Improving Parent-Teacher Communication Through Technology

The importance of parent-teacher communication has been shown by many studies which link increased parent involvement to improved academic achievement and adjustment for their children. The more often teachers reach out to parents, the more likely parents are to respond to those efforts and become more active in their child's education. This statement holds true even at the higher grade levels, when parent-teacher communication typically decreases. Positive attitudes toward school, higher expectations of themselves, and more positive behaviors are examples of improvements seen in students with involved parents. Benefits such as these are seen throughout all socioeconomic backgrounds, so it is especially important for parents of academically underperforming groups to be supportive of their students (Seitsinger, Felner, Brand, & Burns, 2008). Several different strategies are currently being used in schools in attempts to increase this vital aspect of students' educations.

Schools and teachers should contact families early in the school year to welcome parents and motivate them to communicate with the school (Seitsinger et al., 2008). Teachers should try to incorporate both one-way and two-way communication exchanges with parents into their classrooms to maximize information exchange. One-way communication involves methods like newsletters, report cards, school-to-home notebooks, and school websites. These types of written communication should avoid educational jargon and be clear for parents of varying educational levels to easily understand. Two-way communication involves dialogue between the parents and teachers which can occur in the form of telephone calls, conferences, open houses, and e-mail messages. This type of communication helps parents and teachers build trust and respect for one another. By incorporating good news in to these exchanges, teachers can promote positive relations with parents. Treating parents as equals encourages the formation of partnerships between parents and teachers that will allow them to work together in the best interest of the students (Graham-Clay, 2005).

Newsletters are a common form of one-way communication used by teachers as a first step to initiating conversation between home and school. Some teachers have found the parents are more likely to read an electronic copy of their newsletter, rather than a paper copy, possibly because it is more likely to reach them. Teachers can condense a lot of important information into a newsletter where it is convenient to read instead of sending home several notes or messages. Parents benefit from newsletters by feeling more connected to what their child is doing in the classroom. Newsletters often contain information about the material students are covering in class. With this information, parents can relate outside activities to their children's class work or better prepare themselves to assist with homework (Jensen, 2006).

Parents perceive many problems with home-school communication. Many note that teachers do not initiate communication, do not communicate enough, or wait too long before notifying parents of a problem. These issues leave the burden of initiating conversation on the parent who may not know what to say or the best way to reach the teacher. Regarding homework, some parents feel that their children's teachers do not prepare them adequately to help with homework and do not understand teachers' expectations. Notifying parents earlier about homework would give them more time to assist their child. Some parents feel that teachers are unclear or not helpful in their communication efforts (Harniss, Epstein, Bursuck, Nelson, & Jayanthi, 2001).

Recently, technology has made parent-teacher communication easier and more time-efficient than ever before. Telephones, voicemail, and internet technology all allow fast communication about such things as homework assignments, behavior problems, and classroom highlights. The internet is the most recent tool being used for school communication. With some training, teachers can set up class websites with information that the parents are able to view at any time. E-mail communication is beneficial because messages can be sent at any time and the other person does not need to be available to respond immediately (Graham-Clay, 2005). However, in 2004, only 74.9% of U.S. households with a phone line had access to the internet (Merkley, Schmidt, Dirksen, & Fuhler, 2006). While the internet has proven useful in parent-teacher communication, schools must keep in mind that not all families have internet access and must offer less technologically advanced forms of communication such as written notes and telephone calls as well (Graham-Clay, 2005).

For schools and families with internet access, e-mail messages are quickly beginning to replace traditional written notes. E-mail messages are more immediate and efficient than written notes. Some parents are able to check their e-mail during the day at work and know immediately how their child's day at school is progressing. E-mail messages are also more likely to reach parents because students cannot "accidentally" forget to deliver or misplace them. E-mail can increase the ease and frequency of communication because it allows teachers to write one message and send it simultaneously to all of the parents in the class (Patton, Jayanthi, & Polloway, 2001).

