The educational attainment gap: the involvement of parents

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1 Evidence to the Education Committee The educational attainment gap: the involvement of parents Introduction The Poverty Alliance is the national anti-poverty network in Scotland, formally established in We are an independent organisation with around 200 members; with members drawn from the voluntary and public sectors, trade unions, researchers, faith groups and individuals with direct experience of poverty. Our aim is to work with others to enable communities and individuals to tackle poverty. We have a number of key policy areas that provide the focus for our activities; these are addressing low incomes, supporting services to address poverty, enhancing the participation of people with direct experience of poverty in policy development processes, and addressing attitudes to poverty. The Educational Attainment Gap The Poverty Alliance are pleased that the Education and Culture Committee are undertaking work into the educational attainment gap. We are particularly interested in strand three of the inquiry the involvement of parents - and the bulk of our response will focus on this aspect. As part of our work in bringing this evidence together, we have surveyed 57 parents in order to enable us to have a better understanding of the issues they face, and how they might be resolved in order to allow parents and schools to work better together to close the gap. Where we are Currently in Scotland, the gap between children from low and high income families starts early. By the age of five, this gap is months. 1 Throughout primary school lower attainment in literacy and numeracy is linked to deprivation. By the ages of 12-14, those pupils from better off backgrounds are more than twice as likely to do well in numeracy. 2 Low attainment is linked to destinations after school and often has long term effects on job prospects. The JRF report suggests that parental socio-economic background has more influence than the school attended, and one 1 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014) Closing the Education Gap in Scottish Education 2 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014) Closing the Education Gap in Scottish Education 1

2 of the interventions that JRF recommended do work are Parental Involvement Programmes. 3 What do the pupils think? Research by Scotland s Commissioner for Children and Young People and Save the Children asked young people their views on poverty and education. 4 They found that young people thought that having an education, a home, their basic needs met and a supportive family were essential to doing well in life. Young people identified a number of barriers presented to people in poverty including access to school uniforms, resources for school work and even the basics such as housing and food. While young people thought a supportive home environment was essential to their education they were very clear that this did not have to be about money. 5 Young people recognised that support with home study could be difficult because of work demands or simply because their parents had different learning experiences. In terms of priorities, young people said they would like to see more support for home study and highlighted better communications between school and home as being important. The young people in this group had mixed experiences of this with some suggesting that parents may not always feel comfortable going to the school to talk to parents but others were able to suggest ways in which schools had provided support to parents so that they in turn could support their child. 6 What the parents say Do you think schools always explain clearly to parents how children learn throughout their school years and how parents could help their development? Only nineteen per cent of parents who responded to our survey agreed that schools always explained clearly to parents how children learnt throughout their school years and how parents could help their involvement. Over sixty five per cent disagreed. One of the issues that was raised by parents was the lack of information provided by schools on what their child s learning experience would be, and how parents can feed into this at home. Parents expressed frustration with the fact that there was little guidance offered, particularly with things such as how to teach multiplication. 3 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014) Closing the Education Gap in Scottish Education 4 SCCYP & Save the Children (2014) Learning lessons: Young people s views on poverty and education in Scotland 5 SCCYP & Save the Children (2014) Learning lessons: Young people s views on poverty and education in Scotland 6 SCCYP & Save the Children (2014) Learning lessons: Young people s views on poverty and education in Scotland 2

3 Parents were frustrated with the lack of updates on their child s progress, this often only happens at parents evenings or on their child s report card which often provides no specific detail in relation to areas of development. Parents felt that teachers were often so busy with their own work that parents were wary of approaching them for more information. The issue of teachers explaining but parents not always understanding was also raised. People learn differently and parents said there had to be an understanding from teachers that this was true of parents too. Parents suggested that more regular contact between parents and teachers would be helpful. They also thought it was be useful for teachers to provide details of what children are covering in class; including a general overview of the curriculum which would enable parents to read up on the things they need to understand in order to support their children. This needs to be more than just a handful of leaflets, and schools need to recognise that some parents will themselves also need help. It was highlighted that when facing multiple disadvantage many parents were forced to prioritise other things over homework. It was stated that parents should be told of the importance of homework in children s development, but that schools must recognise that some families will require that extra level of support through things such as homework clubs for those who aren t able to get support at home. Is your child s school always flexible enough to allow parents to be involved in their child s education (given parents work commitments, for example)? Only a quarter of parents who replied to this question agreed that their child s school was always flexible enough to allow parents to be involved in their child s education. Sixty-one per cent disagreed. A significant number of parents who responded to our survey said that they believed schools were not flexible and very little consideration was given to working parents, particularly working single parents. Parents complained of short notice given to attend anything at the school during the school day. Parents believed that consideration was always given to what suits teachers, and not vice versa. 3

