Parental involvement in education: Five ways to improve family engagement

There’s no question that parental involvement in education helps students to perform better at school. Studies have repeatedly shown that getting more family support leads to higher grades, improved reading skills and better results in Maths.

Yet many schools still treat parental involvement as a secondary concern. They rely on occasional emails and newsletters to keep families informed about what’s happening in the classroom, leaving them with very few opportunities to ask questions and offer support. Face-time with teachers is usually even rarer, limited to the occasional parents’ evening.

What’s standing in schools’ way? The European Commission has found that many teachers lack the time and resources to get parents more involved in their children’s education.

So let’s explore some low effort, low prep ways to increase parental involvement in education. This article gives you practical ideas, grounded in research, that teachers can start using immediately.

The difference between parental presence and genuine family engagement

You may already be taking steps to involve parents. The true challenge is making sure families are actually engaging in the school community and having a meaningful impact on their children’s education – not just passively observing.

Some schools fall into the trap of keeping parents informed without giving them opportunities to get involved. A classic example is parents’ evenings. Teachers often focus on giving a breakdown of each students’ grades instead of explaining what parts of the learning process they struggle with. This gives parents very little insight into how to provide support with homework or build skills outside the classroom.

The result is that parents don’t know how to help. As Katharine Radice explained in a recent blog article, “It’s so easy to answer the question of what do parents need to know, that we sometimes don’t pause to ask what they need to understand.”

Genuine involvement means that parents can actively support education. They play a role in helping their children explain, question and apply what they’ve been studying in the classroom. Essentially, families become partners in the learning process.

In the context of international schools, parents can be an especially rich resource. Families often come from a diverse background with different experiences, perspectives and skills to share with students. They may be able to provide learning support that your school is unable to offer in some cases.

See how parents of students at British International School of Tbilisi have helped school leaders create a stronger culture with deeper ties to the local community.

Five ways to improve parental engagement in education at your school

Here are some ideas to turn parents from passive observers into active participants that don’t add to your teachers’ workload.

1. Parent-led workshops

Have parents lead short, focussed sessions linked to specific lessons or units. For example, a family member who works for an architecture firm could give a brief presentation about how angles and measurements are used in building plans to bring the ideas to life.

All you have to do is send a simple call-out via email. You should establish clear boundaries to prevent sessions from drifting off-topic or becoming too complex. Some simple rules could be to stick to one key idea and abide by a strict 20 minute time limit.

Of course, many parents don’t have the time to lead workshops because they have busy jobs or they’re responsible for childcare. One way to include more families is to provide some digital alternatives. Consider asking parents to lead virtual workshops or even pre-record their session for the class.

2. Family oriented projects

Set projects that require parents to get involved. You should make sure the student has to do the bulk of the project work with families simply contributing, so everything remains manageable.

One idea could be to ask students to get measurements of different family members for Maths. Send them home with pieces of string and tell them to cut pieces to match people’s height or arm span. Alternatively, you could get them to draw around everyone’s hands and feet on pieces of paper.

Not all students will have involved families. To keep projects inclusive, offer alternatives like getting contributions from friends or other trusted adults. In this case, perhaps students could measure their friends or staff from around the school.

3. Discussion prompts for the home

Give students questions to ask their families at the dinner table based on what they’ve been learning at school. Here are some examples you could try:

• English: “Have you ever read a book where the main character was also the villain?”
• History: “We’re learning about inventions. What invention do you think has made the biggest difference in your lifetime?”
• Science: “When you’re cooking, what do you do to make the water boil faster?”

Avoid discussion points that require parents to have read your course materials or need a lot of subject knowledge. They should be able to answer the question after a couple of seconds’ thought.

4. Events with panel discussions

Organise events where parents watch something with their child and discuss it afterwards. That might be a play, a presentation or a documentary film.

The key challenge again is low attendance. Events at school are likely to have a poor turnout because many parents need to work during school hours. Likewise, some may be unable to come to evening or weekend activities due to other commitments.

As there’s unlikely to be a single time that works for everyone, only invite a few parents at a time. You can offer everyone a choice of times and dates at different points. Everyone’s families should have had the opportunity to attend and get involved by the end of the academic year.

5. Participation days

Invite parents to join a class and participate alongside their children. You just need to make sure it’s something they can easily take part in like pair work, group debates or a class competition. Classes that involve doing a lot of exercises from the textbook or reading alone won’t leave families with a lot to do.

It’s best to arrange short drop-in sessions rather than full lessons. If you arrange them close to the end of the school day, many parents can come as they pick up their children.

Also, watch out for parents either watching from the sidelines or taking over the activities. Both extremes can disrupt the lesson. You should make it clear in your invite that parents are joining the class – not observing and not teaching.

Family engagement as the key to student engagement

Parental involvement in education is often the difference between students failing or thriving academically. When teachers explain what support students need, family members can provide that support at home.

The key is finding ways to involve parents without putting too much pressure on teachers. Fortunately, there are many simple, low-effort strategies to help families engage with the learning process on a deeper level. Otherwise, all you need to do is ensure activities are inclusive and that expectations are clear.

Further reading

Want to learn more about involving families? Read How to build a connection with parents and Tips to support learning at home.

Want to explain Pearson international qualifications to parents? Check out our For Parents page.