By JULIET V. CASEY
San Bernardino County Sun
Learning to read, mastering math or understanding science, like learning to dance or playing sports, take time, concentration and practice.
It also takes supportive parents, a factor Rialto Unified School District teachers and administrators say is often the missing link to a child's success in the classroom.
Results from the audit of educational effectiveness revealed that teachers and administrators are frustrated with parents who aren't making their children's education a priority. And parents - despite agreeing that their children do better when they are involved - say they just don't have the time.
The lack of parental involvement at school and with homework frustrates teachers most, said Robin Valles, principal of Fitzgerald Elementary.
Empty desks dominate a classroom at Milor Alternative High School.
Schools are trying to improve attendance rates by offering incentives for students to be in class.
|
She said it's difficult for teachers to get children to learn when what they do in school is not reinforced in the home.
"Society puts all the responsibility on us for fixing what's wrong," Valles said. "If kids can't read, it's all our fault. Nobody's looking at the responsibility parents have."
Parents have been placing more importance on sports or other activities than on school, which makes teachers' jobs more difficult, Valles said.
"Many parents don't understand and value the importance of education above all things," she said. "Parents tell me that when their students have not completed their homework, it's because they had to go somewhere like soccer practice, or because mom had go to the mall."
Valles added that too often, she only sees parents when students are performing in a play or with the band.
"Usually, it's only the parents who have children performing who show up," she said. "And parents at our school can be downright rude. Not all, but many - like 90 percent - will get up in the middle of the performance and leave as soon as their child's part is over. They'll collect their kid and go home."
The issue isn't whether parents care about their children. It has more to do with where they place their priorities, Valles said.
And parents agree.
"I think it is very important for kids to see parents involved in their school," said Rosa Flores, 41, who spends two hours a week helping in her children's kindergarten and thirdgrade classrooms. "Unfortunately, too many parents today have to work. This life we're living is really hard, and it's just money, money, money."
But parents don't have to take time from work to be involved at school or to help their children become better students, educators said.
"The greatest parent involvement is the parent at home making sure that their child is doing what they need to be doing, and that parent who is modeling learning and expecting their children to do it better than they do it," Valles said.
Even busy parents can help their children by talking to them and showing interest in what they're doing at school, teachers say.
"They can always talk in the car on the way to school," said Fitzgerald second-grade teacher Karen Brown. "Driving down the road, they can be noticing signs together, practicing reading."
But schools also have to help parents help their children, and most Rialto educators agree they could be doing more to reach out to parents and make themselves more accessible.
"We don't mean to, but we sometimes alienate parents because we talk to them like they're the ones in trouble instead of treating them like a member of our team," said Rialto Middle School Principal Lupe Andrade.
The district has started various programs, including parent-student English courses, in which parents and children with limited-English skills can learn the language together after school, said Mick Brown, assistant superintendent of student instruction.
"We also need to bring knowledge to the parents about academic content at their grade level so they'll know what their student is supposed be learning," Brown said.
Many schools have started offering parent-teacher conferences later in the evening to accommodate parent schedules.
In addition to poor parental involvement, the audit also showed parents, teachers and administrators believed children were absent from school too frequently.
To improve attendance rates, most schools have established incentives for good or perfect attendance, such as monthly recognition awards to reward students and parents for their efforts to get to school.
"I think giving certificates for perfect attendance is a good idea," said Flores, whose kindergartner and third-grader look forward to getting recognized for being on time every day. "They tell me, 'Hurry, mama, I want to get an award at the end of the month.'"
The quality of Rialto children's education hinges on a partnership between parents and teachers, and neither could do their job well without the other, Valles said.
"Communities have to compromise and share values to make our schools better," she said. "There has to be commitment and responsibility to the community as a whole."
 |
Arrowhead Credit Union Citizens Transportation Company Empire Volvo Fullerton, Lemann, Schaefer & Dominick Goforth & Marti Hill and Associates Norton Credit Union Century 21 - Lois Lauer Realty Manpower of San Bernardino Norwest Mortgage Ryder International San Manuel Band of Serrano Indians George Schnarre Southwest Airlines |
 |
|