The New Definition of a 'Parent' - par ent - Parent Revolution
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The New
Definition par·ent
of a ‘Parent’ noun
/ˈper-ənt/
THE ROLE OF PARENTS
IN POST-PANDEMIC
EDUCATIONAL RECOVERY
Table of Contents 03 Executive Summary 04 Introduction 06 Parent Insights 14 Parent Recommendations 19 Take Action
Executive
Summary
Parent Revolution is a nonprofit organization, Parent Revolution conducted 3 major surveys at
dedicated to supporting the advocacy of key points in the pandemic:
families who want quality education options in
the Los Angeles Unified School District. We are April 2020: 202 parents responded 6 weeks
hyper-focused on educating and training the after schools closed
most underserved and marginalized January 2021: 251 parents responded after a
communities- to promote parent choices and major holiday COVID-19 surge
parent voices in education. Our work brings July/August 2021: 222 parents responded
together families, teachers, elected officials, before and after school’s returned to in-
and community partners to focus on a shared person learning
vision of better school options for Los Angeles
students. We provide training, policy analysis, Parent Revolution also conducted 21 healing
and direct action, by using the principles of circle style focus groups attended by over
organizing to develop the authentic leadership 250 parents that revealed major quantitative
of parents. We believe the best and most and qualitative findings. Based on this data and
impactful advocate for our students are their other qualitative and quantitative sources,
parents/guardians. Through their eyes and parents offered 3 key insights and
their voices, we advocate for students. recommendations on post-pandemic
educational recovery.
This research report documents the journey
and perspective of parents; navigating through Insights:
schools in the midst of the COVID-19 1. Parents became educators when no
pandemic and their insights and teachers were available
recommendations on post-pandemic 2. Healing is essential to recovery
educational recovery. This report shares how 3. Parents strongly felt the brunt of LAUSD’s
parents have interpreted policy decisions and poor planning
how they have engaged with schools to
comply with state mandates, school Recommendations:
administrators, and other stakeholders. The 1. Individualized recovery for greater impact
report is designed to focus on the parent 2. Invest in parents to support recovery
perspective on re-opening, recovery, and re- 3. Treat parents as the co-educators they are
evaluation of our schools.
We offer our heartfelt gratitude to the parents
During the pandemic, parents expanded the that engaged with us, raised their voices, and
definition of their role to include co-educator, shared their stories. We also would like to thank
mental health support, and advocate. Before the parent leaders of Parent Revolution for
the pandemic and especially during, Parent leading campaigns for a strong post-pandemic
Revolution continued to hold its ear to the educational recovery with parents and students
ground, learning and understanding what at the center, our partners, our supporters, and
public school parents in Los Angeles face and our staff. We present - The New Definition of a
desire when it comes to the education of their ‘Parent’: The Role of Parents in Post-Pandemic
children. Educational Recovery.
Page 3
par·ent
Introduction /ˈper-ənt/
noun
Expanding the definition of a ‘Parent’
co·ed·u·ca·tor
On March 15th, 2020, when schools closed and shifted to
distance learning, like thousands of parents across Los Angeles,
Parent Revolution parent leader Vicenta awaited communication
from her daughter’s school. As soon as she realized that the
school was behind in sending the next educational steps for her
daughter, she began to put together her own assignments and
activities. Vicenta visited websites like Pinterest & Youtube to
see what other ideas parents had posted as educational
activities, walked to the library to print out worksheets, and found
educational videos on subject matter that she had seen her
daughter learn prior to school closing. Vicenta is an immigrant
from Oaxaca, MX, who speaks Spanish and her indigenous
language, and all while trying to figure the pandemic out, keep her
family safe and brace for a worldwide crisis, she expanded the
definition of ‘parent’ to include co-educator as so many did
during this unprecedented time.
men·tal health sup·port
A significant percentage of Parent Revolution’s membership lives
in the Southeastern part of Los Angeles (SELA). As of January
2022, 41% of SELA residents have contracted COVID-19 and out of
the total number of deaths in Los Angeles County, residents of
1
SELA account for 7%. Our families have experienced intense loss,
whether it be of loved ones, economic stability, or personal health,
and the pandemic has had an immense impact on the mental
health of parents and children alike. Parent Revolution parent
leader Irma lives in a home with not only her husband and children
but also her parents and grandparents. Since the pandemic, she
and her family have lost 2 loved ones. In the weeks following the
death of their loved ones, she encouraged her kids to find comfort
in each other as a family and continue to go to school so they
could get an education for their future. Irma expanded the
definition of ‘parent’ to include mental health support, joining so
many other parents who acted as their children’s number one
support mechanism during this uncertain time.
