asp (last accessed January 2020); National Center for Education Statistics and Common Core of Data, “National Elementary and Secondary Enrollment Projection Model, 1972 through 2027: Table 203. Another parent at Lanier noted that parents of teenagers “feel like they can become more lackadaisical with their involvement, even though these are some of the most important years they should be involved. Many parents, especially parents of color, shared that they felt this information proved their “kids can’t learn. Providing teachers with more time and support to regularly share information with parents will help integrate communication into teachers’ already busy schedules. School leaders were identified as people who previously identified that they were in a K-12 school leadership position and were then prescreened to ensure that they were currently working in a public school.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act stipulates that parents must consent to an evaluation for special education, have the ability to request an evaluation, and participate in the development of an individualized education program for their child, if needed. He lives just down the street from the school, where he took his first teaching job and where his own children will be students. While not intended to be a comprehensive nationwide analysis, CAP reviewed six of these parent engagement plans.Policymakers at the federal, state, and district levels need to continue to focus on increasing parent engagement, using communication tools as a lever. A. Schools Improve, District Must Provide Clear Information About Their Kids’ Education,” The 74, September 29, 2019, available at https://www. Overall, parents, teachers, and school leaders all reported that the different types of information schools communicate are important, although parents and teachers would ideally like this information to be communicated more frequently and consistently.

The systems found most valuable were those involving individualization—whether they use technology, such as a web portal with individual student information, or do not use technology, such as parent-teacher conferences. Educators in one qualitative study unanimously agreed that communication with families was critical to student success. In addition to differences by grade level, there are also important demographic differences in how parent engagement is perceived. If more parents were involved with their child’s education, it would help with grades and social life. These include the ways in which schools help establish supportive home environments; the design of communications between school and home; the recruitment and organization of parent help at school; information about how parents can help with homework and other curricular activities; the development of parent leaders and the inclusion of parents in school-level decisions; and the leveraging of community resources to strengthen school programs.Something that is one-size-fits-all will not be an exact fit and is not tailored for every circumstance, but it will suffice. Key trends from the analysis include: Parents, teachers, and school leaders perceive communication to be actionable and reported that parent engagement is strong. The Mesa County Valley School District in Grand Junction, Colorado, does not discuss leveraging technology in its plan but commits to using federal parent engagement funds to hire a parent involvement coordinator within the district office. Helen Westmoreland, director of family engagement; Jacki Ball, director of government affairs; and Rebecca Bauer, specialist in family engagement, National Parent Teacher Association, interview with authors via phone, September 30, 2019, on file with authors.