4 Schools need to be more flexible when trying to include parents. Schools and teachers must take into account the needs of working parents, especially those who are also lone parents. To what extent does your child s school offer particular support to the parents of pupils from the most disadvantaged communities, in order to improve the attainment of those pupils? Sixteen per cent of parents who responded to this survey felt that their school offered lots of support to the parents of pupils from the most disadvantaged communities in order to improve the attainment of those pupils. Just under twenty-three per cent thought schools offered no support, and sixty per cent thought that there was limited support available to the parents of pupils from the most disadvantaged communities. One parent sent us a quote from their PTA meeting; this reads if they don t have , they don t want to hear what is going on in the school. This was part of a discussion on communication with parents, and the person was trying to imply that if parents were interested in what was happening at the child s school they would be online. This shows a horrible lack of understanding of what life is like for many people who live in poverty, not everyone has access to and those who do not should not be excluded from discussions on their child s education. Similar problems were highlighted by another parent whose child attended a school which had a catchment area including a variety of income backgrounds; at this school additional support was only given if really pushed for. Parents also highlighted low expectations for children from certain backgrounds and the fact that as a result children were not supported beyond a certain level, which was deemed good enough. It is clear that in many schools across Scotland, there is a lack of support available for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Schools should undertake Poverty Awareness Training, and ensure that all pupils, regardless of background, are encouraged and supported to achieve the best possible outcomes. Can you think of any examples of good practice from your child s school where parents and teachers have been brought together to improve attainment? Some of the good practice examples highlighted to us by parents include: Parent teacher meetings Bringing parents back to the classroom to learn new ways of teaching maths Invitations for parents to contribute to the school s improvement plan 4

5 Easy to contact teachers Teachers highlighting particular tools to help parents contribute to their child s education Finally, this was one particularly good example which comes from a parent with a child in Edinburgh: My son is currently in P1 - Leith Walk Primary school. He had an excellent transition into school, they had a lunch club and invited parents into school to work with their children doing little activities. This then set up an excellent relationship with the school. There have been invitations into school to see them in their class and look at their progress, watch their assembly and learning about their toy project. We've had a formal parent night in the autumn term as well as an informative newsletter and special P1 newsletter. We had a chance to go into school to learn about paired reading, curriculum workshop and storytelling- so classes for parents! I think the school is very encouraging in letting us parents know what is going on - oh and there is a P1 kids blog which is really useful in sharing the children's experiences and learning, also for having direct contact with the teachers if we need to ask a question. While these are all great examples, what is discouraging is the number of people we had who replied to this question with a simple no. Do you think that greater parental involvement in school education through the Parental Involvement Act (2006) has led to an improvement in pupil attainment? The majority of respondents to this question were unsure if greater parental involvement in school education through the Parental Involvement Act had led to improved pupil attainment. Just over ten per cent of parents agreed that it had and thirty per cent of parents disagreed. It was suggested that the Parental Involvement Act has actually widened inequalities as more confident parents took control while others were pushed to the side. Parents said that it was those parents who had time to engage, who did. For parents who are working, living in poverty and looking after their children more work needs to be done. The issue that the Act only forced parents to participate in things they would otherwise not wish to, and therefore create animosity towards the programme, the school and the entire learning process. Others have said that this depends on the school itself, and the role of the Headteacher and teaching staff. 5

6 One of the reasons that so many people may have responded unsure to this question is because they may not be aware of the Act and this is raised as an issue by parents in the comments. There is a need for schools to ensure that parents from all communities are able to engage. This may mean providing additional funding support or capacity building but unless we can ensure that families from all backgrounds are included then inequalities will continue to widen. It was recommended that a better approach is to admit that not all parents are able to participate, and instead have voluntary parent/child co-operatives which do not marginalise those parents that cannot participate. There should also be more done to highlight the existence of the Act and what this means for parents. What new measures could be taken to help parents raise their child s attainment? Some of the measures suggested by parents were: Better communications from schools and teachers need to take more time to build relationships with parents especially with those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Clearer explanations to parents of the importance of their involvement and role modelling Greater support for those parents who having difficulties themselves in learning Appointing a member of staff who is responsible for parental involvement and outreach Workshops for parents so they are better able to understand what the curriculum is about Parent and teacher sessions looking at the best way to support children s education at home Schools to be more flexible to allow for parental involvement Conclusion It is clear from the number of responses that we have received in a very short space of time that this is an issue parents really care about, and that parents want to be involved in their child s education. We know that poverty can be a barrier to attainment; this was highlighted both in our survey, and in the work done by SCCYP and Save the Children with Young People. Parents have highlighted to us many examples of good practice, and their suggestions for greater involvement must be listened to. We cannot close the educational attainment gap without fully involving all parents. Schools and teachers need to work closer with parents to explain their 6

7 child s educational experience and how parents can be involved in this. child starts in life, should not determine where they end up. Where a More information For further information contact: Carla McCormack Policy and Parliamentary Officer The Poverty Alliance carla.mccormack@povertyalliance.org 7