1
http://dashboard.publichealth.lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/
Page 4
Introduction
Expanding the definition of ‘Parent’
ad·vo·cate
According to a survey conducted by LAUSD, 51% of students
received minimal or no services in Spring 2020 during the first
2
phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Months later, in Fall 2020 and
Spring 2021, Parent Revolution parent leader Ruth continued to
face challenges with her special needs son getting the services
outlined in his Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Prior to the
pandemic, she had seen real progress with his behavior and
academics due to his IEP. During the pandemic, as weeks he
received no services stacked up, his progress deteriorated. Ruth
even saw her son lose the ability to use a pencil to do his work.
She asked her child’s school weekly for an update on services
and as the weeks went by, no response. As she learned more
about her son’s rights as a student with an IEP, she found out that
she could be entitled to some compensation for services missed.
She tried to find other therapists or resources for her student
and the school eventually began to deliver services to her child.
Ruth stepped up and expanded the definition of ‘parent’ to
include advocate, as so many parents were forced to find their
own resources to keep their children learning.
Definitions are important because they enable us to have a common understanding of a word
or subject; they allow us to all be on the same page, within a boundary of knowledge. But
sometimes, when circumstances change, definitions are expanded. Before the pandemic, the
world of education spent comparatively little time thinking about the role of a parent in
education - the pandemic changed this. Parents witnessed their child’s education first-hand
and now have a close-up understanding of how their children learn. Parents expanded the
dictionary definition of ‘parent’ to include co-educator, mental health support, and
advocate.
In 2022, we have a new definition of the word ‘parent.’ This report connects and examines
data from various parent-based sources and shares findings and recommendations drawn
from interviews that speak to first-hand accounts of parents, a number of surveys conducted
by Parent Revolution at various moments in the pandemic after March 2020, and raw,
collective insights from parent focus groups and healing circles conducted by Parent
Revolution staff.
2
https://www.childrennow.org/portfolio-posts/impact-of-covid-19-on-students-in-foster-care/
Page 5
Parent Insights
on Educational Recovery
Ada Mendoza, Parent Leader
with her children
Parents Became Educators When No
Teachers Were Available
Healing is essential to recovery
Poor Planning. Period.
Page 6
INSIGHT #1
Parents Became
Educators When
No Teachers
Were Available Eva Garcia, Parent Leader
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, global systems, including education
were caught off guard. Even though according to a survey conducted by Parent
Revolution (n=202) four weeks after schools closed for in-person learning, 26%
of parents had still yet to hear from their child’s school or teacher for anything
related to distance learning, most parents gave grace to systems to shift and
adapt to a global pandemic. 38% of families acquired their own devices and
faster internet using their own resources because their child’s school was too
slow to respond or the equipment was not a good fit for their child. Fast
forward to January 2021, halfway through the 2020-2021 school year. Parent
Revolution surveyed 251 parents about their concerns and observations from
distance learning thus far (Figure 1). When asked about how concerned they
were about their child’s education, 72% of parents said they were concerned or
very concerned. 40% of parents said that they felt their child wasn’t receiving
enough instructional time, and 20% said they were concerned their student was
falling behind. As Parent Revolution dived deeper with parents and continued
its work during the pandemic, we realized that parents became educators when
no teachers were available.
Figure 1. Top concerns for parents
in January 2021 (n=251)
Not enough
101
instructional time
Student falling
49
academically behind
of parents said that
Lack of social
42
they felt their child
interaction wasn’t receiving
enough instructional
No assessments 38
time
Changes in socio-
29
emotional health
From the survey we also learned that when the system fell short, parents found
their own academic resources and paid for them out of pocket. Of the parents
we surveyed (n=251), 39% said they sought their own tutoring or academic
support for their child, using their own resources to ensure their child wouldn’t
fall further behind.
