Should Teachers Be Allowed to Grade Parents?

For years teachers, school administrators, and school divisions have been the primary target to assign blame when students perform poorly on academic achievement tests. Florida Republican Kelli Stargel thinks it's time to hold parents more accountable for student progress and filed HB 255, which would mandate that certain elementary school teachers give parents grade along with the child's report cards, rating them in four different categories. Grades would be "satisfactory," "needs improvement," and "unsatisfactory." Parents would be graded based on their communication with teachers, student attendance, homework completion and test preparation, and "physical preparation for school." The last category includes the child having adequate sleep and nutrition prior to coming to school. The bill allows parents to opportunity to appeal their grade if they choose to do so, but there are no other consequences for a poor grade. If there are no real repercussions for parents who do not show adequate involvement based on the teachers' rating scales, then what is the real purpose of the bill? Many feel that there needs to be open dialog about the importance of parental involvement in education, and that by opening parents' eyes to that could lead to the parent becoming more involved.

While there is no question that an active and involved parent is essential for a student's academic success, opponents of the bill are concerned about possible negative consequences a formal grading system could present on teacher-parent relationships and teachers' workloads. A parent who receives a low grade could be insulted and that could trigger hostility towards the teacher which would be of no benefit to anyone, especially the student. The embarrassment or anger could even cause parents to have less communication with the teacher. Teachers are also concerned about being overwhelmed by the increased workload of having to keep records of parental performance as well as information on student achievement.

Having been a special education teacher for over a decade, I can see both sides of this issue. It has been my experience that children whose parents take an active role in the educational process tend to have fewer behavior problems and perform better on tests and assignments. On the other side, I have witnessed students who are frequently absent from school, who say that they have few rules at home, and/or whose parents don't respond to phone calls or show up to IEP meetings. If the students don't feel school is important to their parents, they don't care about their grades either, thus contributing to a vicious cycle of poverty in many cases. The excuse given by many parents for not helping with homework because they "don't know how to do the work" themselves doesn't hold water in districts where free tutoring and transportation are provided. We are all sympathetic to the plight of those who have learning difficulties or who have to work nights to provide for the family, but there's much more to being involved than just helping a child with his or her homework.

Increasing parental involvement is something that needs to be discussed when trying to implement educational reform, but perhaps there are other ways to handle the issue rather than creating a system that could only cause more problems in the long run.