Bridging the gap: Improving parent-school interactions for better student outcomes.
- Euan
- Apr 3
- 8 min read
Schools know that parents matter. Research shows that when parents are involved, students achieve more, stay in school longer, and are more motivated. Yet, parental-school interactions remain the missing link in education.
Why? Schools want engaged parents, but time pressures, communication barriers, and unclear expectations get in the way. Parents often want to be involved but don’t always know how. Teachers may feel unsupported in working with families. The result? A gap that holds students back.
This article breaks down why parent-school interactions are essential, what gets in the way, and how schools can help to fix it. If your school isn’t fully tapping into the power of parents, you’re missing a key driver of student success.
What are parent-school interactions?
Parental-school interactions refer to the various ways parents and schools collaborate to support children's education. These interactions encompass activities both at home and within the school environment, aiming to enhance student learning and development.
Key components of parental-school interactions:
Communication: regular exchanges between parents and teachers about a child's progress, behaviour, and needs. This includes parent-teacher meetings, emails, and phone calls - for the good as well as the bad.
Involvement in school activities: parents attending school events, volunteering, or joining parent-teacher associations (PTAs). Such involvement fosters a sense of community and directly benefits school initiatives. (However, research indicates that PTAs are not always representative of the school community as a whole - more on this in a future blog.)
Support for learning at home: Engaging in educational activities at home, such as reading together, assisting with homework, or discussing school topics. This reinforces classroom learning and emphasises the importance of education.
Decision-making participation: Parents contributing to school policies or serving on advisory committees. Their input ensures that school decisions representatively reflects the community's values and address students' needs.
Significance of parental-school interactions:
Enhanced academic achievement: young people with engaged parents often have higher attainment. Active parental involvement and engagement correlates with improved academic performance.
Improved student behaviour: consistent collaboration between parents and schools can lead to better student behaviour, and reduced absenteeism and truancy.
Positive school environment: active parent-school interactions foster a supportive school culture, benefiting both students and staff.
Understanding and nurturing these interactions are essential for educators and policymakers aiming to boost student success and create thriving educational communities.
Barriers to effective parent-school interactions.
The catchphrase ‘hard to reach parents’ pervades the education sector. This is problematic and places parents in a deficit position. If we turn this on its head, what if we consider that schools are ‘hard to reach’? Do schools consider the possibility that they make themselves ‘hard to reach’. The phrase ‘hard to reach’ places blame on a particular group and we need to move away from this.
Despite the well-documented benefits of parental involvement in education, several obstacles, on both sides, hinder effective collaboration between families and schools. These barriers can be categorised into four main areas, with more information provided on each:
Individual parent and family factors:
Socioeconomic challenges: families facing financial challenges may lack the time, resources, or energy to engage fully in their children's education. Parents may be working multiple jobs to support their families.
Educational background: parents with limited education might feel unprepared to support their children's academic endeavours or inadvertently intimidated by school staff. Further, they may feel inferior or unworthy of engaging with the school.
Cultural differences: diverse cultural norms can lead to misunderstandings or discomfort in interactions with the school system. Where a family’s background does not match the dominant characteristics of the school setting, this can lead to mistrust, with parents retreating from any kind of involvement.
Child-specific factors:
Behavioural or academic issues: children facing challenges in these areas may lead parents to feel uncertain about how to assist or engage with the school. They fear being perceived as a troublesome family or that they are an incapable parent.
Age and independence: As children grow older, they often seek more autonomy, which can reduce parental involvement. Parents can still be involved and engaged in their child’s education without actively helping with their school work. Emotional and moral support is vital to a child’s success too.
Parent-teacher relationship factors:
Differing expectations: misaligned beliefs about roles in education can create tension or disengagement.
Communication barriers: lack of effective communication strategies can hinder meaningful collaboration.
Trust and respect: absence of mutual trust and respect can discourage active participation.
Societal factors:
Work demands: long or inflexible work hours can limit parents' availability for school involvement. More affluent families are more likely to have the capacity to be involved in the life of their child’s school and to be engaged in their child's learning.
Policy limitations: Inadequate or inflexible policies on parental leave or involvement can restrict opportunities for parents to get involved.
Social perceptions: Prevailing attitudes about parental roles in education can influence engagement levels. The views and culture of a school and its leadership will influence how valuable they find their interactions with parents.
Undoubtedly, there are a number of barriers - personal, local and systemic - which affect how parents and schools interact. Many of these issues are not the ‘fault’ of any particular party and are often caused by larger factors of which individuals have little control. Recognising and addressing these barriers together, and remembering that the almost every parent cares about their child and their education, we can foster effective parent-school interactions, which in turn supports student success and strengthens school communities.
Practical strategies to improve parent-school relationships.
Strengthening parent-school relationships is crucial for enhancing student outcomes. When parents feel informed, welcomed, and valued, they engage meaningfully with their child’s education. Yet many schools struggle to connect effectively due to limited time, unclear communication, or logistical barriers.
