Education research/writer Alfie Kohn has just published a two-part series on parent involvement.

I admire a lot of his work and  he does raise a good point:

What kids need, therefore, are parents willing to question the conventional wisdom and to organize others to challenge school practices when that seems necessary. What kids don’t need is the kind of parental involvement that consists of pestering them to make sure they do their homework — whether or not it’s worth doing.