As an educator, I recognize the constant struggle that teachers have in meaningfully connecting with parents. This has become an increasingly greater struggle as more sets of parents commit to full-time positions in the workforce.

However, hearing that parent involvement has not always been a component of school was interesting to read. It seems logical to me that parents and teachers connect for the mutual benefit of the child, because both parties care about the child's success and well-being. It really surprised me to read that schooling, in its first realms, was designed to educate a child completely separate from their home life, isolating the child away from their families as though the family members are entirely incompetent.

I appreciated that the authors addressed this disconnect head-on. It made me feel a bit baffled, but also had me thinking, "Duh. How can we expect students living in impoverished areas surrounded by drug use and crime not participate in the lifestyle enveloping them?"

I have a personal connection to this point. When I was growing up, my mom was a high school teacher in a nearby public high school that taught many privileged young adults from well-off families. Because the school had such impressive academic records, a grant was created that would bus approximately 30 students from South Minneapolis to this school every day so that they had access to better schools.

Unfortunately, the grant dissipated five years after it was initiated, because the district did not notice any significant improvements in the academics and behaviors of students who were being bused to the public schools in richer areas. The quote I highlighted is an adequate explanation of why it did not work.

Just annotating to try it out!