My wife and I divide our holidays between both of our families, while our sisters usually only have one family to devote time to. That often leads to many people adjusting their schedules around ours, which is something that I am not comfortable with. Fortunately, everyone has been understanding so far.

Since I agreed to work in the tech area at church on Sunday, it wasn’t going to be possible to spend Easter day with both families, so we spent Saturday at my in-laws’ and Sunday afternoon at my parents’. My teenage sister-in-law has her own bathroom in the basement, and since the other one was being used, I was forced to make the journey into the mysterious underworld of . . . well, teenage girl bathrooms. It’s definitely not somewhere I enjoy spending time.

I noticed a large-print Reader’s Digest in the floor, with an eye-catching headline glaring back at me: “How to Raise an A+ Student: Three very different families reveal their secrets to success.” I was hooked. I had to read it.

When the article began with, “when it comes to education, our children are in trouble . . . up to a quarter of them don't finish high school . . . of those who do and go on to college, more than four in ten need remedial classes,” I began to expect that this would be another typical public school bashing that I have become so accustomed to. The author did continue by saying that “there are plenty of reasons for all that failure -- from a stultifying school bureaucracy to reform-resistant teachers unions to poorly qualified teachers.” But then he abandoned the rhetoric to point out something that few people outside of education venture to tackle: home life.

“Dozens of studies have shown that the most consistent indicators of student achievement -- more than income or social status -- are the home environment and parental involvement.” The use of standardized testing to measure school improvement and student success assumes that all children have the same – or at least similar – personal experiences, expectations, and values. These tests and the bureaucratic policymakers who champion them seek to hold schools responsible for every child’s entire education, and they leave no burden for the students themselves or their parents. The research cited in this article begs for this approach to be re-examined.

An old MSTA promo video that I have shown to new hires in our district for the past six years says, “Gone are the days of Mayberry and Wally and Beaver Cleaver.” Back then, parents took active roles in their children’s education. Today, teachers and their curriculum often compete with the complacency of home. Don’t get me wrong – I know there are still parents who do care, and hold their children to high standards. They take an active role in the lives of their children, helping them learn; molding their lives with new experiences; being role models of what it means to be a lifelong learner. In a class of 25-30, I can usually point out the students who come from that kind of home life. Unfortunately, I can often point out the ones who don’t as well. Congruent with the research from this article, I can usually sort the class by grades and draw a line in the middle of the page to show you the same lists.

If parental involvement and home environment are so important to student achievement, why don’t we do something about it? It’s time we, as educators and leaders in our profession, do. MSTA Executive Director Kent King spoke to our CTA recently and devoted a portion of his message to this concept.

We need to start at the local level . . . involve parents more . . . communicate with them more . . . listen to them more. My School Law class meets at Kingston. The first week, I noticed that their sign said they would be offering “parenting classes.” Maybe we should offer training on how to parent a teenager; how to parent a grade-schooler; how to parent a high-schooler. Maybe we should teach parents how to help their children with homework; how important it is to be involved; simple ways they can incorporate learning into their lives.

Next, we need to make this a statewide issue. We need resolutions addressing parental accountability. Kent suggested resolutions for student accountability: “No Pass-No Drive,” and “No Pass-No Play.” Maybe we should have resolutions about parent involvement and holding parents accountable for the children’s education. Kent mentioned “No Pass-No Check.” Maybe that would get some people’s attention. Withhold welfare funds for parents whose children aren’t passing. They’re quick to suggest withholding our paychecks if their children don’t pass.

Finally - and probably hardest - we need to take this to the federal government. "No Child Left Behind" assumes that the school district raises the child. In the interest of political correctness and vote pandering, they want to make everyone think that socio-economic conditions, racial inequities, and gender differences have no effect on education and should be conquerable by changing the curriculum and certification of the teachers. They aren't going to admit that parents - those who go to the ballot box and cast the vote - are responsible as well.

While I realize these topics are very controversial, we must address the issue – and there has to be some way that parents can be held more accountable. Any ideas?