Parental Involvement And The Effect On School Grades

The fact that African American students lag several years behind their White peers in math and reading continues to be a persistent problem in America’s public schools – a critical issue that should not be ignored in any meaningful discourse on community, literacy and public schools. The wide body of relevant research reveals many causal factors and correlates including race, socioeconomic standing, social class, teacher competence and perceptions, quality of schools, etc. It is also generally acknowledged that there is a direct, positive correlation between greater parental involvement and student academic achievement. The particular focus of this paper is on the question of to what extent parental involvement – or lack thereof- influences the academic performance of African American students. I will argue that African American student underachievement is, to a significant degree, likely to be attributable to lack of active parental guidance and involvement. The variety of factors that impact parental involvement, particularly that of parents of non-dominant backgrounds, will be examined in order to demonstrate the need for schools and teachers to diversify the approach generally taken to collaborating with parents, such that it becomes a more meaningful, inclusive and relevant process for these parents. In closing, I will draw on an interview conducted with the parents of an

Many parents have multiple children, while working a nine to five job, attending family activities and meetings, and staying on top of bills and home duties. Family life can get hectic and parents may not take the time to realize their importance in their children’s academics. Some parents may be too busy, and others may simply not care, but their involvement in their children’s life is essential. Whether parents or children realize it, involvement of parents in children’s lives positively affects their child’s academic success at all grade levels, including elementary, high school, and even college.

Collective research focusing on family-school partnerships provide an extensive examination of parent involvement. Smith et al., (2011) referred to parent involvement as school, family, and community partnerships for the purpose of shared expectations, responsibilities, interests, and correlating influences of family, school, and community. Epstein’s (2008) framework of parent involvement approached parent involvement typologies from an institutional perspective; the framework for this literature review was conducted with a parental perspective that may positively affect academic achievement among students in 6th – 12th grades attending high poverty, rural schools. An explanation of Epstein’s six categories of parent involvement follows:

Pemberton and Miller (2015) conducted two phases to assess the effect of parental involvement in a Title I school with a history to low reading achievement. A principal, parent liaison, two first-grade teachers, and four low-income families participated in the study. It was expressed in Phase I through interviews with the administrators and teachers that the lack of parental involvement conveyed that parents do not value their children's education; therefore, severing as the main reason low-income children continue to perform poorly in academic. In Phase II, teachers’ low perception of parental involvement changed to a new appreciation of parents’ participation based on an experiment that partnered parents

As discussed above, the extensive research conducted has demonstrated that parental involvement has positive effects on student achievement (Allen, 2005; Epstein et al., 2002; Mapp & Henderson, 2002). A large portion of the research conducted has been influenced by Dr. Joyce Epstein. Dr. Epstein is the director of the Center for School, Family, and Community

The review of the literature, for this research proposal, found that minimal parent engagement in the educational process has adverse effects on academic achievement, especially for those students attending a high poverty, rural school. Though, limited research has been conducted from the secondary education perspective using the poverty theory as a guiding principle. The proposed research of Examination of

Nowadays, education is often linked to independence and empowerment. The emphasis is on education has increased over the years, but there is still a noticeable and omnipresent achievement gap in our educational system between students of all levels. Research studies have suggested that educational achievement has remained unbalanced for a variety of reasons, one of which is the lack of parental involvement in their children’s academic performance (Larocque, Kleiman & Darling, 2011). Parental involvement refers to the amount of participation a parent has when it comes to schooling and her child 's life. Parental involvement can take on many forms and is perceived as an operational strategy to improve student success, as evidenced in studies done on the relationship between parental involvement and academic performance in children. (Bower, 2011)

In “Opening Doors: Understanding School and Family Influences on Family Involvement” by Erin Carlisle discussed how that there is many different influences that will affect how many parents are involved in the schools. Those influences could be school-related or even family-related. Most of the time, people think that parent involvement is just how much parents volunteer and help their children with their homework. But there are many other ways parents could be involved in the school: going to school activities or functions, being in leadership roles, or visiting your child’s classroom. If parents are involved in schools, it will help ease the students transition into schools in the beginning. Also, if the parents are involved the relationship

Henderson and Mapp (2002) suggests that research strongly supports the notion that parent involvement has a positive and lasting effect on student performance and academic success. Yet, an increasing number of parents have developed a mindset that they are incompetent and unable to assist their child when it comes to academics and school related activities (Forman, 2006). Unfortunately, parents of disadvantaged students attending high poverty schools are more likely to believe they cannot assist their child academically and are less involved as compared to their counterparts attending low poverty schools (Cotton & Wikelund, 2001).

