Parent and community involvement in school activities in plays a significant role incorporating parents into the day to day operations of the school as well as creating a good relationship between parent and teachers, and parents and students. At risk –student is needy students in the school that requires support from parents, peers, teachers and the community to motivate them to learn and engage in school academic as well as core curriculum activities. At risk students are students that suffer from behavioral problems, low academic performances, low or lack of interest in academic activities, constancy absenteeism as well demonstrating disconnection with the school environment in that appropriate intervention is required to help the learners succeed in their academics. In this case, parents' involvement in at-risk student's school activities plays a significant role in shaping and motivating them to learn, and therefore, a leader can learn some concept from parents' involvement that can aid in improving one's leadership.
Article Summary
Today, the number of at-risk students in middle and high school levels of education and who are likely to drop out of school due to poor and consistent poor performance at school is a major concern for both parents and the education sector (Castro at al., 2015). Despite the poor academic performance of at-risk students, literature in indicating that these students can improve in their academics when given adequate and necessary support from the school, positive support from parents and family members, and positive use of time. The article emphasizes the importance of parent active commitment and participation in their students' school activity, as it motivates the students (Castro at al., 2015). Parents' involvement in academic activities of students with at-risk characters has proved to help at-risk students to be resiliency. Despite the hardships and facilitating factors that affect at-risk students, parents involvement in academic activities for such students have positive effects as it enables the students to develop favorable characteristics and coping strategies that enable them to succeed. Positive support from parents and community members and parental involvement in student's academic activities helps in boosting the learner's self-esteem and self -concept which in turn shapes individual attributes, which in turn help the learners to improve their participation in school activities. Additionally, parental involvement in academic activities of at-risk students has also helped in retaining at-risk students in school, hence reducing the school drop -out rate (Castro at al., 2015).
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Research Findings
Existing literature indicates a strong relationship between parents’ active participation in school activity and student's success ( Simon, 2014) . In this case, children whose parents actively participate in their school activities such as attending meetings, engaging in school co-curricular activities such as games. Also, parents who have a positive relationship with their children's teachers have a positive impact on the learner's participation in school activities which in turn help them to improve their academic performances. Despite the positive gains that result from parental involvement in their children school activities, it is important to state that the rate of parental involvement declines as children progresses from one level of education to the other. For example, parental involvement in elementary schools is higher than parental involvement in secondary school which in turn explains the high drop-out rates for at-risk students in secondary education level ( Simon, 2014) . Additionally, according to facts from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, parental involvement have a positive impact on at-risk students academic performance time times better when compared to social-economic support and factors ( Simon, 2014) . Facts indicate that when parents, students and school work together, the result is quality education for the student which is demonstrated in the student success in academic activities. Additionally, parental involvement is school activities has also been highly associated with good performance for schools, reduced low rates of retention and school dropout, timely high graduation in advance courses, and finally, increased enrollment for college and higher education programs ( Simon, 2014) . Lastly, parental involvement is school activities have a positive impact on psychological processes and attributes that enhance learners academic performance.
Strengths
The article his clear on the role of parent participation in school activities which in turn aid in helping the at-risk students to perform better and focused on their studies. Additionally, the article compares how other factors such as social, economic factors impact on at-risk students with how the parent involvement affects the student's performance (Castro at al., 2015). Importantly, the article has emphasized on the fact that at-risk students’ poor academic performances can be improved through active parents’ participation in their school activities. Additionally, the article has also pointed out the decreasing rate of parents involvement in their children academic activities as they progress from one level of education to the other which is a major contributing factor to increased secondary school drop out for at-risk students(Castro at al., 2015).
Weakness
Despite the fact that the article focused on the importance of parental involvement in at-risk student academic activities the article fails to indicate how the parents can be actively involved in the school activities. Additionally, the article also does not clearly indicate the role of teamwork for the school, parents, students, and teachers in working together to aid a student at risk of performing poorly or dropping out of school. Additionally, the article findings of the impact of parents’ involvement in secondary education vary with other research findings which indicate that parental involvement has a significant impact on students at the elementary level and have little or no impact on the student in secondary education level (Simon, 2001).
Recommendation
Prior literature indicates that parental involvement decreases with the learn age as they progress from one lower education levels to the highest level of education. In this case, it is important to consider some of the factors that hinder parents’ involvement, therefore, recommending parental involvement in children education throughout their education life as it has proved to have positive effects on the learner's academic performance and success. Firstly to encourage parents’ involvement in school activities the principles and the head of school should provide a conducive environment that allows parents to actively participate in the day to day learning and other school activities ( Simon, 2014) . In this case, the school management can organize for parents, teachers and student's meets which allow the parents to learn more about the school and make contributions that can be used to improve the quality of services offered in the school. Also, the school should be inclusive of the entire parent, in that it takes into consideration the diversity of its parents regarding education and social, economic background to ensure that it promotes active participation for all parents ( Simon, 2014) . For example, parents who are illiterate might shy away from participating in school activities due to language barriers and inadequate information; in this case, the school can use the language of catchment areas for effective communication. Additionally, the school can engage the parent in the major decision-making process so that they can own the school activities to promote ownership of school activities which will, in turn, lead to active participation. Lastly, parents can also be involved in school activities through activities such as fundraising, meetings, and games and such activities will provide an opportunity for parents to interact with the teachers and learners in a natural setting, hence, facilitating positive outcomes of parental involvement in school activities ( Simon, 2014) .
References
Castro, M., Expósito-Casas, E., López-Martín, E., Lizasoain, L., Navarro-Asencio, E., & Gaviria, J. L. (2015). Parental involvement on student academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review , 14 , 33-46. Simon, B.S. (2001). Family involvement in high school: Predictors and effects . NASSP Bulletin, 85.
Simon, B.S. (2014). Family involvement in high school: Predictors and effects . NASSP Bulletin, 85.
