Educators and other staff can sense administrators' commitment to involving parents. The tone of any school reform effort is often set by a school's administration. If principals and other leaders collaborate with parents, teachers will be more likely to follow suit. Increasingly, the best models for good management in this country come from organizations that encourage people to speak out about their concerns and solve problems cooperatively, rather than by management decisions enforced through a strict hierarchy. Without administrative leadership, real school improvement will be difficult to achieve.
Genuine change requires coordinated efforts, consistent leadership, and steady support.
Working together to achieve their common goals of school improvement, principals and teachers can accomplish a great deal. When parent involvement becomes a mutual program goal, and parents, educators, and administrators work together as a team, then true school reform will result. The following graphs show the results of surveys and focus groups done on behalf of the Education Commission of the States, in order to provide insights into how school districts can best communicate about reform. The graphs illustrate how participants reacted to the statements provided. There is considerable debate about whether the United States should establish national, state, and local standards for what students should know and be able to do as a result of their schooling.