It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act
This report calls on federal, state, and local officials to do a better job of abiding by the parental involvement sections of the No Child Left Behind Act.
"It Takes A Parent" is based on research involving 18 school districts in six states. The report finds that: data reports are often confusing and overwhelming, and parents wait months for performance results, often into the next school year; teachers and administrators often lack training in how to engage parents; and parent involvement has fallen to the bottom of the list of NCLB requirements, though it is integral to the success of the law and of students and schools. Current parent involvement provisions of the law are solid and ambitious, but require more faithful implementation and greater enforcement.
"Appleseed has placed its finger on the pulse of a core education issue that is often overlooked," said U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson. "Informed parents are able to make a crucial difference in the academic success of children and the overall performance of schools."
The stakes are not just legal compliance, but an opportunity to incorporate parents as a key resource to propel student learning and narrow the academic achievement gaps.
Views expressed by scores of parents were echoed by federal and state officials, community groups and local educators: Parents are a crucial -- and often overlooked resource -- in the quest to raise student academic performance.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, schools must notify parents about the test results of individual students and the schools they attend. In addition, the law obligates local school systems to adopt parent involvement policies and to actively enlist the help of parents when constructing school-wide improvement plans.
Among the findings and recommendations for local and state officials and parents are:
- States, districts and schools must provide meaningful, understandable and timely information to parents regarding key school and student data.
- Districts and schools should pursue multiple, proactive strategies for communicating with and engaging parents -- particularly parents who are low-income or whose first language is not English.
- Districts and schools should leverage their limited resources by engaging community organizations.
- Federal, state and district officials need to prioritize and fund more comprehensive professional development for teachers and administrators, with special emphasis on challenges of culture and language.
- Federal, state and local policymakers and educators should recognize parental involvement as central to school improvement and place parental involvement strategies on par with other steps take to improve student achievement.
The report was produced by Appleseed, in coordination with several other key law firms and groups. Law firm, Holland & Knight, coordinated and carried out much of the research and drafted the final report, with assistance in two states from volunteers from DLA Piper. The National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP played key roles in gathering and assessing information, as well.
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