Parental Involvement – the key to educational success

Parent involvement (setting standards, guiding/teaching/helping) is the most significant determinant of educational success.   In running The Learning Consultants for nearly twenty years, I declare this statement with certainty.  Yes, I’m sensitive to wealth inequality and certainly those who find The Learning Consultants are in the Connecticut and Westchester County leafy suburbs.  Nonetheless my observation is distinct: wealth correlates with positive educational outcomes but is not the cause.  Parent involvement is the cause.

Having worked with some of the wealthiest families in Connecticut and also providing scholarships to those from far less economically privileged circumstances, I have a plethora of anecdotal evidence to support my case. As an example, Old Saybrook has become an ex-pat home to Tibetans who having been exiled from their homeland and living lived as refugees (usually in India), eventually made it to Old Saybrook with – literally – only a few dollars in their pockets.   Last summer, I bumped into an old student who was now married and successfully working in the computer industry.  I remember his mom well.  She was grateful for the scholarship we provided to SAT class and had sent a box of homemade treats as a thank you.  In her limited English, she expressed her understanding that education was critical to her children’s success and that she would do whatever she could to ensure they learned well.

As we are now in the second calendar year of Covid, the educational gaps that students face will be significant. The only way that you can ensure your child does not face these gaps is to be involved.  The Learning Consultants can help as needed.