Parental Involvement is Crucial in Every Student's Life by June A. Voisine

I taught school for over 15 years in Dartmouth and Fairhaven before finishing my teaching career in the New Bedford School system. It was both rewarding and frustrating at times. I, like Carol Strupczewski, am also interested in hearing about the dropout statistics from the 50's and 60's and here's why:

In the French-Canadian neighborhoods (and, I suppose, other ethnic backgrounds) where I lived, education was considered "finished" after completion of the 8th grade in many families. Both my parents, first generation Americans, were descended from French Canadian families who usually had many children, and those children received perfunctory educations, then were tossed into the working world. Look back at ethnic families and you will see pictures of the children at 12 - 14 years of age standing beside machines in factories that towered over them. The idea was to have the children go to work as soon as possible, because during the depression and the lean years that followed, families were struggling to survive, and needed every child old enough to qualify for a work permit, to work. There was no debate on this issue. The children went to the maximum grade required by law and were "pulled" from school to work to contribute to the family income. My immediate family was no exception. There must have been staggering drop out rates during those times.

Carol Strupczewski’s letter addresses many crucial areas of concern, but what drew my attention specifically was the subject of parent involvement. Right on target!! As a student, my teachers must have been frustrated at the lack of my parents' "involvement". There were few Open Houses or Parents Night that either one of my parents attended and that was because 1.) my father frequently held jobs that were far out of town, and my mother did not have a license to drive a car early on; and/or 2.) with 5 children in our family, there was little opportunity for my mother to get anyone to babysit.

As a teacher, I was frustrated by the lack of attendance by my students' parents IF there were actually 2 parents in the household. The parents that did appear on those nights were not always the ones I wanted or needed to see. The students who were academically in need of help (now called Special Needs/ Special Ed or Sped) were the ones whose parents rarely came to school or responded to phone calls to set up parent/teacher meetings). I found many households whose parents considered education a means of something mandatory, set up by law, that they had to abide by.

Instilling in students a mindset of self-responsibility to get up, get dressed, get to school prepared for classes is a constant challenge facing every teacher/educator/administrator. Many students find education a means to an end -- something either to "get through" until they are old enough to drop out, or to graduate. This must be addressed by every school department. Parent involvement is crucial in every student's life, be they honor student or special needs student, and everything in between. As you stated, Carol, getting the parents fully involved!

As cities and towns across the nation are forced to deal with budget cuts, single parent homes, foreclosures, students having to change schools mid-year, mid-term, etc. because of having to move due to eviction or foreclosure, the challenge becomes greater and deeper every school year. White papers, school department meetings, structured curriculum, IEP assessments, etc. cannot replace the lack of parental involvement and support. Stressing the growing need for students to understand their involvement in getting a proper education in this society can only go so far if their parents themselves do not value education. It is the proverbial revolving door or dog chasing its tail. If there are problems in the household such as addiction, single parents, domestic abuse, or any number of situations which seem to plague our society these days, students may find themselves more in a supportive role in the household than as a minor with parental support. This is nothing new, either. "Passing students onto the next grade" was also a frustrating experience I witnessed as a teacher. Many of my high school students were sadly lacking in reading and comprehension skills. Being that my area of teaching was history and geography, I found myself in the unenviable position of having to fail students, not because they didn't like the area of Social Studies, but because their comprehension was so lacking in skill, they could not understand questions on a test or quiz, and thence failed the tests.

I also felt that MCAS was a test of teacher skill rather than student knowledge (this being around the time I stopped teaching, which was 2001.) Many teachers at the time were "teaching to the test", and students were suffering the consequences. I loved history and geography - I loved teaching it. I had a unique style of teaching that often caused administrators to raise their eyebrows, but my students were always swept up by the subjects and, more often than not, drawn into the chapters and assignments with extreme interest.

Finally and in conclusion, I cannot close without saying that student discipline is an area that needs to be addressed. Teachers can only do so much to eliminate, or at the very least, minimize student disruption in the classroom. It is a HUGE problem facing teachers. Many classes are 75% teaching, 25% student discipline/mitigation. And that can vary widely, daily. Once again - parent involvement is lacking severely in many of these cases. The "problem student" usually either has problems at home, or any number of other situations, which require areas of expertise outside the classroom.

Respectfully;

June A. Voisine