Soapbox: Measure what matters in education, including the contribution of parents - Eileen Prior

For anyone interested in school education, parents and their involvement are a recurring theme.

There is general consensus that parents are a ‘good thing’ when it comes to improving educational outcomes for children but we have singularly failed to really evidence that assertion.

In 2014 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation gathered the evidence which currently exists from around the UK in an excellent report by Sue Ellis and Edward Sozu, ‘Closing the Attainment Gap in Scottish Education’. The report strongly supported the principles of parental engagement with learning, but the fact remains that we have taken a distinctly haphazard approach in Scotland.

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As highlighted by Ellis and Sozu, we have many initiatives and many good souls working to make things better, but we do not put sufficient effort into evaluating, refining and sharing what works. We have a nine-year-old Parental Involvement Act but not a shred of hard evidence that it has actually delivered improved parental engagement in Scotland. The bottom line has to be – has it made a difference to outcomes for children?

I don’t think that’s good enough. I believe most parents want the best for their children. I believe many struggle to see how they can take that aspiration and make it a reality. I believe it is the job of everyone working in education – local and national government, schools, teachers, family support workers, parents’ organisations, colleges, employers, the third sector and many more – to combine our efforts and help parents and children achieve that aspiration. We simply cannot afford not to.

Together, we can develop, evidence and share the practice around school, family and community engagement to improve outcomes for our children and young people. 

Eileen Prior is Executive Director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC), the parent-led membership organisation for parent groups in Scottish schools.