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Parental Involvement In Education Essay, Research Paper

Parental Involvement in Common Schools

There are all together six goals of a common school system, which I m going to discuss in details throughout my essay and also how parental involvement can help schools achieve these goals. The overall general goal of the system is to secure democracy. Thomas Jefferson argued that democracy required citizens to deliberate publicly and to use their reason to decide among competing ideas for guiding the nation. (Oakes & Lipton, 1999, P. 4) Jefferson believed that all children should be provided three years of schooling and that will ready them with citizenship, these three years will be focused on basic literacy-reading, writing, and math. In 1830s, Horace Mann argued all Americans should be educated in common schools that would complement what families taught their children at home. (Oakes & Lipton, 1999, P. 5) Common schools are later to be called what is known today as Public school, which means equal school, but schools today are not equal. Mann wanted common schools to teach knowledge and habits and basic literacy, those things are crucial for a citizen to function in a democracy.

As I have mentioned earlier there are six goals of a common school system. The first goal is to help preserve American culture. When schoolchildren first recited the Pledge of Allegiance on Columbus Day in 1892, their teachers were told to have students follow the Pledge by shouting, One Country! One Flag! One Language! (Oakes & Lipton, 1999, P. 6) Teachers are supposing to Americanize children of newcomers, teaching them about American culture and forming them to become an American. The second goal is to support economic stability. Schools were added social studies courses to the curriculum hoping that these courses might prepare students to tackle the social and economic problems of the time. The business sectors believe that the common school was key to the nation s economic life. (Oakes & Lipton, 1999, P. 7) The third goal is that the common school will ensure national security. Schools are able to teach students and find some elites and then we are able to compete with the other elites from the other countries. America is very capable of turning students into well-educated citizens with world-class science and mathematics skills. The fourth goal that the school system is trying to achieve is that they believe schools will solve social problems. The society has expected the common schools to help solve the social problems stemming from poverty, racism, inequality, urban decay, and the cultural unrest those conditions have brought. (Oakes & Lipton, 1999, P. 7) Teachers are responsible to teach children to stay out of drugs, prevent AIDS Ketc. Society expects a lot for a teacher and expects the teachers to teach the kids about everything. The fifth goal is the boost international competitiveness. Since America is an elite country it is being watched and being compared constantly, right now American schools are being looked down upon because here education is not pressured enough and does not have a whole lot of homework compared to some of the other countries where schools are seven days a week and that students will not get a break to watch TV or go to the movies because the teachers gives the students tons of homework. Finally the sixth goal is to pursue academic success for everyone. Schools are places for people to learn, people learn because they get smarter that way, they want to have a knowledge of what is going on in the world, schools are places where people learn and apply what they have learned to the world, to the economy.

I believe that parental involvements are very essential have the common schools achieved these six goals. Families can help their children both at home and at school. When families are involved in their children’s education in positive ways, children achieve higher grades and test scores, have better attendance at school, complete more homework, demonstrate more positive attitudes and behavior, graduate at higher rates, and have greater enrollment in higher education. Parents can emphasize good work habits, value learning and good character, set high expectations for their children, stay informed about their children’s progress, and monitor their children’s activities. For high school youth, parents can monitor homework and encourage participation in wholesome extracurricular activities, provide a sense of proportion to TV watching and video games, talk often to teachers, be active in parent-teacher associations, and help their children develop plans for careers and further education. What families do to help their children learn is more important to their academic success than how well off the family is. A national study of eighth-grade students and their parents show that parental involvement in students’ academic lives is indeed a powerful influence on students’ achievement across all academic areas. Higher achievement results, in part, from the increased amount of homework completed by students with families who are more involved in their education.

Recommendations for Parents:

Become informed about policies and programs

Parents need to learn about specific school policies and programs regarding parent involvement. Find out if programs have been implemented to support these policies and if there is a committee for reviewing school policies and practices in which parents can participate.

Be a decision-maker

Many schools are mandated to provide parents with opportunities to be advisors and decision-makers for school matters. Find out what your school is doing and how you can play an active role.

Learn how to help your child with homework

This is an area where many parents have questions. For example, parents want to know if they should correct their child’s mistakes,

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