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History of Parental Involvement in Education Essay

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History of Parent Involvement

Prior to the 1850’s, before public education existed, parents and families were responsible for the education of their children. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s education in schools became wide spread. As public education grew and teachers became professionals many began to believe that professionals alone should be responsible for educating children (Stein and Thorkildsen). As years went by, families showed some concern about this new view on who should be in charge of their children’s education. Parents began to show their concern for this division in education in the 1987 when the National Congress of Mothers, the foundation for the Parent Teacher Association, was formed (Stein and …show more content…

Benefits

Parent involvement not only improves a child’s success in the classroom, but it also significantly increases their cognitive development (Becher). People often neglect to remember that the cognitive development of a child is directly related to their ability to learn (Merrill). As a child develops, they learn mainly by seeing and then doing. When parents are continually involved in helping their child learn non school related things they are actually increasing the probability that their child will reach a high level of cognitive development. Parents have the ability to stimulate a child’s adult intellect and create a foundation for proper reading instruction (Anderson). This will in turn make it more likely for the child to reach higher levels of achievement in school.

Parent involvement in schools not only benefits the child, it also benefits teachers. As a direct result of parent participation teacher’s morale will improve (Iowa State Department of Education). This increase in teacher morale will create positive changes in the classroom. Teachers will have higher expectations of their students and encourage them to set high goals for themselves. Teachers will be inclined to put more effort into their job.

As a result of higher teacher morale and an increased effort into teaching, teaching strategies in the classroom will also

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