Page 7
Parents Became
Educators When
No Teachers
Were Available
Parent leader Keshara Shaw who also joined parents in a landmark case, Shaw
vs. LAUSD to demand more instructional time during distance learning, offered
her experience as evidence in her plaintiff declaration (Figure 2). “I had to hire a
private tutor for approximately $408 each month ($17 per hour) to work with
Mikahi on the materials his teacher would assign but not teach.”
Figure 2. Excerpt from Keshara Shaw's Plaintiff Declaration
Keshara Shaw, Parent Leader
When we surveyed parents of students with IEPs in January 2021, 43% said that
their child was still not receiving adequate services as outlined in their IEP and
31% of those parents were attempting to seek those services elsewhere or
procure legal services to take action.
When the future of the 2021 school year was still uncertain even a few weeks
before classes were to resume, many parents decided to make remote
education more permanent and enroll their students in the LAUSD City of
Angels remote independent study program. According to LAUSD enrollment
data, prior to the pandemic, the program enrolled around 1,500 students and is
mostly designed for students who cannot attend class physically due to special
circumstances. As of July 28th, 2021, a few weeks prior to schools reopening,
3
the number of students enrolled in the City of Angels program was 1,695. Once
the district extended the deadline to August 6th for enrollment, according to
LAUSD data 12,542 students opted in at the beginning of the school year, and
by holiday break over 16,000 students were enrolled. Due to the lack of
planning by the district, City of Angels enrollment jumped almost 10-fold due to
parents not seeing another option.
3
https://twitter.com/kystokes/status/1420512101244698624
Page 8
INSIGHT #2
Healing is
essential to
recovery
Actual Healing Circle
conducted by Parent Revolution
Throughout the pandemic, Parent Revolution has heard parents express their
struggles to cope through the loss of health, loved ones, economic stability,
housing, and learning–all at the same time. Aida, a mother from Southeast LA,
shared, “My daughter and my family have been greatly affected. It has been a
cruel year. We have had family and loved ones get sick–pass away. I work part-
time, and my daughter is scared of getting sick. She is worried that if I or my
husband get COVID-19, we'll die, and she'll end up alone. She tries to not listen
to the media because she gets so stressed out”.
As part of our efforts to help families process their experiences and to move
forward, during the spring and summer of 2021, Parent Revolution researched
and implemented healing circles as a restorative and organizing practice.
Healing circles are safe spaces that promote working together to remove
obstacles and alleviate suffering - they are powerful tools that can lead to great
action and change. Over the span of 21 healing circle focus groups, 250 families
grieved together and opened a circle of trust and recovery.
er Hea
w
t Po
ling Cir
en
cle Pa
r
From June 2021 to December 2021, Parent Revolution conducted
21 Parent Power Healing Circles attended by over 250 parents.
According to the responses in the healing circles, 61% of parents said that their
students faced mental health challenges in the pandemic such as loneliness,
disconnectedness, fear, anxiety, and/or grief.
Page 9
Healing is
essential to
recovery
Alma Farias, the parent of two high school students, expressed, “Sometimes we
don’t share our feelings with our families or the people around us because we
are afraid that we won’t be heard. Or that others may not understand or care
about what we’re going through. In this space, we open up and share what we
have in our hearts. And we realize others are going through similar situations–
that we are not alone. It gives me the courage to keep ongoing”.
of parents said that their students faced mental
health challenges in the pandemic such as loneliness,
disconnectedness, fear, anxiety, and/or grief.
During the healing circles, 52% shared they had experienced the death of an
immediate family member or close friend and 78% had experienced COVID in
the home of a loved one. They discussed the impact of this on their children at
home, especially as their children were in distance learning.
Almost all parents had never attended a healing circle before and expressed
struggles to access affordable, timely, and culturally-sensitive mental health
resources. Ruth, a mother of two elementary school-aged children, shared, “I
took my oldest son to the doctor after he started developing constant
headaches and chest pain; this started when we first began distance learning.
