Engaging parents in schools and building parent-school partnerships: The role of school and parent organisation leadership

A growing body of research suggests that a positive school climate and Principal leadership are pivotal to building parent-school partnerships and supporting parent engagement in child learning more generally. To begin investigating these factors, surveys were distributed to Principals and Presidents of parent organisations in 1233 Queensland State (i.e. government or public) Schools. Results indicated that although overall Principals have very positive attitudes towards parent engagement, they differ somewhat in whether or not they expect parent engagement in areas such as school governance and mandatory requirements. The most commonly perceived barriers and effective engagement strategies were identified, and differed significantly across schools according to the school’s location and level of disadvantage. The implications for future research and interventions are discussed.