Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, Vol. 7 36 Assessing Technology’s Role in Communication between Parents and Middle Schools Reenay R.H. Rogers Hillcrest High School Vivian H. Wright The University of Alabama Abstract Communication between schools and families is essential for building trusting relationships that foster parental involvement. Technology offers the middle school parent the means to actively participate in the child’s education without being visible in the school thus fostering adolescent independence in a supportive environment. New technologies continue to be introduced yet, this study reveals that parents and teachers are not taking full advantage of technologies to bridge the communication gap and build family-school partnerships. Both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used to gather data from teachers and parents of middle school children. This study examines the role of communications technologies in fostering parental involvement in middle schools and uncovers barriers that prevent usage of technology to promote communication. INTRODUCTION Parental involvement as defined by Kohl, Lengua, and McMahon (2000) encompasses three areas: direct contact with teachers, parental actions at school, and parental actions at home. Communication between teachers and schools fosters parental involvement that has been shown to increase academic success (Epstein, 2005), as well as improve student behavior (Constantino, 2003; Fehrmann, Keith, & Reimers, 1987; Hoover-Dempsey, Walker, Sandler, Whetsel, Green, Wilkins, & Closson, 2005; Keith, Keith, Quirk, Sperduto, Santillo, &. Killings, 1998). Technology has been shown to increase the means by which parents and teachers communicate (Bernstein, 1998; Davenport & Eib, 2004; Furger, 2006). Innovative technologies such as cell phones, e-mail, and websites provide schools with new tools for reaching middle school parents and keeping them informed about their children. Traditional methods of communication such as face-to-face meetings have been found to be effective (Decker & Decker, 2003); however, these methods require time that both working parents and teachers may lack. Educators are often very good at mass communications via newsletters, calendars, letters, and handbooks, but mass communications are not effective in shaping or changing attitudes. In order to change