about half of students are in schools whose principal reported in pisa that pressure on the school to meet high academic standards came from only a few parents a larger proportion than on average across oecd countries oecd parents and the local community are those who stand to gain the most from improving their school and there is strong evidence that parental engagement in particular can help to raise outcomes oecd each costa rican school has a board which includes representatives from parents and the local community but their main role is to administer the national funds for infrastructure and organise festivities