Parents Changing Their Children’s Future
EDLF professor Vance Randall presents in education reform
For parents, the quality of a child’s education is a serious concern. Vance Randall, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations (EDLF) in the McKay School of Education, has focused much of his work in the area of parental concerns about quality education for all children. His research on educational reform and policy has led him to study a new reform initiative called “parent triggers.”
In 2010, California passed the first parent trigger law in the U.S. “Parent trigger” or Parent Empowerment legislation provides parents with a legal avenue and authority to directly intervene in a failing school. Parents are able to require that timely and effective changes be made. Some of these changes include changing teachers and administrators, turning a public school into a charter school or shutting down the school entirely. The law has spread to other states in the country, including a proposal in Utah, allowing parents to have more direct control of their child’s school setting if the school is failing.
"As the standards and qualifications for schools have increased, it’s becoming even more important to pay attention to the type of education our children are receiving."
Although the California law was enacted in 2010, parents have not yet been able to implement change in their children’s schools because a greater than 50 percent majority is required, and a petition must be signed by all parents who consent to the change. Presently, no group of parents has been successful in collecting enough valid signatures.
Earlier this year, Randall presented on both sides of the parent triggers argument. “As the standards and qualifications for schools have increased, it’s become even more important to pay attention to the type of education our children are getting,” Randall explained. “This law was designed for parents who are tired of trying to improve the quality of education at the school where their children attend and are at their wit’s end. They’ve exhausted all their other options.”
Though Randall has found that parent triggers may be an innovative step in education, he also has some reservations about what this law might do to education in America. “With the ability to change a school entirely, whether it be to a charter, private, or public school, parent triggers are not guarantee that the quality of education will be increased,” Randall sad. “However…parent triggers, can empower parents to make a dramatic change in an attempt to improve their child’s education.”
June 12, 2012
I am concerned with the parent trigger method. From my own experience, I have seen a few very vocal parents make quick decisions without digging deeper into the cause of a particular problem. Is the school failing because budget cuts are doing away with support staff? Is the school failing because of the need for more teacher training opportunities? I understand that there are situations in which a teacher/principal does need to removed from the school setting, but are we being careful in determining cause before making sweeping changes? The premise behind the movement is that teachers are not professionals, are lazy, or otherwise incapable. Perhaps teachers, too, are at wits end in trying to help their students reach higher academic standards with little support. As teachers, we learn that punishment does not effect change, but rather support, collaboration, and mutual respect.
As a paraprofessional in Houston area elementary schools, I am asked what school I would recommend. I have never heard a parent ask how they can change their existing school. Have we become too busy to work at improving what we have? It takes a huge amount of effort, but I believe it is worth that effort.
I appreciate the comments made by Marla West and Dallas. They both raise good questions. Parent trigger laws vary from state to state in terms of what threshold must be met before parents can take action to change the school and what options parents have to choose from in changing the school. In nearly all cases, only those schools who have a consistent history of being a failing school are even eligible to utilize the parent trigger option. For example, in California a school must at least be in the bottom 10% of all schools in California. Options for change from several states include becoming a charter school, restaffing the school, providing vouchers to attend private schools, shutting the school down and transferring students to other schools or engaging in sort of turn around strategy. Marla mentions the need to find out exactly why a school has a long history of failing to provide an adequate education. An excellent point. Another is will parents know what is the best change strategy? I think one basic rationale for parent trigger laws is that parents are at wits end in trying to get the school their children attend to improve the quality of education and have no other option other than to continue with the status quo. Whether parent trigger laws are any part of the solution remains to be seen but to have the same schools fail to provide an adequate education to students, most often minority students, year after year after year needs, in way or another, to stop.
I was interested in the line that said, “because greater than 50 percent majority is required, and a petition must be signed by all parents who consent to the change. Presently, no group of parents has been successful in collecting enough valid signatures.”
I would like to see a study that shows how parent involvement or lack of it improves or creates failing schools. I’ve worked at both failing and successful schools, and despite my training and best teaching practices, I still feel that ultimate results are determined by parent support regardless of administration, staff, or curriculum programs.
Estina has brought up an very important point about the immense contribution of parents and home life to the academic success of students. Ever since the landmark study by James Coleman in 1966, research consistently finds that the parent characteristics and home environment account for 50-80% of the variance in student achievement. This is a very substantial contribution and public schools have not been very successful in partnering with parents to improve student achievement. The 50-80% still leaves 20-50% for other factors such as what schools can contribute to student achievement. Our children need all the help they can get from whatever source. There are many good studies showing the positive influence of parental involvement and characteristics on student achievement. One excellent study is a meta-analysis of 52 other studies. This study, The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Urban Secondary School Student Academic Achievement A Meta-Analysis by William H. Jeynes demonstrated that parental involvement had a positive effect on student achievement. The full study can be found in the journal Urban Education January 2007 vol. 42 no. 1 82-110.
Leave your response!
Contact Us
Recent Posts
Categories
Browse News
Search News
Departments
Staff
Recent Comments
Most Commented
McKay School Twitter Feed