Less than half of Connecticut parents are satisfied with their child’s school, its mental health support system and college preparation efforts, according to newly released survey results from ConnCAN, a Hartford-based educational advocacy organization.
The survey, conducted this summer with the participation of over 400 parents across the state, focused on five pillars including: school quality and opportunity; out-of-school activities; information and engagement; college and career readiness; and tutoring, summer and mental health.
Produced in partnership with 50CAN and Edge Research, the survey was part of a nationwide effort and the Connecticut results aligned closely with the responses of over 20,000 parents across all 50 states.
On average, less than half of Connecticut respondents (43%) reported satisfaction with their child’s school and even less said they were satisfied with how schools support mental health needs (37%). Most Connecticut parents, around 66%, also voiced concerns about their confidence in their child’s preparation to enter the workforce or higher education.
“Parents are telling us that they are uncertain about their own children’s futures,” said Steven Hernández, the executive director of ConnCAN. “It’s not unique to Connecticut, but I think we have really been unable to move the needle when it comes to the opportunity gaps in the state, and we see that in our education outcomes.”
In August, the state Department of Education released its annual assessment data, which showed that Connecticut students’ math and science scores improved last year and the number of students labeled chronically absent continued to drop from a pandemic high.
Scores still remained below pre-pandemic levels and the results showed smaller gains for high-need students, including those who are classified with a disability, qualify for free or reduced lunch or are multilingual learners.
According to ConnCAN’s survey, dissatisfaction can correlate with a lack of engagement in the school system for some parents.
Just over 1 in 4 Connecticut respondents said they had attended some type of parent organization meeting and less than 20% said they were familiar with how budget decisions were made at their child’s school, according to the survey.
“Parents — and, specifically or importantly for Connecticut’s context, parents of color — really trust the institutions that are teaching their children. … With that trust comes the responsibility of schools to meet families where they are,” Hernández said. “When I see disengaged families, I don’t see that as a family problem. I see it as an engagement problem in the very institutions that should be bringing in parents more intentionally and saying, ‘Here’s how we can work together on your children’s educational outcomes. Here’s what you can do at home. Here’s how we can partner over the summer.’ If parents felt that their schools wanted them to be part of their kids educational success, parents would be more engaged.”
Fran Rabinowitz, the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and a former superintendent in Bridgeport and Hamden, said she’s noticed that districts have begun investing more heavily in communication methods, but there’s “a lot more work to do in our schools to reach out to families, especially to low-income families.”
Parents want to be engaged, Rabinowitz said, adding that the work can begin with making long and complicated documents, like a school budget, more digestible.
“Budgets are your roadmap for what you believe are priorities in your school,” Rabinowitz said. “I remember being in Bridgeport and saying ‘There’s one thing I want to be sure of — the parents may not need to have the 500-page document that gives every line item, but they need to really understand that budget on a macro level.’ I remember traveling to different parts of the city with a PowerPoint.”
Districts experiencing staffing and resource challenges can better engage families by beginning those conversations in early childhood, Hernández said.
“Start early with families. Build a culture of parent engagement that is actually modeled by the school itself and parents will follow,” Hernández said. “Parents will follow the educational career because parents want more than anything for their children to be more successful than they were.”
Despite a low percentage of children in tutoring programs, at 19% both statewide and nationally, other extracurricular programs are working to engage students, with a higher percentage of students in Connecticut attending an after-school program (30%), summer program (51%) or participating in organized sports (65%) or arts (54%) programs compared to the national average.
Across the country just about 26% of respondents said their child was in enrolled in an after-school program, 41% in a summer program, 58% in sports and 51% in the arts.
Growing these extracurricular opportunities is also a chance to continue developing stronger mental health support at schools, Rabinowitz said.
“I do believe any activity — after school, summer school — where kids are interacting with each other — sports — where they have that interaction, that team, feeling that they are not isolated or alone, I think is incredibly important,” she said.
This story was originally published in the Connecticut Mirror Oct. 15, 2024.
