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It’s no secret that students whose parents are more involved in their education do better in school. For that reason, schools and districts nationwide work hard to establish parent communication plans to engage busy parents, share information about their children’s progress and provide involvement opportunities.

But parent involvement is a broad term. According to findings from two recent studies mentioned in this Sunday’s New York Times, not all involvement is created equal in terms of providing lasting benefits for student achievement.

The NYT article features a quote from Patte Barth, director of the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education: “Parent involvement can take many forms, but only a few of them relate to higher student performance… parental actions that support children’s learning at home are most likely to have an impact on academic achievement at school.”

So what are the best ways for educators to provide parents with the information they need in order to truly support learning at home? And what kinds of tools can help disseminate that information?

Read on for eight tips that will help you evaluate your parent involvement and communication plan, find areas in need of improvement and identify practical solutions.
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