Methods of Informing Parents About the School's Expectations for Student Learning

Parents who know what standards the school expects students to meet are in a better position to help their children succeed in school (Goals 2000: Educate America Act, section 102). Schools can inform parents of their expectations for student learning in a number of ways. The survey asked public school principals whether their schools used the following four methods of informing parents: providing parents with an overview of the curriculum, providing parents with an overview of the content standards, providing parents with examples of successful student work, and providing information about the entire school's performance and progress in meeting academic expectations (Figure 6 and appendix table B-12). Many principals reported that their schools provided parents with a school progress report (88 percent), an overview of the curriculum (81 percent), examples of student work (76 percent), and an overview of the content standards (61 percent).