The mission of the PTA is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. We believe that family engagement should transform the lives of EVERY child in America.
Research Findings
- When parents are involved, students achieve more, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/racial background or the parents’ education level.
- The more extensive the family engagement, the higher the student achievement.
- When parents are involved in their students’ education, those students have higher grades and test scores, better attendance and complete homework more consistently.
- When parents are involved, students exhibit more positive attitudes and behavior.
- Different types of parent/family involvement produce different gains. To have long-lasting gains for
- students, family engagement activities must be well-planned, inclusive and comprehensive.
Source: https://www.familiesandschools.org/blog/the-importance-of-parent-engagem...
New research shows us that some forms of family engagement are more effective than others, especially across certain demographic groups. We need to move away from the blanket statement that families need to be more involved in schools and instead we should focus the efforts of our PTA’s on the most effective family engagement. This means moving away from more traditional family engagement efforts like special events at the school or regular communication tools. While these are important for building communities and connections, if we want to accomplish our mission and make every child’s potential a reality we have to make sure our engagement efforts are really making a difference for families and kids. That’s what the concept of transformative family engagement is all about.