Most children will, at one time or another, need someone to advocate for them in what may be the impersonal atmosphere of a large institution. In order to do that effectively, parents must keep in touch with what is happening in school, how their children feel about school, how the teacher treats the child, etc. It is also most helpful for parents to understand the school's decision making process and the most effective ways to approach the school staff to assure that the needs of their children are met. Another area for parental involvement is in the implementation of educational reform at the local level. There is a great deal of attention at the state and national levels to various approaches to educational reform.
Parental involvement is a major theme in many reform efforts.
Parents can volunteer to serve on local committees which are considering changes in school or school district policies. If no such committees exist, parents can organize and approach the school authorities with their ideas about how the school might b made friendlier and more accommodating places for children and about how the schools and parents might work together in helping children learn. Parents are frequently shy about approaching school authorities. This shyness is often a result of their own schooling experiences in which many were well taught that the schools are not places in which they were given much say about what was taking place. This, of course, is ridiculous.