The evidence is beyond dispute. When parents are actively involved in the education of their children, children do better in school and student achievement increases. A January 2003 report from the National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement (PDF 1.19 MB) reveals that families make critical contributions to student achievement from preschool through high school; when parents are involved at school and at home, children do better and stay in school longer; and when a critical mass of parents is involved, the whole school improves.

Because expanded parental choices is one of the four pillars of No Child Left Behind, parent involvement has taken center stage. For the first time in the history of federal education legislation, parent involvement is defined as the "participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring that parents (Title IX General Provisions, Part A Sec 9101):

• Play an integral role in assisting their child's learning
• Are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at schools
• Are full partners in their child's education and are included, as appropriate, in decision making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child
• The carrying out of other activities, such as those in Title I, Sec 1118.