Studer Community Institute

Guest commentary: The power of a parent

March 27, 2015
/ Brigette Gray Brooks
/ early-learning

“Anything the teachers believe they can accomplish alone, they can do better in collaboration with parents.” — Peter Hannon Kudos to the Studer Community Institute for the Pensacola Education Report 2015. The three-part series looked at how Pensacola metro area schools fared under 16 years of education reform, of which FCAT was the centerpiece, the bright spots and the work that remains to help our students, our schools and our communities improve As I read each of these well-researched, well-written articles, I found a prevailing theme: the importance of parental (or guardians) involvement in student success. [sidebar] Editor's note: In the 2014 Pensacola Metro Report, education emerged as this community’s top priority. As a result the Studer Community Institute staff in February launched the Pensacola Education Report 2015. A series of stories in three-part installments looked at, among other issues, the history of the FCAT, students, principals and teachers who are making a difference and building better readers in early education. To provide insight and perspective, the Institute invited people in the Pensacola Metro area from various walks of life to share their thoughts and impressions of the Education Report. Over the next several days, read what they have to say at PensacolaToday.com and StuderInstitute.com. [/sidebar] It is a theme that resonates with me personally as a parent and president of the Escambia County Council of PTA/PTSAs. Parental involvement is one of the reasons why I continue to be involved in an organization whose mission statement is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. The articles strongly support the need to get parents involved from birth to graduation and offered empirical evidence on the positive difference this involvement makes in the life of the student. Parental involvement leads to student success that extends beyond graduation, to future income and lifelong earnings. It is poignant to recognize the importance of quality parent interaction that includes talking and listening to an infant and the difference this can have between birth and 3 years on the language development of a child. Failing to do so can result in a gap of 30 million words and a six-month lag in learning by age 4, when a child often enters VPK. Equally as important in the education report was the acknowledgement of the need to teach parents how to engage and get involved with their student at the beginning of their academic journey. Too often ignored is the reality that some parents, particularly those who are young, not well-educated, working multiple jobs living in poverty, may want to be involved in helping their child become successful but may not always know what to do. Reaching outside the school walls to places such as churches, community centers, housing developments, and social service agencies is important in maximizing the opportunity to get parents involved. Family nights are occurring throughout schools in Escambia County School District and have proven successful in making parents feel welcome at the school and involving them in their child’s education journey. National PTA research shows that some of the risk factors leading to high school dropout appear as early as kindergarten, and include lack of parent engagement or adult support, poor academic performance, high absenteeism and being bullied. The A.A. Dixon study conducted by Sam Mathews clearly defined the importance of parent involvement. It concluded: “That students under some of the most difficult circumstances can perform and excel in school with the right resources, support network and attention, regardless of their socio-economic level and family dysfunction.” Parents who prioritized education, set high student expectations, and understood and utilized the resources to help their student be successful resulted in high-performing students. Parental involvement was at the crux of this success. The mention of involved parents at West Florida High School was noted in this series, and I am sure is an important contributing factor to its exemplary 94 percent graduation rate. While early parental involvement that continues throughout the course of the student’s academic career is a proven factor in student success, when parents are not able to provide this support, we are fortunate to have a number of school and community-based program available to help fill the gap. ECARE and the WSRE Imagination Station are impacting our local preschoolers in a critical time of their brain development. The school-based Positive Behavior System operates in more than 20 district schools, and its hallmark is recognizing and rewarding students for positive behavior. More than 500 mentors, with assignments in each of our K-12 schools, provide one-on-one student encouragement and assistance. The United Way RSVP program lends retired and senior volunteers to three of the inner-city schools in the district. Programs like Guardian Ad Litem are working to protect the most vulnerable of our student population, those who are victims of neglect or abuse. Active, involved PTA units can be found in more than 30 schools with membership, mostly parents, totaling more than 5,000 members. True to the PTA mission, these volunteers are advocating for all children and encouraging collaboration between families, schools and communities for student success. While not exhaustive, this list represents some of the great programs and organizations making a difference in the lives of our students. In the challenging, complex and competitive world in which our students live, programs and organizations such as these create a safety net for students to help them succeed. While many challenges lie ahead for our schools, the Studer Community Institute Report helped to identify some of these, highlighted some of our successes and demonstrated the critical parental involvement component that can be instrumental to student success.

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Guest commentary: The power of a parent

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