Only one in five parents are fully engaged in their child’s school, according to new Gallup research.
Gallup rolled out its new measure of parental engagement Tuesday, with the intent of going beyond typical measures of parental involvement in schools.
Parental involvement could mean reading to a child or participating in school events. Parent engagement goes deeper to include parental attitudes toward their child’s school. “Fully engaged parents are emotionally attached and rationally loyal to their child’s school,” Gallup researchers Daniela Yu and Tim Hodges write. “They are strong ambassadors of the school, and they’ll go above and beyond to promote and support the school.”
While 20 percent of parents are fully engaged, 57 percent are indifferent, and 23 percent are actively disengaged.
Compare that with Gallup research showing that between 30 and 40 percent of customers are fully engaged in the insurance, banking and health care industries.
To raise engagement, Gallup recommended schools have “strong school leadership, high academic standards, a positive school culture, [and] personalized education.”
From late May to mid-June, Gallup interviewed more than 3,300 adults with at least one child in public school. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
