Students examine parent participation in West Phila. High School

Most parents in study wish they were more involved in their child's school

by Tiffany Fogle and Lawrence Jones

The authors are student members of the West Philadelphia High School chapter of the Philadelphia Student Union (PSU). West Philadelphia is a 1,070-student school that is 98 percent Black and 80 percent from low-income families. A brand new building has been promised by the School District, and students were interested in understanding more about improving urban public high schools through increased parent participation. Five PSU students conducted a research project with support from the nonprofit Research for Action.

In April and May 2006, we conducted surveys and interviews of Philadelphia Student Union students' parents from two West Philadelphia chapters. We focused on what parents think good parent participation should look like, what their own participation looked liked, and what prevented them from participating. We looked at how schools treat parents, how parents participate, and why things can get in the way.

We chose parents of PSU students because we wanted to talk to parents who had children who are active in school. Thirteen parents completed surveys. We conducted in-depth interviews with seven parents.

The majority of the parents would like to be more involved in their child's public high school; however, sometimes there were things that kept them from doing so. Many people assume that if parents don't come to a meeting or a sports game that they do not care about their child, but this often is wrong.

Here are four possible reasons for low participation: 1) parents do not receive information far enough in advance to adjust their schedules; 2) parents do not have the time because they have multiple outside responsibilities; 3) possible cultural barriers make it difficult for some parents to be involved; 4) parent participation looks different in high school than in elementary and middle schools.

We found that some parents were irritated when they received information only a day or two before an event was going to happen. Parents described two types of information that they receive: general (involving class or events in school) and important (involving their child).

One concerned father described receiving general information the day before the events, which made it difficult for him to participate or attend because he had no time to think about it and/or get his finances together. More importantly, one parent was not informed about something serious that happened to his daughter while at school.

Schedule conflicts also create a barrier for some parents. The parents we spoke with had multiple responsibilities such as work, church events, and coaching.

Another issue was differences in cultures between families and schools. An African parent reported difficulties with culture and language problems with staff.

Lastly, just because parents miss a meeting or two does not mean that they do not participate in their children's schooling in other ways.

Some parents are not involved at school but are involved through informal conversations or discussions in the home. Nine of 13 parents said they regularly ask their children about their school day. About two-thirds of the parents surveyed felt they know when their children are doing what they are supposed to, or not supposed to do, in their high school classes.

Our research demonstrates that parents want to participate in meaningful ways. However, some barriers sometimes prevent them from participating formally in the things at the school itself.