Parents

Education news, analysis, and opinion about how parents and other family members interact with schools and their children’s education
Conceptul image in blues of a teacher handing out graded papers.
Liz Yap/Education Week and E+
Assessment The State of Teaching Where Teachers Say the Pressure to Change Grades Comes From
Teachers are more likely to be pressured by parents than school leaders.
Madeline Will, May 24, 2024
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4 min read
Mike Nelson reads to his students.
Mike Nelson reads to his students.
Mike Nelson
Families & the Community Opinion What Student Impacted You Most as a Young Teacher?
Paying attention to students and their families can provide some of the most valuable lessons to teachers.
Michael Nelson, May 22, 2024
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2 min read
A drowning hand reaching out of a cellphone for help
iStock/Getty
Ed-Tech Policy When Schools Want to Ban Cellphones—But Parents Stand in the Way
Educating parents on the real threats cellphones pose to their children can help allay their concerns about safety.
Elizabeth Heubeck, May 21, 2024
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5 min read
This Oct. 4, 2018, photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court at sunset in Washington. The Supreme Court has declined to take up an appeal from parents in Oregon who want to prevent transgender students from using locker rooms and bathrooms of the gender with which they identify, rather than their sex assigned at birth.
This Oct. 4, 2018, photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court at sunset in Washington. The court has declined to take up an appeal from parents in Maryland challenging a school district's policy on gender-support plans for students.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Turns Down Case Challenging School District's Transgender Policies
The case involves a policy allowing information to be withheld from parents considered not supportive of a gender-transitioning child.
Mark Walsh, May 20, 2024
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3 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School Choice & Charters Opinion 'Control Freaks' Are 'Losing Their Grip' on Education
"School choice evangelist" says new laws are a response to unions, bureaucracies, and K-12 ideologues.
Rick Hess, May 16, 2024
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12 min read
Student trying to navigate a landscape of a different language
Nicole Xu for Education Week
English-Language Learners ‘A Unique Challenge’: What English Learners With Disabilities Need
From language barriers to bilingual education program lockouts, dual-identified students face unique challenges researchers say.
Ileana Najarro, May 13, 2024
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7 min read
Elementary students standing in line against a brick wall using cellphones and not interacting.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being Teachers Want Parents to Step Up to Curb Cellphone Misuse. Are They Ready?
A program from the National PTA aims to partner with schools to give parents resources on teaching their children healthy tech habits.
Arianna Prothero, May 10, 2024
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5 min read
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Families & the Community Q&A How These District Leaders Turned Family Engagement on Its Head
Two Leaders to Learn From share insights on what family and community engagement entails.
Ileana Najarro, May 10, 2024
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7 min read
022724 MI Parent Engagement 19 rs BS
Families & the Community Video ‘A Welcoming Place’: Family Engagement Strategies for Schools (Video)
Schools that enlist parents as partners see positive results. Here's how to do it.
Libby Stanford & Jaclyn Borowski, May 2, 2024
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1 min read
A young student is sitting at the desk in the classroom and looking worried at the test. The students around him are absent.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + E+/Getty
School & District Management Opinion How We Can Fix Chronic Absenteeism
Experts on school attendance lay out five steps to ramping up family and student engagement.
Hedy N. Chang & Catherine M. Cooney, April 30, 2024
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6 min read
A group of high school girls work together to solve an algebra problem during their precalculus class.
A group of high school girls work together to solve an algebra problem during their precalculus class.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Mathematics Video Make Math Instruction Better: 3 Tips on How From Researchers
Education Week's Sarah D. Sparks shares three insights on improving math instruction from this year's AERA conference.
Sarah D. Sparks & Jaclyn Borowski, April 25, 2024
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1 min read
Various school representatives and parent liaisons attend a family and community engagement think tank discussion at Lowery Conference Center on March 13, 2024 in Denver. One of the goals of the meeting was to discuss how schools can better integrate new students and families into the district. Denver Public Schools has six community hubs across the district that have serviced 3,000 new students since October 2023. Each community hub has different resources for families and students catering to what the community needs.
School representatives and parent liaisons attend a family and community engagement think tank discussion at Lowery Conference Center on March 13, 2024 in Denver. One of the goals of the meeting was to discuss how schools can better integrate new students and families into the district.
Rebecca Slezak For Education Week
Families & the Community 5 Ways to Get Parents More Involved in Schools
Schools don't need an influx of money and resources to have effective family engagement, experts say.
Libby Stanford, April 25, 2024
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9 min read
Emmanuel Trujillo-Beas, family liaison at Marie L. Greenwood Early-8, talks with other school liaisons during a group discussion at Lowery Conference Center on March 13, 2024 in Denver. One of the goals of the meeting was to discuss how schools can better integrate new students and families into the district. Denver Public Schools has six community hubs across the district that have served 3,000 new students since October 2023. Each community hub has different resources for families and students catering to what the community needs.
Emmanuel Trujillo-Beas, family liaison at Marie L. Greenwood Early-8, talks with other school liaisons during a group discussion at Lowery Conference Center on March 13, 2024, in Denver. One of the goals of the meeting was to discuss how schools can better integrate new students and families into the district. Denver Public Schools has seen thousands of new students enroll this school year, many from families who recently arrived in the United States. The district has used a variety of strategies to build relationships with those families.
Rebecca Slezak for Education Week
Families & the Community Download DOWNLOADABLE: Best Practices for Building School-Family Relationships
Here are five ways to ensure schools are building trusting, long-lasting relationships with families.
Libby Stanford & Gina Tomko, April 25, 2024
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1 min read
North Carolina Wesleyan University professor Patricia Brewer gives education major Makaela Stokes a hug after a tutoring session at the school in Rocky Mount, N.C., on March 18, 2024.
North Carolina Wesleyan University professor Patricia Brewer gives education major Makaela Stokes a hug after a tutoring session at the school in Rocky Mount, N.C., on March 18, 2024. For the past nine years, Brewer has hosted an after-school program for local families of students with disabilities where students receive tutoring from special education teacher candidates while Brewer teaches their parents to advocate for their kids.
Alex Boerner for Education Week
Families & the Community Should Working With Families Be a Core Skill for Teachers?
Just half of educator preparation programs offer a course on parent and family engagement.
Libby Stanford, April 25, 2024
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12 min read
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