Chapter 9: TP2000

This chapter dealt with how to get parents and the local community more involved in the students and the school. Research shows that students who have high expectations from their parents and receive involvement from their parents have higher grades and test scores, better school attendance, and higher graduation rates. Also, teachers experience improved morale, more support from families, higher student achievement, and better reputations in their communities when parents are involved. A teacher cannot disagree with the fact that his or her students will do better when the parents are involved, and they will try hard to make sure the students include their parents. The chapter also talks about getting the community involved by running community out-reach programs where students go out in the area and volunteer at a hospital or a soup kitchen. That is a great thing to do, and many students would learn from that experience, plus it is something that the school can do with or without parent involvement.
I want all of my student's parents involved in what my students are doing, but there comes a time when you must realize that you are not always going to get a lot of involvement. Many households need to have two incomes so both parents work, parents need to take care of things at home, and in some cases the parents just do not care about what their child is doing in school. It might be depressing, but it is the truth. Depending on where you teach, you might get a lot of involvement or none at all. You can try all you want to get them involved but many of them will just refuse no matter how many times you try. The chapter also talks about how parents are more hands off in middle school and high school. I do not think that is necessarily a bad thing. I think that students need to know how to do the work by themselves and not have their hand held. Though, this seems to be changing now with parents calling college professors to complain about grades. I do not know if there is a solution to make all parents happy and get many of them involved. I think that you need to work with what you have and try your best to get people involved. If they really want to be there then they will, if they do not then you cannot force them to care.