Harris |1

Adina Harris
Dr. Crosby
MUE 530
13 December 2016
Working with the Stakeholders
The field of education involves a multitude of people. These people are known as
stakeholders. In the article How to Involve Various Educational Stakeholders in Education
Improvement by Saomya Saxena explains what and who stakeholders are. Saxena also explains
how stakeholders help improve the educational system. Saxena defines a stakeholder as anyone
who is involved in the welfare and success of a school and its students, including administrators,
teachers, staff, students, parents, community members, school board members (Saxena,
2014). Stakeholders always have a personal, civic or financial interest in the education of the
students at the school or even the overall improvement of the school.
Saxena declares that when school communities are involved, the communication is better,
as well as the comprehension or public knowledge of the schools activities will be enhanced
(Saxena, 2014). According to the article, there are multiple ways that a person can interpret
parental, family, or community involvement. Saxena introduced a list of six specific types of
involvement from research developed by Joyce Epstein of John Hopkins University. Included in
this list of six types of involvement was: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at
home, decision making, and collaborating with the community (Saxena, 2014). Parenting
consists of the school helping parents learn family support and parental skills while also
understanding the periods of child development. Communicating is explained as the school

Harris |2

making reliable communication channels between school and home (Saxena, 2014). This
ensures that the progress of students and the educational program are being properly and
adequately communicated with the students families. Volunteering has to do with school staff
working with volunteers to support the school. Learning at home helps encourage the family to
be more involved in the students educational growth through curriculum related activities
(Saxena, 2014). Decision making pushes families to be a part of the schools policies decisions
and other things. Lastly, collaborating with the community derives from the need to work with
surrounding companies and businesses in the community
Saxena also talked about the National Education Association, NEA. She explained
that NEA is an organization that is committed to advancing public education with members
working at every level of education (Saxena, 2014). NEA strives to implement changes to the
educational system for the benefit of the students. Members of NEA are also driven by the need
to amend or add policies in order to ensure that the roles of stakeholders are thoroughly defined
among many other issues.
When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning,
students feel more encouraged, attend school more regularly and take part in higher level
programs (Saxena, 2014). This fact leads to less dropout rates and encourages families,
communities, and parents to desire a better communication with the school program of their
child in order to stay aware of everything that goes on.

Harris |3

References
Saomya, S. (2014). How to Involve Various Educational Stakeholders in Education
Improvement?. EdTechReview.