The Non-Profit Education Sector

Low income families steam from uneducated parents. Some of these families have parents that did not finish school, or they struggled in school. These parents tend to be less active in their child’s education because they do not understand the work themselves. Some of them skip out on parent teacher conferences because they do not want to feel threaten. They feel that they may not understand what the teacher is talking about, and do not want to feel uneducated. According to Zachrisson and Dearing (2015), “Low family income heightens the risk of stress in the home environment, resulting in heightened levels of conflict, parenting strain, and chaos” (pg. 425). These types of homes make the children feel uncomfortable, and they feel as if they do not have any support from home. These students come home from school to homes that are divided, and feel as if they

Many schools want to incorporate a powerful and positive parent involvement community, yet face a challenge in how to implement effective strategies to involve parents in helping students reach academic achievement. I believe parents want the very best for their child, even if they do not know how to go about helping their child reach success. Students come to school with countless attributes that I may or may not acknowledge, yet parents know the many accolades about their child that I must embrace. As I build a partnership with families, we become a partnership in their child’s education. We begin to collaborate to ensure the student maximizes

Family involvement in education can help get families involved in school and knowing what their child is learning

Parental involvement is essential for the school’s effectiveness. We see ourselves as partners of the family, reinforcing parents' efforts to guide the intellectual, emotional and spiritual development of their children. We offer seminars and classes for personal enrichment of parents as they strive to become even more the kind of person they want their children to

Parent involvement is key to a child’s academic success; this can be accomplished through the parent’s participation in an advisory council. A parent-teacher organization meets regularly to discuss the workings of the school and the parents that take part in the meeting are rewarded with a voice to make suggestions and give active feedback to the school. This enables parents and teachers to discuss matters dealing with the education of their child. Another council that advocates the voice of parents is the Mississippi Read

Best Buddies is a non-profit organization that promotes the good through one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It has created lasting relationships between students with disabilities and their peers, therefore, helping to improve the quality of life and level of inclusion for a population that is often isolated and excluded. It has also provided employment opportunities for those with IDD, allowing them to be productive members of the labour force. Lastly, Best Buddies has given those with intellectual and developmental disabilities the chance to realize their potential by encouraging them to become leaders.

Academic scholars have noted that students who are thoroughly engaged are high academic achievers (Fullan, 2016). However, the subject of parent involvement has been introduced into the discourse over the past decades and now most educational leaders agree “ the closer the parent is to the education of the child, the greater the impact on child development and educational achievement” (Fullan, 2016, p. 158). As a result, the Ontario Ministry of education created Parents in Partnership: A parent engagement policy for Ontario schools. This policy is directly aligned with the ministry’s goal of creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive education system. The policy identifies parents as key individuals in education as they contribute to the work of educators, schools, and the community (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010). An investigation into the framework of the policy reveals the main actors, which are the parents; who are defined as caregivers, guardians, and parents, the government, school boards, teachers, principals, students, and the

I am quite fortunate to work at a site that I was able to be part of creating our school’s vision. Lorena Falasco Elementary School’s mission statement is: “In partnership with our community, Lorena Falasco Elementary School is committed to creating a safe and positive environment with high expectations that encourage success and lifelong learning for everyone.” With that in mind, parent education and involvement are crucial for a school to be successful in doing so. At this time I am co-leading a parent education class that is being held at Lorena Falasco Elementary School we have completed seven of the eight workshops. The parenting workshop combines parenting and leadership skills that will empower parents to become vital contributors to their children’s academic success. There are eight workshops that we will present, which will create parent leaders and also provide positive

In the excerpt from a book entitled Class Dismissed, Meredith Maran discusses that students’ parents should spend more time on getting involved in their children’s education. At first, the author states that if students want to be successful, their parents and schools should play important roles. However, there is a big trouble that parents have different opinion over getting involved in children’s education. Some parents are willing to get involved in their children’s education because they have enough time and sources to do so and they actually get reward from their parents’ same actions. On the contrary, the other parents don’t believe that get involved in their children’s education is important and majority of them don’t have enough time and material base to support, in that case, their children’s life are going to be tougher than theirs. In the end, Maran concludes that we cannot expect all the parents get involved into children’s education because society is still filled with materialistic unfairness.

Children living in poverty or low-income neighborhoods are known to have lifelong struggles because of their education. The link between poverty and poor education is a known fact because children living in poverty will rather provide for their families than their own education. As a community, we need to come together to help low-income families and their children obtain a better future in their education. The effects of children living in poverty or low-income neighborhoods is a known issue worldwide and is only affecting our children’s future and ours.

For years, it had been my goal to work at a nonprofit. I slowly worked toward this goal by obtaining my Master of Accountancy at Truman State University and doing a variety of volunteer work along the way. I won the Sister Ann Kessler annual community service scholarship my junior year of undergraduate school for volunteer and leadership work and continued to assist through the SERVE Center during graduate school.

Pemberton and Miller (2015) conducted two phases to assess the effect of parental involvement in a Title I school with a history to low reading achievement. A principal, parent liaison, two first-grade teachers, and four low-income families participated in the study. It was expressed in Phase I through interviews with the administrators and teachers that the lack of parental involvement conveyed that parents do not value their children's education; therefore, severing as the main reason low-income children continue to perform poorly in academic. In Phase II, teachers’ low perception of parental involvement changed to a new appreciation of parents’ participation based on an experiment that partnered parents

Low-income families provide less tax dollars to schools, which directly affects a school’s financial ability to provide resources to teachers and students. Also, larger class sizes could lead to more discipline referrals, which affect the culture of the classroom (Rowley et al., 2011). The role of teachers and family is crucial for student success. A teacher’s ability to show compassion, provide instruction that is relatable, and eliminate discriminatory behaviors, is essential in establishing a classroom culture that promotes learning. Parental involvement in their child’s education is essential, as well. According to Rowley and Wright (2011), “Economically disadvantaged neighborhoods expose children to behaviors and ideals that hinder academic progress” (p.

More recently, the United States Department of Education, by submitting the 1996 proposal for National Education Goals, addressed the issue of parental involvement. The official U.S. government stood by the research of three decades that “parental participation in schooling improves student learning,” (U.S. Department of Education). Based on government research, family involvement programs don’t always need additional money to be successful, but leaders should stretch their own creativity to expand the programs that encourage community and family support. Parental involvement is found to be beneficial through high school, not stopping after elementary school, and parents that evolve as leaders should be encouraged to continue their role in their child’s education. The most successful parent leaders are found to play four roles in their child’s education: those roles are teacher, supporter, advocate and decision maker. The teacher-role supplements the child’s education at home, the supporter contributes his/her skills to the school, the advocate helps children receive fair treatment at home, and the decision maker participates in joint problem-solving with

Parental involvement in education is a vital essential for creating a cooperative environment for the student to thrive and succeed in. When a student knows that he or she is receiving support both inside and outside the school, the chances of that child becoming responsible for and active in their education are more likely. I know that there can be difficulties including parents for many reasons. Such parents may be too busy, uninterested or just feel helpless. However, as an educator, I will still have an obligation to reach out to these parents and assist them.