Websites have been created to help parents assist their children with their homework assignments. Homework Central (www.homeworkcentral.com) is a popular, comprehensive site that provides students and parents with study skills and homework assistance for a variety of subjects. Some schools have begun to develop similar websites of their own. These websites increase parents' confidence in their homework assisting skills which makes it more likely that they will become involved at homework time (Patton et al., 2001).

According to Salend, Duhaney, Anderson, and Gottschalk (2004), the internet can be used to improve homework communication and completion. Teachers can contact their school's instructional technology specialist if they need assistance setting up a class website (Salend, Duhaney, Anderson, & Gottschalk, 2004). Some teacher preparation programs now even require classes in technology which teach students to develop websites, digital video projects, and multimedia projects (Merkley et al., 2006). A class website can start off simply with a welcoming introduction, class policies, calendar of homework assignments, and ways to contact the teacher. When everyone is comfortable using the website, online homework resources, online homework groups, and homework models and rubrics can be added to the website to make it more useful as students complete their assignments. Class websites can also be used to provide individualized assignments for each student. Assignments can be designed for parents to take a virtual field trip through the internet with their child, which will foster family interactions rather than parents simply telling their children to do their homework. By listing e-mail addresses for the teacher and other families in the class, parents and students can contact others for help with assignments (Salend et al., 2004).

Traditionally, schools use assignment notebooks in which students write down their homework assignments and parents sign the notebook each night. This method allows parents to know what work their children are expected to do each night so they can ensure that it is completed. However, there are some problems with this method. Assignment notebooks can be forgotten, damaged, or missing and parents' signatures can be forged. Chen, Yu, and Chang (2007) studied the E-Homebook System (EHS) that is being used in Taiwan which allows teachers to post homework assignments directly to a website that parents are able to access. Parents and teachers can send messages back and forth without worrying about them getting lost or being read by students. EHS also allows parents to have discussions with one another about what is going on in the classroom, which gets them more involved in their students' educations. The system is useful for research purposes because it tracks what parents and students are doing on the website. By collecting data about parents' online frequencies and discussion participation, the system can notify teachers of unconcerned parents and the teachers can contact them about the importance of being involved (Chen, Yu, & Chang, 2007).

An article written by Merkley, Schmidt, Dirksen, and Fuhler (2006) examines how technology can be used to communicate with parents about their children's academic growth. The WebCT system allows teachers to post homework assignments on the internet where parents have access to them. The system also aims to increase parent involvement by documenting the students' academic progress by showing the parents how their students are performing rather than just providing them with a grade. WebCT allows teachers to post audio, video, and samples of students' work for parents to view at home. This keeps parents more informed than occasional parent-teacher conferences or report cards do. The audio and video components are especially useful while children are learning to read. Parents and teachers are also able to write informal notes to one another to inform or ask questions about homework, academic performance, or behavioral problems. The authors found the WebCT system to work well because parents were able to use it after being given only a simple list of instructions. Parents seem to enjoy this approach because they can continually monitor their child's progress and compare their current and past work to assess improvement (Merkley et al., 2006).

Harniss, Epstein, Bursuck, Nelson, & Jayanthi (2001) surveyed parents of children with and without disabilities for recommendations for improving homework communication. Parents ranked "Teachers should require that students keep a daily assignment book," as the most effective action that teachers could take to improve homework communication between parents and teachers. "Schools should require frequent written communication from teachers to parents about homework, such as monthly progress reports," was ranked as the most effective school policy for increasing communication. Surprisingly, "schools should provide electronic mail services for teachers so that they can send assignments home electronically" was ranked as the least effective technology option for improving communication, being beaten by telephone homework hotlines. By implementing the strategies that were ranked as most effective by parents in this study, the frequency and quality of parent-teacher communication should increase. Increased communication should lead to the completion of more homework which in turn will result in better school performance from the students (Harniss, 2001).

