Advocacy Letter

Family Involvement

Dear teachers,

My name is Chao Wang, and I feel enormously lucky and proud working with you. I
appreciate all efforts you have made to facilitate kids’ learning. As teachers, I know
we have been experiencing more adversities than urban teachers do, but we seldom
complain and never give it up. We attempt to provide the most effective and efficient
teaching methods and carefully use all resources we have. But honestly, available
resources are limited here. For a long time, we seek supports from outside and feel
like we are walking on eggshells, but I have ignored an invaluable source inside of
our community -- the parents of our kids!

Parents have absolutely responsibilities and desire to improve students’

learning. Family engagement (parents or caregivers) has phenomenal impacts on
children’s school performance, such as reducing absenteeism and building
up/restoring confidence. According to a report from Southwest Educational
Development Laboratory, students with involved parents tend to:

 earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs
 be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credits
 attend school regularly
 have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school
 graduate and go on to postsecondary education

Do you feel these are exactly what we want? Yes, we teachers and the parents, we are
on the same boat! Students’ school performance will be dramatically increase if
parents can be involved in our kids’ education. However, compared with parents in
urban areas, our parents play fewer roles in kids' education. The reasons are various.
For example, the percentage of illiterates in our community is much higher than that
in cities. There are three main factors that impact on parents/caregivers involvement:

 parents’ personal construction of the parent role: what parents believe they are
expected to do in relation to their children’s education
 parents’ self-efficacy for assisting children to succeed in school: whether
parents are confident in themselves to improve children’s learning
 the climate among schools, families, and communities: are there invitations
and opportunities for family involvement; do parents and caregivers perceive
the needs of their involvement

Researchers in Southwest Educational Development Laboratory stated that school

factors influence family involvement the most among all elements. In other words,
parents will desire to be involved in their children’s educational development if we
teachers actively establish reliable and caring relationships with parents. We need to
invite parents into the school, honor their participation, and connect them with a focus
on children aiming at improving kids’ learning. I know it takes time to make changes,
but only if it is not a blind alley, do we need to try; if it is, we will break it together
and get through it together!

Sincerely,

Chao Wang