My Action Research Project was on increasing parental involvement at our elementary school campus. As a teacher I have always known when a child’s parent is actively involved in his or her education including setting good homework practices, that child would succeed at a faster rate than his/her peers, who do not have that much needed parental support.
Our superintendent came to our campus and asked us some specific questions on what is getting in the way of academic success and what would help our students to be more successful. Our number on problem was the lack of parent support and involvement. I soon found out that this problem was the number 3 problem across the district. So my main focus was to start at our early childhood campus and find ways to make our school climate so positive and encouraging for parents they would be more than willing and excited to be a part of our team. I started by surveying the other staff members on campus as well as the administrators. Then I complied the data with all the different suggestions to get our parents to school so they would feel more actively involved. I used that information and teamed with another teacher and presented an idea for a parent involvement committee across the district with 2 members for each grade level to facilitate new and inventive ideas that would be appropriate for each level. I am still in the process of starting this committee. This will be an ongoing process through this year.
