It takes a village: communication and parent engagement

Abstract

Effective communication facilitates educational partnerships between home and school, which impacts student learning. This research explored the following question: in what ways does a teacher’s communication with parents influence the nature of parent engagement? Throughout this study, open-ended discussions engaged parents in communication. This took place over the course of one school year between a teacher and parents from two kindergarten classes. These discussions happened through various media: weekly online surveys, where parents answered questions about their children’s learning; parent-teacher interviews, where both educational partners set in-person student learning goals based on each child’s needs; and anonymous end-of-year participant surveys. The participant surveys provided the qualitative data for this study. The surveys revealed that there should be emphasis given to parents’ roles as educational partners in the school culture. This is an essential responsibility of school leaders, as they play a key part in facilitating home and school communication.