We were worried these were COVID-19 related symptoms, but after getting him
tested, the doctor told us the symptoms were stress-related. My son has
gradually calmed down, but these symptoms reappear eventually. There was no
support or follow-up that was provided through his doctor. He did not refer him
to services, or suggested any form of treatment other than drinking water
because the issue was ‘all in his head’”.
of parents indicated that they needed mental
health resources and socio-emotional support for
their children coming out of the pandemic
Other parents shared that they either had no access to health coverage or that
under their coverage, possible treatments were too expensive. When we asked
families what they would need once the quarantine ended, 62% of parents
indicated that they needed mental health resources and socio-emotional
support for their children coming out of the pandemic and 88% of those
parents didn’t know where to begin to find those resources.
Page 10Healing is
essential to
recovery
Emilia, a mother of two elementary school students, shared, “My kids are afraid.
Their father is working out of state, so I'm their only support right now. Parents
asked for socio-emotional resources at school, even if they are virtual. The
school said yes, but we’re not seeing much progress on that. I have had to look
for community resources outside the school in our community, such as in
churches”.
Parents expressed interest in leading their own healing circles, and we began
training parents to co-facilitate our healing circles. When asked why she
decided to learn to guide healing circles, PPN parent leader Bertha Llamas
commented,
I leave our healing circles feeling energized because I
learn from others. We listen to others and have others
listen to us. This is why I decided to help facilitate healing
circles. It was something out of my comfort zone, but I
want to help others and let them know they are not alone.
After the healing circles, parents felt a newfound sense of energy, motivation,
and organizing ‘fire’ to continue to advocate for a just education recovery and
participate in the education reopening conversation as advocates. This opened
up strong conversations about how healing is and would be essential to any
recovery plan put forth for both students and the communities they live in.
Page 11INSIGHT #3
Poor
Planning.
Period.
Vicenta Martinez, Parent Leader,
doing community outreach for
LAUSD Summer School
As mentioned earlier, initially parents gave grace to the district and schools as
we all worked to learn more about the pandemic. But as time went on, parents
noticed key areas where the planning of the education system, particularly
LAUSD, still lacked attention.
After almost nine months in distance learning and the transition from the 2019-
2020 school year to the 2020-2021 school year, parents expected some level
of improvement in the distance learning implementation at the district level.
When parents were surveyed in January 2021, 37% of parents said they saw
minimal improvement from the ‘19-20 to ‘20-’21 school years, in the quality of
their child’s distance learning as indicated by the following factors:
Less live instruction time
The disinterest of students in completing assignments
A significant number of instances where classes were cut
short or not taught due to lack of instructor or facilitator
The system still showed under-preparedness, even after a summer of planning
between school years and knowing that distance learning was going to have
some level of short-term permanence. When we surveyed those same parents
again during the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, our survey found that
parents still continued to be in the dark about school reopening plans three
weeks before the start of school. Over 75% of parents surveyed (n=222) said
they faced two or more of the following issues with their back to school
experiences:
Trouble with Daily Pass and/or Parent Portal
Lack of information on school safety guidelines and
procedures
Little to no information on virtual options for students
Disorganized pickup and drop off processes that actually
led to classes being cut short on some days
Page 12Poor
Planning.
Period.
As vaccines were still becoming available, many of the parents surveyed faced
major challenges with students being isolated from exposure with no
symptoms or quarantined with the virus. Of the parents surveyed (n=222), 32%
had a student at home quarantined or isolated due to exposure and 78% of
those parents had not received any assignments for students to complete or a
plan for recovering time lost.
Key Data Points from
With students returning to school in August August 2021 Parent Survey (n=222)
2021, parents were obviously concerned about
two major issues; health/safety and academic
78% of those parents with
recovery. Of the parents surveyed (n=222),
quarantined students due to
61% were concerned or very concerned about
exposure had not received any
their child’s learning loss due to pandemic
assignments for students to
distance learning. When asked if their child’s
complete or a plan for recovering
teacher or school provided an academic plan
time lost.
or program to support their child’s recovery,
52% of parents said no and 21% of parents
said they were unsure or did not know. 61% of parents were concerned or
very concerned about their
With the massive investment of federal and child’s learning loss due to
state recovery funds, LAUSD says they are pandemic distance learning.
leaving it up to each school and local district
to customize the recovery planning process. When asked if their child’s
Although a local control doctrine sounds nice, teacher or school provided an
this still does not materialize the practical academic plan or program to
resources that parents need for their support their child’s recovery,
children’s recovery. Even in August 2021, when 52% of parents said no and 21% of
students returned to school and faced a parents said they were unsure or
COVID-19 surge, parents saw no upgraded did not know.
protocols for future emergency situations.
