Which scenario best represents your view of parental involvement for your current students?

A large majority of teachers who took part in this poll feel that their student's parents are not involved enough. Less than 10% feel that the parents are too involved. How teachers would like parents to become involved is another question entirely.

Parents can be involved in the school community in various ways. Driving for field trips or helping with classroom fundraisers are very common types of parental involvement. Those parents who have more time can chose to become part of the school's parent council. Through these types of settings, parents have more access to school administrators and teacher liaisons and are involved in more school based fundraising efforts.

While helping with fundraising and driving are important, many teachers would probably appreciate more parental involvement in the areas of academics and discipline. As more and more families become two income families there is less time available to help our children with their homework or to enforce house rules. Many children are left alone after school while both parents work and this leaves little time at the end of the day to become involved in what the students are learning.

Discipline is of particular concern in many schools. "Spare the rod, spoil the child" is a notion of the past. Corporal punishment at school and at home is largely absent nowadays as parents and educators turn to other means of discipline. In some cases, where students are making poor choices or displaying bad behaviour there is little that schools can do when there is no disciplinary follow-up at home.

With larger and larger classroom sizes becoming the norm parental assistance with learning is also important. As teachers try to impart knowledge to a greater number of students, some of the less academic children get left behind. Having at home assistance would be extremely valuable for these students. Parents should be taking an active role is making sure their children are comprehending course material before they fall behind their peers.

Parental involvement is a very personal issue and each teacher will have a different idea of how parents can help. Open dialogue between parents and teachers is vital in making sure that our children get the education they need to succeed.