Proven by research: students do better when parents are involved
Ensuring student success is the top priority of education leaders. While much of their focus is on curriculum, instruction, and teacher development, one powerful lever that can significantly impact K-12 student achievement lies outside the classroom: parent involvement.
A widely respected meta-analysis of hundreds of related studies by the American Psychological Association (APA) proves the undeniable connection between parent engagement and student outcomes. This body of research provides valuable insights into how K-12 leaders can leverage parent involvement to improve academic achievement, behavior, and overall student well-being.
Here’s what education leaders should know about the research findings:
Parent Involvement: A Key to Academic Success
The study consolidates findings from various research efforts. And they all point to a critical fact: students perform better when their parents are involved in their education. This improvement isn’t limited to grades. Students with engaged parents are more likely to have better attendance, display positive behaviors, and demonstrate a stronger commitment to learning.
For district leaders, this insight is especially important. While academic interventions and teacher support are essential to any improvement strategy, the research indicates increasing parent engagement can amplify the effects of those efforts. By building stronger parent-school relationships, districts can create a more supportive learning environment that benefits every student.
How K-12 Can Encourage Parent Involvement
Parent involvement takes many forms. There’s attending parent-teacher conferences, helping with homework or simply staying informed about school activities. However, not all parents have the time or resources to engage at the same level. K-12 leaders can play a pivotal role by ensuring schools create accessible, inclusive opportunities for families to participate in their child’s education. Here’s how:
- Improve Communication Channels
One of the most consistent barriers to parent involvement is a lack of communication between home and school. Parents need regular, real-time updates on their child’s progress to stay engaged. The research highlights that clear and consistent communication between parents and teachers is one of the most effective ways to keep families involved. Edsby’s family communication features are designed to bridge this gap. Through Edsby’s social learning platform, parents can access real-time information about their child’s grades, assignments, and attendance, making it easier for them to stay connected. Edsby also supports direct messaging with teachers and administrators, which enables 1:1 communication when needed. - Foster a Collaborative School Culture
Schools with a strong culture of collaboration between parents and staff tend to have higher levels of parent involvement. The research shows that when parents feel welcomed and included as partners in their child’s education, they are more likely to engage. K-12 leaders, can promote a district-wide, or even region-wide, culture that values parent involvement and encourages schools to establish open lines of communication with families. Encouraging schools to host parent workshops, open houses, and other community events creates opportunities for parents to engage and build trust with educators. - Provide Multiple Points of Access
The study highlights parent involvement can take many forms. K-12 leaders should therefore accommodate different types of engagement. Not all parents will be able to volunteer in classrooms or attend every school event, but they can still be active partners in their child’s learning journey. Edsby’s platform provides multiple points of access for parents, from viewing their child’s learning progress to participating in online discussions. Districts can empower parents by making it easy to access school updates from anywhere, on any device. This inclusivity ensures that all parents, regardless of their circumstances, can stay involved in meaningful ways.
Addressing Equity in Parent Involvement
One of the most important findings from the research is the need to address equity in parent involvement. The data shows that not all parents have the same ability to engage with their child’s school. Factors include work schedules, language barriers, or a lack of computer access.
For district leaders, promoting equity in parent engagement means providing support where it’s most needed. Offering multilingual support, ensuring schools provide technology access to underserved families, and training staff on how to engage diverse parent populations can make a significant impact. Edsby’s platform is designed with equity in mind, offering features like multilingual support and mobile access to ensure that every parent can be part of their child’s learning experience, regardless of background.
The Long-Term Benefits of Engaged Families
Beyond immediate academic benefits, parent involvement has long-lasting effects on student success. The APA analysis above shows students with engaged parents are more likely to pursue post-secondary education and have higher levels of self-esteem. Moreover, schools with strong parent engagement tend to have improved school climate, reduced behavioral issues, and higher overall student achievement.
For districts, the return on investment in parent engagement is clear. Fostering strong relationships between schools and families not only supports student success in the short term but also helps build a foundation for lifelong learning and achievement.
Drawbacks of Piecemeal Solutions
Asking families to use multiple apps to track student progress has drawbacks. Fragmented access to different tools increases frustration, complicates the user experience, and can lead to information overload.
The growing number of platforms and apps parents in K-12 must often manage today is a burden. Many parents struggle with managing their time between them. Users express frustration (and even satirize!) when they need to use separate apps for communication, homework tracking, behavior monitoring, and extracurricular activities, especially when every teacher is allowed to select their own.
How Edsby Supports District-Level Parent Engagement
Edsby understands the challenges districts face in increasing parent involvement, and has built a single platform to address them. Edsby provides parents with real-time updates on student performance, seamless communication with educators, and access to school events and announcements. All from a single login, with a single user experience. And in a way that protects student data and doesn’t put teachers at risk to have to manage distribution lists or parent contact info themselves. With Edsby, district leaders can ensure all parents have the opportunity to stay informed and engaged, no matter their circumstances.
By aligning with research-backed strategies, districts can leverage Edsby to build stronger, more inclusive school communities where parents are active partners in their child’s education. Together, environments can be created that support student success, enhance school culture, and build trust with families—ultimately helping districts, and whole states, provinces and countries, achieve their academic and equity goals.