When surveyed, 56% of parents don’t think
that the district is prepared should this
happen again.
Page 13Parent
Recommendations
on Educational Recovery
Vicenta Martinez, Parent Leader
Individualized recovery for greater impact
Invest in parents to support recovery
Treat parents as the co-educators they are
Page 14RECOMMENDATION #1
Individualized
recovery for
greater impact
As children return to in-person schooling, the need for additional support has
never been greater. School leaders, teachers, and parents must work together
in order to accelerate our students' learning and socio-emotional needs.
According to findings by Parent Revolution parent leaders, our
students need an Individualized Recovery Plan (IRP) to recover
from pandemic-related learning loss and trauma.
Individualized Recovery Plans are student-driven and implement tailored
instruction and socio-emotional support to match individual interests,
strengths, and needs. They are meant to increase student engagement,
empowerment, and socio-emotional health by creating personalized curricula
and assessments. A key factor in these plans is the collaborative relationships
that they build between students and teachers.
Parent leaders met with LAUSD staff, board members, and organizations doing
similar work across the country to study what an IRP could look like. Parents
came together to design a template they believe would highly benefit families
as they seek ways to support their children with their recovery.
Click here to view the template.
Why do we need an Individualized Recovery Plans?
Every child has a right to an education and student’s needs were not being met
prior to the pandemic and their needs have only been exacerbated, an IRP can help
ensure their needs are met
Parents need a commitment from both the teachers, the principals, and other team
members to have a plan ahead for each student
We need to support children to heal from the trauma of the pandemic
An individualized plan empowers a parent by having a plan and expectations for
each member of the team
Page 15Individualized
recovery for
greater impact
As the district receives almost double the amount of pre-pandemic funding,
parents want to see how it will invest these recovery funds into students. The
IRP is an opportunity to showcase how the district is investing in students and
ensuring that every student has access to the support they need.
Although there is not one specific way to implement IRPs, the following are key
characteristics that parents believe that the plans should include.
Key Characteristics of Individualized Recovery Plans
Assessment Information
We know that in order to have a successful plan forward we will need to know where
students currently are academically.
Goals for Each Student
Students will need to have clear goals that will reflect an acceleration of learning to
make up for lost learning during the pandemic. These goals should also reflect social-
emotional development to support student growth and their own ability to manage and
process their emotions and the trauma of this pandemic.
Key Metrics
In order for any plan to work we will need to understand how we can measure the
progress that is or is not made. These metrics will help educators know if their tactics
are successful and if they are not then we can adjust.
Support and Resources For Student Success
In order for any path forward to work, the district will need to invest in support and
resources both inside and outside of school that will provide additive support to
classroom learning. These resources should not be limited to academic support but
should consider the student as a whole. This could look like individual tutoring, a
therapist to address trauma, access to online learning resources customized to the
student’s needs, etc.
Communication with Families
Parents need to be an important stakeholder in this path forward and communication
about progress and goals will be needed throughout the process.
Page 16RECOMMENDATION #2
Invest in
parents to
support
recovery
Many school districts, including LAUSD, are right now facing overwhelming
challenges. Labor shortages are posing challenges for all school departments
4
including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, teachers, and support staff. This is
making it harder for districts to create recovery programs and hire tutors or
therapists, and in the LAUSD, schools are struggling to hire parent engagement
and resource navigation staff with recovery dollars. Although this is a challenge
that parents know is somewhat out of the district’s hands, there are still
solutions to how we invest in parents to support recovery.
Dr. Marguerite Roza from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University provides
a lot of insight on the subject of investing in parents.
