Dear Principal—Chronicling Parent Involvement in Baltimore (1950)

Are parents involved in creating your school's parent-involvement programs? In the February 1950 issue of Educational Leadership, a series of letters between a Baltimore principal and a parent provide a unique, document-based glimpse into how one school got parents involved more deeply and successfully.

Read the article: From a Principal's Files

The principal, Emma Schad, writes that although increased parent involvement is always discussed as a good idea, the talk rarely leads to action. Her letter to parent Eva W. Skinner, who has been elected chair of a parents' committee, describes seeking parent input in the development process: "Working together in such as manner should lay a firmer foundation for any project undertaken."

The letters that follow find Skinner urging the principal to invite parents to the school for a discussion of a new homeroom-focused program before it is implemented and inquiring about the usefulness of field trips. It's gratifying to see their relationship bloom over the course of the letters, as each gains from the other's perspective, and ultimately, kids benefit from the process.

This testament to collaboration leading to success is easy to extrapolate beyond parents—it's a tale that could well inform many education policy debates, past and present.

In "My Back Pages," we look at important issues through the historical lens of the Educational Leadership archives. ASCD members can access EL issues from 1943 to the present by signing in at www.ascd.org.