• In a recent Sutherland Institute survey conducted by Y2 Analytics, nearly half of parents think that teachers do not provide enough information for them to be engaged in their child’s education, and about one-third of parents think the same thing about school districts.
• Only 8% of teachers said the school does not provide enough information, and a mere 3% said teachers and districts don’t provide enough information to parents.
• While teachers may be aware of parent involvement opportunities and the outbound communication to parents about these opportunities, communication may need to be more robust or simplified for it to reach parents.

​According to a recent Y2 Analytics poll conducted for Sutherland Institute, most parents feel they are very involved in their child[ren]’s education. Most feel they would like to maintain their current level of involvement.

That said, 22% of parents say they would like to get more involved in the education of their children.

So, what’s stopping them from doing more?

We wanted to understand this too and made it the subject of another question asked in our recent survey.

What parents report as obstacles to more involvement

The primary obstacles, according to parents, are time and a lack of information from the school system.

Among parents who want to be more involved in their kids’ education, a majority of parents said they do not have enough time (52%) or that the school does not offer them enough information to get involved (52%). Nearly half (49%) said that the teacher does not offer them enough information on how to be involved. And 32% said the district does not offer them enough information on how to be involved. Among these parents who want to participate more, 16% say the resources the school provides to help parents be involved are not helpful/too difficult to navigate.

Altogether, alongside a time crunch that prevents greater participation, this points to a feeling among parents that there is not enough information about how to do so. This may stem from a genuine lack of communication from the education entities discussed above or simply a lack of awareness of existing communication to parents about how they can get involved. Understanding what constitutes “enough information” may be helpful in identifying what parents feel they need.

What teachers believe are the obstacles preventing parent involvement

What’s really interesting from this data is how differently teachers view a “lack of information” as an obstacle for parent involvement. Basically, they don’t think it’s a main issue.

When teachers were asked what obstacles they think prevent parents from being more involved in their child’s education, 86% of teachers said the parents’ work schedule conflicts with when they would like to be involved, 80% of teachers said parents do not have enough time, and 75% of teachers said the family situation does not allow them to do so.

Only 8% of teachers said the school does not provide parents with the resources to be more involved, and a mere 3% said teachers and districts don’t provide enough information about instructional materials to parents.

Notably, a majority of teachers (52%) believe that a lack of motivation is an obstacle keeping parents from being more involved. When it comes to lack of motivation, only 8% of parents said this was the reason.

Discovering these differences in perception may aid either group in overcoming incorrect assumptions about the other. If one group thinks there is plenty of information about how to get involved in education and the other doesn’t, we should consider what information matters most to parents and which ways of sharing are most impactful. If one group assumes a lack of motivation is the cause of another’s inaction, they may be less inclined to make possible and simple changes that might ignite the other’s existing motivation.

Further efforts to bridge the communication gap

In a recent publication, Sutherland Institute recommended making updates to district websites (which are required by law to annually share a way for parents to access curriculum) and establishing a grant program that rewards teachers who go above and beyond in offering information about curriculum to parents.

Aimed at making information about curriculum as easily digestible as possible, these recommendations may provide a framework that could apply to information about all parent involvement. Though teachers may be aware of opportunities for parent involvement and even the outbound communication to parents about these opportunities, communication may need to be more robust. For parents who want to be more engaged, but for whom time is a concern, making sure they get good information about involvement may be a way to help.

At the very least, parents and teachers can agree that time is an obstacle when it comes to parent involvement. Helping parents use their limited time efficiently may be where public policy can make a difference.

Y2 Analytics conducted the survey highlighted in this report. 

Methodology Details
n = 560 likely Utah voters and 610 Utah schoolteachers
Online interviews fielded Aug. 10 – Sept. 5, 2024
Margin of error +- 4.1