To address challenges, some districts are using a share of
their federal relief aid to pay families for taking on a role
in converting dollars into real value for students.5
LAUSD is no stranger to incentives. To get vaccinations up, they offered an
incentive program for parents and schools that included everything from gift
6
cards to cash prizes. Dr. Roza gives examples of districts in Camden, Chicago,
Portland, and Philadelphia offering compensation to parents to support
transportation shortages or a district in Kanakee, Illinois that invested in parent
5
training to support and tutor students other than their own.
Parent Revolution parent leaders imagine a world in which
LAUSD can invest dollars in parents to support their children for
recovery.
If we know that a school is short on tutoring or counseling staff, then can we not
offer parents a grant or stipend to obtain their own tutoring services or external
therapist? This would require LAUSD to “use a share of district relief dollars to
7
pay families for taking on a role in getting students and schools back on track.”
Parents have stepped up and expanded the definition of the word ‘parent.’ We
can trust parents to make decisions about recovery if we invest in them as we
are investing in other staff and programs at the district level.
4
https://www.dailynews.com/2021/12/23/lausds-ambitious-hiring-plan-challenged-by-labor-market-shortages/
5
https://edunomicslab.org/2021/12/09/districts-can-pay-families-to-help-get-students-and-schools-back-on-track/
6
https://achieve.lausd.net/incentives
7
https://www.forbes.com/sites/margueriteroza/2021/12/06/an-idea-for-this-moment-districts-can-pay-families-to-help-get-students-and-
Page 17 schools-back-on-track/?sh=7778a11e92a0RECOMMENDATION #3
Treat parents as
the co-educators
they are
If there is one conclusion that parent leaders draw from the lack of planning and
information given to parents throughout the pandemic, it is that LAUSD
continues to sideline parent voice and engagement.
Parent Revolution parent leaders recommend that LAUSD treat
parents as the co-educators they are by providing parents with
information about their child’s learning through an individualized
recovery plan, a more streamlined approach to how schools
communicate with parents on how they are using recovery
funds, and more robust parent engagement teams at school
sites that can support with recovery.
The Edunomics Lab published a great example of a
‘Communication Template for Principals On Use of Federal
Funds.' (Figure 3) 8 This allows for parents and communities to
have honest conversations about what a specific school
needs, based on experience. Parents know a cookie-cutter
tutoring program isn’t the solution and is a waste of money,
but rather directly tying those dollars to goals and student
outcomes is a great way to engage parents. This level of
transparency and communication would prove that the
district and schools desire to treat parents as co-educators.
Investing in parent engagement training and staff would also
show that parents matter in this process. For example, when
the pandemic hit, it was on organizations like Parent
Revolution to train as many parents as possible how to use
platforms like Zoom so that they could help engage with their
child’s school. Parents need support to develop skills and
navigate academic, health, and socio-emotional resources so
that they can best support their students at home. Schools,
especially those in the highest-needs communities, need Figure 3. Communication Template
culturally responsive and relevant staff that can provide for Principals On Use of Federal
support to parents on all things related to recovery. We have Funds
to take a grassroots approach and increase the urgency of
recovery otherwise we will see a failure to maximize this one-
time massive investment of dollars into LAUSD.
8
https://edunomicslab.org/2021/07/21/communication-template-for-principals/
Page 18TAKE ACTION!
JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Sign Our Petition to LAUSD
Read the petition to LAUSD and demand Individualized
Recovery Plans by signing the petition today!
Click here to sign the petition
Learn more about our campaign
Read our 1-pager, view the Individualized Recovery Plan
template and keep up to date with news and upcoming
actions, meetings and events.
Click here to learn more
Join the Parent Power Network (PPN)
Become a member of a powerful network of public school
families fighting for their children and all children in their
community.
Click here to join the PPN
Support Parent Revolution's Work
Your generous support for Parent Revolution will help us to
continue our work with families.
Click here to Donate
Page 19Parent Revolution’s mission is to ensure that families, especially those from historically
underserved communities, can use their power to secure an excellent public education
for their children, children in their community, and all children in California.
#parentpower
www.parentrevolution.org
Twitter: @parentrev
Instagram: @parentrevolution
Facebook: www.facebook.com/parentrevolution
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/ˈper-ənt/
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