Schools and districts have implemented many programs specifically designed to help rising freshmen successfully make the transition to high school, such as 9th-grade academies, mandatory interventions, small learning communities, summer school programs, orientations, mentoring programs, and support teams. The ultimate goal is to help students get on track to graduate on time and be prepared for college and careers. Those efforts have, at times, generated positive results. But a key ingredient is often missing: the parents and guardians of the rising freshman--perhaps the most important people in this transition process--are often given no training or support. Most public school leaders insist that they want parents to be involved with their children's education. But educators also tell parents that they want students to take responsibility and ownership of their own educations, their grades, and their decisions. The unspoken message to parents is that "being involved" means being supportive of the consequences that schools assign for misbehavior or academic struggles. The perception is that instead of true involvement in the school's mission and direction, what high school leaders really want is unconditional support for their decisions. As a result, parental involvement at the high school level often translates to working the concession stand at the football game or participating in fund-raising activities. This must change if educators want to improve the high school drop-out rate in this nation and improve the performance of 9th-grade students.