Parent Perspectives
Learning Heroes was founded to inspire and equip parents with information to help their children succeed in school.
Over the past two years, we’ve had the opportunity to speak with parents across the country about their aspirations for their children through one-on-one interviews, 70 focus groups and two national research polls in English and Spanish. We’ve discussed parents’ experiences with their children’s schools and why it’s critical that parents are empowered with accurate and clear information so they can be the advocates they aspire to be for their children.
Across the board, parents are united in wanting their children to be happy, healthy, and successful. Our research revealed that parents are hungry for information on how to best support their children in meeting these goals, but that many do not always get an accurate picture of their child’s academic achievement from their child’s school.
Below, in their own words, is what parents are saying.
What do you envision when you think about your child’s future?
“I envision them [my kids] choosing a path that they’re excited about and that they’re passionate about and they’re going to be happy in. They’re constantly changing their ideas of what they want to do, but I want to be on a path where we’re supportive of that and we help them achieve the goals they want to achieve.” — Dan, Colorado
“When I think about the future of my children, what I want is for them to reach their goals. Mainly, that they achieve their dreams, that they are educated individuals, successful in their careers, in love and in everything. Not only in everything educational, but also in everything personal. That they are happy, have an education, and know where they want to go in life.” — Liliana, Tennessee
As a parent, what keeps you up at night?
“What if they don’t make it? What if I’m not doing enough for them? If they don’t focus enough for their own good — even if we do so much as parents, it depends on them. You could do as much as you want as a parent, but if they’re not putting enough of their effort, it may not be enough.” — Yomery, Washington, D.C.
“Resources. Making sure I’m on the right page with my kids, especially with my son. My son has so many challenges, [like] for him to just be able to communicate his day effectively. I’m always worried about how his day was, if someone was bothering him, because he can’t communicate that. I just worry about it a lot, as a mom. Especially because I’m a helicopter mom…. when you get to the next school, how are you behind? At the new school, my daughter [isn’t on grade level]. In her old school, they never said she was behind. So, that’s another thing that worries me. It should be the same no matter where you are.” — JoAnn, Maryland
Why is it critical for parents to have multiple measures of clear and understandable information about their child’s academic progress?
“It’s so hard to understand your child’s progress. All the grading processes are so hard for any parent to understand. We look at the numbers and sometimes you feel it is okay, but when you look at the national numbers, they don’t match.” — Micky, Maine
“It’s important to look at the child as a whole. I was a young parent when I had my son and I don’t think I did him justice. I was taking the teacher’s side that he wasn’t doing that great in school and I wasn’t taking advantage of the test score information to push or promote that that he should have been in advanced classes way earlier.” — Liz, Maryland
How have you been an advocate for your child?
“We created Portland Empowered to try to get the community involved. It’s a platform where communities and schools can have real conversations. The schools feel they know better about what the students need, but that’s foolish. Portland Empowered is how parents can bridge the miscommunication between the school and parent. Parents need to be empowered; they need to have some voice at the table.” — Micky, Maine
“Both of us [Kim and the teacher] partnered together. We’ve even started disability awareness months. We brought it to the principal’s attention after we both conversed with each other about the idea and the principal thought it was a great idea and we brought it to the PTO [Parent Teacher Organization] meeting. It became a school awareness to understand their peers who learn differently from them.” — Kim, Louisiana
“My younger daughter had reading problems. Now, I’m more connected with the teacher and more aware. During the summer, she is in tutoring so that when she starts the new school year, she can be at grade level.” — Ruth, Tennessee
What should schools know about communicating with parents?
“It doesn’t matter how you’re communicating with me as long as it’s effective communication. Just because you send me something home — a grade means nothing. I don’t know what he did. Was he happy all day? Did he eat? What did he do? Was he social? My son has autism. I need someone to put that in writing to me and show me what his day looks like.” — JoAnn, Maryland
“I’m available all the time for my kids’ teachers. They could call me anytime. They can always call me if they’re doing good or bad. I always want to hear. I always want to come to school.” — Yomery, Washington, D.C.
Why is it critical for parents to be involved in their child’s education?
“[It’s important] to actually be engaged in what your child does and to not be on autopilot assuming the school is just taking care of everything. If you just send your kid to school and expect them to come back a better person and educated, that’s probably not going to happen every time. You’re still, as a parent, the most important person in your children’s lives and you still need to be engaged every day with your children’s learning process and how they develop.” — Dan, Colorado
“Meet the teacher before the first day. Attending orientation is very important. And starting out strong. That begins the foundation of things that begins a smooth process throughout the school year. Staying in constant communications with teachers. Some teachers, you can call them at any time, email them, or if they have open door policies you can pop up or just let me know what’s going on and you let the teacher know what’s going on.” — Kim, Louisiana
You can find our most recent report and more information about Learning Heroes and the resources available for parents, like the Super 5: Back to School Power Moves for parents, here.
