There is no question that communication is important in the classroom; however, it cannot be overlooked that communication by teachers to parents is equally important to the success of the student.

In short, everyone benefits from increased teacher-parent communication.

When teachers communicate, parents are better able to understand the educational system — how the program(s) work, which allows them to craft better home strategies to support students. When parents know how things work, they feel a greater sense of empowerment. When the mystery is removed, trust is built, and parents become stakeholders and not adversaries or skeptics of the school.

Often parents are not as involved as they would like to be and there are a myriad of reasons.  However, at its core, countless parent interviews have told me the answer of parent involvement lies in (1) an understanding of the environment itself and (2) resource constraints. When parents are not involved the reasons typically looks like:

1. Lack of accommodation for working parents’ schedule(s) when hosting school events or meetings,
2. Childcare constraints,
3. Lack of understanding related to a parent’s communication style, background, or abilities making the parent feel unwelcome or isolated,
4. Input has not been solicited from parents on issues within the school’s control—preventing buy-in,
5. Past tensions between the parent(s) and the school/teacher(s); and,
6. A shortage of opportunity for parents to be involved in upper school grades.

An overarching strategy for improving teacher-parent communication is to get parents involved—early, and often. Research has shown that when parents are involved, it is for the better—better engagement, better attendance, better attitudes towards school, and better graduation rates. Simple things such as:

1. Utilizing short parent surveys to uncover the school communities needs,
2. Sending out Parent Volunteer requests for parent help outside of school hours,
3. Making childcare available for school events (e.g. PTA meetings and Parent Teacher Conferences),
4. Utilizing technology to meet with parents (e.g. Video Conferencing and Teleconferencing),
5. Hosting meetings and workshops that give parents insight into the curriculum; and,
6. Consistent communication, from a consistent and reliable source.

I can not emphasize consistent communication enough. Consistent communication sends the message to parents that they are welcome, are a vital part of their children’s education, and a strong part of the parent-teacher partnership. When the school makes a concentrated effort to involve parents, its a win for everyone.