Thompson (2008) focuses on parent-teacher e-mail communication. Computer mediated communication (CMC) has made teachers more accessible and lead to increases in parent-teacher communication in the past decade. Parents and teachers are now conversing more about positive information rather than just problems partly because of the ease of CMC. Some problems have been noted with CMC. Specifically, there are no nonverbal cues available to help parents and teachers interpret messages correctly. Communicators can adapt their verbal, linguistic, and textual cues to develop relational communication with one another, but it takes longer than it normally would in face to face interactions. Results from the study found that grades and behavior were the most frequently discussed e-mail topics. "Parents and teachers indicated that e-mails worked most effectively to communicate about grades because the messages involved simple, concrete information," (p. 208). Teachers believed that it was important to remain positive in e-mail communication even when reporting negative information to parents (Thompson, 2008).

Parent-teacher e-mails are not as much of a burden to teachers as one might expect. Teachers spend about 30 minutes per week communicating via e-mail. One teacher even mentioned that she wished more parents would communicate through e-mail because it is nice to have parents taking an interest in their children's educations. Parents and teachers commented that they used e-mail because of its convenience. They did not need to worry about disturbing one another at work because they could reply whenever it was convenient. A disadvantage involved the delay in feedback which prolonged the communication. Parents often initiated e-mail efforts after receiving an initial e-mail from the teacher at the beginning of the school year. The parents reported that they would like more teacher initiated e-mail (Thompson, 2008).

Most students reported being comfortable with their parents and teachers e-mailing one another because they are aware that parents and teachers do communicate and they saw e-mail as no different from any other method of communication. Students also liked parent-teacher e-mail because teachers made an effort to report good news that they were rewarded for. The primary improvement seen in students as a result of parent-teacher e-mail was a rise in grades. Both parents and teachers agreed that their e-mail decreased the number of missing homework assignments. Positive results were seen as behavior problems decreased as well (Thompson, 2008).

One limitation found with parent-teacher e-mail is that parents of higher socioeconomic status were more likely to engage in it. These people often had white collar jobs where they had internet access during the day at work. Parents with a lower socioeconomic status were less likely to have internet access at work and at home and the knowledge to be able to use it (Thompson, 2008).

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) requires that schools communicate with families in order to enhance students' success (Merkley et al., 2006). Due to the number of benefits that increased parent involvement brings to academic performance, it has been identified as an important characteristic of high performing schools. The requirements of NCLB state that teachers should use researched-based practices with solid evidentiary bases in their quest to enhance student achievement, so further research needs to be done in the area to determine what methods will be most effective in helping to achieve this goal (Seitsinger et al., 2008).

References

Chen, H., Yu, C., & Chang, C. (2007). E-Homebook System: A web-based interactive education interface. Computers & Education, 49, 160-175. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2005.05.003.

Graham-Clay, S. (2005). Communicating with Parents: Strategies for Teachers. The School Community Journal, 15, 117-129. Retrieved from PsycINFO database.

Harniss, M., Epstein, M., Bursuck, W., Nelson, J., & Jayanthi, M. (2001). Resolving Homework-Related Communication Problems: Recommendations of Parents of Children with and without Disabilities. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 17, 205-25. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Jensen, D. (2006). Using newsletters to create home school connections. International Reading Association, 60, 186-193. doi:10.1598/RT.60.2.8.

Merkley, D., Schmidt, D., Dirksen, C., & Fuhler, C. (2006). Enhancing parent-teacher communication using technology: A reading improvement clinic example. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 6, 11-42. Retrieved from PsycINFO database.

Patton, J., Jayanthi, M., & Polloway, E. (2001). Home-school collaboration about homework: What do we know and what should we do?. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 17, 227-242. doi:10.1080/10573560152121010.

Salend, S., Duhaney, D., Anderson, D., & Gottschalk, C. (2004). Using the Internet To Improve Homework Communication and Completion. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 36, 64-73. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Seitsinger, A., Felner, R., Brand, S., & Burns, A. (2008). A Large-Scale Examination of the Nature and Efficacy of Teachers' Practices to Engage Parents: Assessment, Parental Contact, and Student-Level Impact. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 477-505. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Thompson, B. (2008). Characteristics of parent--teacher E-mail communication. Communication Education, 57, 201-223. doi:10.1080/03634520701852050.