Parental involvement in education is a vital essential for creating a cooperative environment for the student to thrive and succeed in. When a student knows that he or she is receiving support both inside and outside the school, the chances of that child becoming responsible for and active in their education are more likely. I know that there can be difficulties including parents for many reasons. Such parents may be too busy, uninterested or just feel helpless. However, as an educator, I will still have an obligation to reach out to these parents and assist them.

A significant amount of past and current research contends that parent involvement positively affects the academic success of students (Epstein, 1987). Epstein (1987) and Henderson (1987) report that schools that promote and favor parent involvement consistently out performs schools with little parent involvement. Parent involvement has been consistently interconnected with student test performance, and is an important component in student academic performance. Comer and Hayes (1991) stated that momentous parent participation is vital for effective schooling and the education process. Therefore, families, provide social, cultural, and emotional corroboration that students need to execute well in school.

Research on parenting also has shown that parent education is related to a warm, social climate in the home. Shumow and Miller (2001) described parental home involvement as those conversations between parent and child that focused on school experiences, while school involvement was conceptualized as parents’ availability for contact with the school. Epstein and Sanders (2002) looked at both direct behaviors, such as attending parent teacher conferences, and indirect behaviors, such as sharing educational expectations with the child. Research indicates that home involvement had greater impact on academic achievement (VanVoorhis, 2003), while regular parent-child discussions about school and expectations had the greatest impact on educational outcomes of adolescents, including truancy and dropping out (McNeal, 1999). Klebanov et al. (1994) found that both mothers’ education and family income were important predictors of the physical environment and learning experiences in the home but that mothers’ education alone was predictive of parental warmth. Although parental involvement is an important contributor to children’s positive school outcomes, much less is known about the factors that motivate parents’ involvement practices. Avvisati et al. (2010) opined that due to recent local and national reforms, parent’s behavior and

Research consistently shows that family engagement in school influences student’s relationship with school, indicators including motivation orientation, academic achievement, behaviour in school, positive attitudes about school, and they are also less likely to drop out. Further, parents who are more involved in their children’s school microsystem help promote a positive life trajectory for these children. It is important to note that a persisting myth about parents of lower socioeconomic status are uninvolved in their child’s education. This myth has been proven false in Gorski’s (2008) study, which found that low-income parents hold the same attitude and expectation of education that wealthy parents have. Often for lower socioeconomic status parents, there are often economic reasons, such as working long hours or multiple jobs, that prevent them from attending school functions or participate in their children’s school microsystem. Therefore, a point that needs to be emphasized is that policies need to exist that address family's ability to be involved in the school context of their child without risking employment opportunities and financial well-being (Dearing, 2008).

student achievement is positively correlated to parental involvement. “For example, Green and Hoover-Dempsey, reported that homeschool parents held stronger personal motivators (role activity and efficacy beliefs) for involvement than did those in a sample of involved public school parents,” (Ice & Hoover-Dempsey 340). In saying this, homeschooling allows parents to stay more involved in their child’s education, and pushes them to succeed. In contrast, parents that have students attending public school do not have to be involved in their child’s education, therefore causing them to not excel or succeed in academics. Another advantage Collom raises awareness to, is that homeschoolers do not having to face the “two great divides that public school children face—race and class.,.” (329)

In 2004, the British Journal of Educational Psychology releases a report on a research that was conducted by Eirini Flouri and Ann Buchanan dealing with the correlation of early interaction of parents and the future assessment of their children in school. Previous to this article, little research was given to the individual long-term contribution that early parent involvement had in a child’s success in school. Flouri and Buchanan had three particular goals in mind while completing this research: (1) To explore the role of early father involvement in children's later educational attainment independently of the role of early mother involvement and other confounds, (2) to investigate whether gender and family structure moderate the