Describes the link between the academic success of children in high school and parents who are actively engaged in assisting at the school during the primary years. Based on data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS), which has examined the academic and social development of inner-city Chicago children since 1986, students whose parents were involved in their children???s elementary classrooms had lower drop-out rates in high school, greater on-time graduation completion, and higher grade levels completed. One limiting factor, however, is the complex nature of parent involvement since it is behavior that often reflects parental attitudes about the educational system. Encouraging parental involvement to promote long-term academic success is found to be a cost-effective tool. Training to help teachers incorporate parents into the educational process would be helpful, but mandating parental involvement is not advocated. Parents would benefit from a public policy that supports time-off to assist at the schools and to be involved with their children???s education.