Here are some practical, flexible, and inclusive strategies your school can use to bridge the gap and build strong partnerships with parents:
Improve communication through technology
Effective parent-school communication is the foundation of a strong relationship. Technology can greatly enhance this:
Dedicated communication platforms: Use digital tools like parent portals and dedicated apps to offer easy access to updates on student progress, announcements, and important information.
Multiple communication channels: Provide updates through text messages, emails, and mobile apps, ensuring all parents, regardless of their schedules, stay informed.
Track and improve engagement: Monitor parent registrations and platform usage. Targeted support can then be provided for families who aren’t regularly engaging. There are different customer relationship management (CRM) systems available which can track the engagement of individual email addresses, which may then allow for more targeted messaging.
Promote both face-to-face and online engagement
Digital tools are essential, but interaction with humans, online and face-to-face, strengthens trust and connection:
Workshops and informational sessions: Hold practical sessions on homework support, curriculum expectations, or educational milestones, empowering parents to support learning effectively.
Online events: Is it possible to hold events in both online and in-person, so that parents who can make physically attend can do so, and allows parents to attend remote versions too. Having webinar sessions that can be available on 'catch-up' can allow parents to still be involved around other commitments.
Social and community events: Events like coffee mornings, parent meet-ups, or open houses foster a sense of belonging. Consider neutral venues (community centres, local hotels) to encourage attendance from diverse family groups.
With face-to-face engagement, we must be mindful that not all parents are comfortable to come to a school building. This space is the locus of power for teachers and school leaders, with the potential that parents may not feel they have a safe space to share their thoughts and views. Parents themselves may have negative associations with schools and this can be off-putting for them. Schools might consider a more neutral venue for in-person events, such as a community centre, or a local hotel conference space. The limited financial resources schools may have to afford this additional space is not underestimated.
Offer flexible engagement opportunities
Many parents find traditional meetings difficult due to work schedules or transport issues.
Increase participation by offering:
Flexible timings: Arrange meetings in early mornings, evenings, or weekends to suit different schedules.
Virtual meeting options: Provide online participation options, allowing parents to be involved conveniently from home or work, overcoming logistical and travel barriers.
Embrace multilingual and cultural inclusion
Language and cultural differences significantly impact parental engagement. Create a welcoming environment by:
Providing multilingual materials: Translate important documents, updates, and resources into commonly spoken languages within your community. If there are members of staff in your school who can be given time to support this effort, this may limit the need for finances to be used in some cases.
Employing multilingual staff: Staff who speak multiple languages help build trust and improve communication, making all parents feel valued and understood. International schools may have staff of the nationality in which the school is based, which has significant benefits for the operation of the school.
Build a positive school culture
A welcoming school culture encourages ongoing parental involvement. Actively build this culture by:
Creating parent resource centres: Develop dedicated spaces - either physical or online - with educational materials, contact information, and clear guides to help parents support their child’s education.
Encouraging volunteering opportunities: Clearly advertise opportunities for classroom assistance, event support, or advisory roles. Emphasise the positive impact parental involvement has on student outcomes to boost participation.
Advocate for parental participation from all members of the school community, being particularly mindful of recruiting parents from a wide range of backgrounds - cultural and socioeconomic.
Provide clear, accessible educational resources
Parents want to help but often don't know how. Accessible educational resources can bridge this gap:
Short video tutorials: Offer concise, user-friendly videos explaining school policies, curriculum updates, and practical strategies for home learning. Schools may be able to offer multilingual versions of these materials.
Online guidance and FAQs: Provide clear online guides addressing common questions or concerns parents might have regarding school processes.
The bottom line: clear, flexible, and inclusive engagement works
Improving parent-school relationships doesn’t have to be complicated. It requires clear, flexible, and inclusive strategies. By implementing these approaches, your school has the ability to create stronger partnerships, fostering better student achievement and building a cohesive, supportive school community.
What does this mean for schools?
Schools cannot afford to overlook parental-school interactions. The evidence is clear - when parents are involved and engaged, students perform better, attend more, and feel more motivated. Yet, too many schools still struggle to break down the barriers that keep parents on the sidelines.
Bridging this gap does not require more work - it requires smarter and consistent approaches. Strong communication, flexible involvement, inclusive participation, a culture that truly values parental input, and does not see parents as ‘hard to reach’ can transform how schools and families work together.
The question isn’t whether parental involvement, engagement and participation matters - it is how well schools are making it happen. It is time to rethink parental-school interactions, not as an afterthought, but as a key driver of student success.
Call to action.
Parental-school interactions are the missing link in education. Schools know parents matter, but too many still struggle to bridge the gap. When parent-school interactions are limited, students miss out.
&Parents helps schools turn parental involvement from a challenge into a strength. We provide practical support to improve communication, build trust, and create strategies that bring parents into the heart of school life.
If your school is ready to bridge the gap, we’re here to help. Get in touch with &Parents today.
&Parents is a social enterprise committed to transforming the way schools and parents collaborate.
&Parents encourages schools around the world to transform parent-school collaboration.
Comments