Giving Compass' Take:

· Futurity takes a look at new research showing how parent engagement and involvement at school reduces the chances of concentration problems and behavioral issues.

· How does this change the learning environment? How does parent involvement affect student success? 

· Read more about how parents make a big difference in school quality.

Parent involvement and support can be beneficial for students of all ages, but the new research shows that family-school involvement has specific perks for young students.

After surveying more than 3,170 students and 200 teachers, researchers at the University of Missouri found that families are less engaged with their child’s schooling in middle school than they are when their child is in elementary school.

“In addition to being less likely to have emotional or behavioral issues in class, we also found that students with engaged parents ended the year with better social skills and were able to focus on tasks easier,” says Tyler Smith, a senior research associate in the College of Education at the University of Missouri. “This means that when parents are more involved at school, the benefits to their child grow over time.”

The researchers says that family-school engagement often drops from elementary to middle school for several reasons, including a change in student-teacher ratio and a desire to respect their child’s growing sense of independence.

Read the full article about parents involved at school by Cailin Riley at Futurity.