The survey asked public K-12 teachers about the level of involvement they see from their students’ parents.
Most teachers say parents do too little when it comes to:
- Holding their children accountable if they misbehave in school (79%)
- Helping their children with their schoolwork (68%)
- Ensuring their children’s attendance in school (63%)
High school teachers (75%) are more likely than middle and elementary school teachers (60% and 56%) to say parents do too little to ensure their children’s attendance.
Larger shares of teachers in schools with medium or high levels of poverty than those in low-poverty schools say their students’ parents do too little in each of these three areas.
Differences by school poverty level are particularly large when it comes to parents helping their children with schoolwork and ensuring their attendance.
Virtually no teachers (shares ranging from 1% to 4%) say parents do too much when it comes to each of these things. Shares ranging from 18% to 34% say parents do about the right amount.
Teachers’ interactions with parents
Teachers report a mix of positive and negative interactions with their students’ parents, though relatively small shares say parents contact them extremely often or often to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Most (65%) say parents show appreciation for their efforts at least sometimes, with 24% saying this happens frequently.
Fewer than half say parents at least sometimes communicate in a disrespectful way (40%) or that parents contact them to express support for (37%) or disagreement with (24%) what they’re teaching or things discussed in class. Shares ranging from 5% to 11% say these interactions happen frequently.
Elementary school teachers are more likely than middle and high school teachers to say their students’ parents frequently do each of the following:
- Show appreciation for their efforts (31% of elementary school teachers vs. 20% of middle school teachers and 16% of high school teachers)
- Contact them to express support for what they are teaching or things discussed in class (16% vs. 7% and 5%)
Physical violence from parents
While teachers report that parents can sometimes be disrespectful toward them, it’s uncommon for parents to get violent: 91% of teachers say they’ve never experienced a student’s parent being physically violent toward them. Still, 7% say this has happened to them.
