (e.g., student-relative interviews) to further engage parents in their student’s academic performance.
Parents at the secondary level can help students set deadlines, keep track of projects, and remain organized
Raise parent expectations through workshops
Research shows that when parents express high educational aspirations for students, student success indicators (e.g., high school graduation rates) improve. However, minority and low income parents often overestimate the cost and underestimate the feasibility of postsecondary education. To combat this obstacle, school administrators should consider implementing a parent education series through which administrators discuss post-secondary applications, financial aid, and other topics.
Target resources to parents’ needs
Research suggests that all parents, regardless of race and class background, care about their student’s education, and administrators should not assume any parents are disinterested. Rather, schools should assess parents’ needs and the obstacles they face and target parent programming accordingly to improve parent engagement. This approach elevates parents as partners in student success and frames the school as welcoming and helpful. Moreover, to respond to parent obstacles such as work schedules, school staff should be flexible in their delivery of parent programming (e.g., home visits).
To meaningfully develop relationships with nominally disengaged parents, administrators should design engagement strategies in response to specific obstacles these parents experience.
Engage parents with research-backed programs
The National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University offers guidance for schools interested in improving parent involvement (i.e., parent participation in administrator-defined activities). To improve parent engagement (i.e., parent commitment to initiatives that elevate parents as partners in student success), administrators should consider the research-backed, nine-week parent engagement program from the Parent Institute for Quality Education.
Research from San Diego State University, Claremont Graduate University, and California Partnership of Achieving Student Success supports the Parent Institute for Quality Education program.
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