Parental Involvement

Better Student Achievement, Parental Involvement, and Public School Performance with the Request of School Vouchers to Attend Private or Charter Schools outside their Sector

Sonia M. Lopez

University of Texas Pan American

Abstract

Parents are always concerned in providing their children with the best education available. School vouchers make it easier for them to look for a school because it allows them to look outside their district boundaries. Although there are public schools with good performance, parents might opt for a private or charter school. These types of schools are known for their dedication and efficient curriculum towards student's education. They help students grow in academics and personal skills. Parent involvement is also more common in this type of school system. The demand for school vouchers can be a motivation for public schools to perform better benefiting all of students' education as well as the community's.

Better Student Achievement, Parental Involvement, and Public School Performance with the Request of School Vouchers to Attend Private or Charter Schools outside their Sector

In recent years, parents have been presented with different school options for their child's academic advancement. The decision of where to send a child to school does not come as easy as before since parents have a certain criteria in mind leading them to consider a school outside their sector. A school or an educational voucher is a certificate issued by the government to parents in order to enroll their children in a private school or any other school of their choice making the transition easier. As time has passed this option has become more and more popular and available to students and parents. School choice and voucher systems have received much attention as potential ways to advance education (Andersen, 2008, p. 44). Their aggressive expansion brings innumerous benefits to the community as a whole.

Most parents are concerned about their child's education and would want nothing but the best available for them. The economic changes can represent a big challenge to parents who are interested in cultivating and providing a good education to their child and further from discouraging them, their desire for a better education could be bigger. Although, considering paying for a private school would sometimes be out of their range, school vouchers allows them to do it at low or no cost. In addition, it provides parents the opportunity to search for a school that best fits their perspective of an efficient and successful school system, without being affected by the out-of-boundary or sector rules. If parents do not choose a private or charter school, children are allocated to public schools based on the geographical school district in which they live (Andersen, 2008, p. 44). Vouchers encourage parents to be more involved towards their child's education while keeping them well informed and perceptive. They provide options that the parents need to keep their children from attending poor-performing schools. Parents can expect good outcomes from taking such a decision; better grades, increased participation, more discipline, etc. These factors increase parent satisfaction and demand to improve the quality of education every child deserves.

In order to make the most out of the school vouchers, parents have to do some research and understand all the chances available to them and their child. They have to make sure they know the quality of education their child will receive, the curriculum they will follow, teachers knowledge and training and many other factors.

The primary step to take is to know what types of schools are available for a child. There are public schools which accept all types of students within the borders of their district. This process of division allows for a bigger socio-cultural environment which some parents might be opposed to. Magnet schools are another type of public school with high academic standards where students go through rigorous testing in order to be accepted. Private schools are independent and follow their own guidelines trying to increase student's performance. There are also charter schools which follow required curriculum and specialize in technology or the arts.

It has been believed that private and charter schools have superior academic programs making them more appealing to the parents and effective at raising student achievement (Lubienski and Weitzel, 2008, p. 448). Such schools seem to have more qualified teachers when it comes to making a child understand what they are teaching. Also, these types of instructors tend to be more passionate towards their subjects. They strive and encourage children to perform better in anything they do or work on. With teachers like this, children are more likely to spend time studying, learning, and relearning. Private and charters schools are very cautious about class size, therefore, classes are usually smaller making the teacher-student ratio more advantageous than in public schools. With fewer students, teachers have more control over their way and method of teaching and provide more individual attention. Students have the opportunity to ask more questions and be given a detailed explanation of whatever it might be they do not understand. It is a good method to avoid students' questions to go unasked or unanswered.

Private and charter schools' administrative structure is more independent compared to public schools and have much leeway when it comes to approaches to teach (Andersen, 2008, p. 50). They have the advantage to set their own curriculum unlike public schools that have to