I think Slate is cashing in on back to school time. Last week it was the Private School = bad person gem and now this.
The author of this article appeared smart to me, though, and she cites some research.
I have no opinion about her intelligence, but I did check out the research she cites. The OECD Working Paper is 165 pages long, so I didn't review the entire thing but I did notice that the authors' conclusions and interpretation of the findings are completely different from hers. They actually state 4 types of involvement that matter most: reading books to young children, discussing complex issues with children, parents reading for enjoyment themselves and meeting with teachers, volunteering at school, helping with homework.
They suggest that parents volunteering at school is sometimes associated with lower achievement because it is a reactive response to the kid's struggles. They suggest getting parents involved before the kids have problems as a prevention approach. They also point out that it is quite possible that the kids might be doing even worse if their parents were not becoming involved at this point.
The recommendations of the authors include encouraging MORE parental involvement in schools, rather than suggesting it is a waste of time. They also point out, though, that even if you aren't able to volunteer, there are effective ways to support your child's education at home that don't require a lot of skill or experience.
Also, the United States is NOT one of the countries surveyed. Thus, all of the article's discussion of parent involvement in the U.S. is anecdotal.
In my own experience in my kids' school and my observations of my friends' kids' schools, there is so much variation in types of participation that gross generalizations like the ones made in this article hold no water with me. And, I would also suggest that while of course the children's educational outcomes are important, there are other things in life. For example, after school activities sponsored by the PTA may give kids who would otherwise be home alone after school somewhere to be with friends and adult role models. Will it make them better readers? Probably not. Organizing charity events (within reason) can teach children that we, as a family, value civic participation. Also a lesson I want to instill. Also not going to make them better readers.
I think Dude's question to their PTA is reasonable. What do you do? My school's PTA can answer that question to my satisfaction. They provide educational after school opportunities. They fund field trips. They fund and organize a writer's workshop, monthly fine art presentations in the classrooms, and much more. They also provide an annual report showing how much PTA money goes to which program. So clearly there is a lot of variation between our school and Dude's (I don't even get a t-shirt!).
The above article does not take this into account or provide any actual data on the relationship between American parental involvement and student performance. I don't even really see the point of it except to try and make parents who are involved in their children's school feel stupid and irrelevant. Good for her.
