A student’s success in the classroom is dependent on many factors, one of the most important being parental involvement in his or her education. Once the student leaves the classroom, parents are the partnering element that help the child to integrate learning into the real world and at home. Without apparent being actively involved, a child may lose interest in education and be denied a vital avenue of support for learning. Teachers should work diligently to maintain an open line of communication and a positive relationship with parents. One situation where communication is critical is with special education students. Keeping parents abreast of their child’s progress in of any concerns can help to quickly identify problems and deal with them before they have an adverse effect.

When parents in the classroom teacher communicate on a regular basis, a relationship of trust and support is built on which the child’s learning can be framed. This way, concerns about a student’s learning and behavioral issues can more easily be clearly explained and dealt with in an appropriate manner. When communication breaks down, misunderstandings can occur about a teacher’s methods for dealing with behavior or in classroom instruction. Teachers can keep these lines open through a weekly phone call, parent teacher conferences and notes home.

One of the easiest ways to break a relationship with a parent is to constantly feed them negative statements about a student, especially if the child has a history of behavioral issues. The teacher has to be honest about problems that are going on, but can’t approach the situation in a positive manner. This can be done by asking parents for suggestions and by always finding at least one positive thing to say about the child during each communication. This lets the parents know that the teacher cares and that their involvement is valued. This helps to keep the parents actively participating with the school in a child’s education.