impact of parental involvement

Parental Involvement 1

Running Head: THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The Impact of Parental Involvement on Academic Performance

Jessica R. Dreistadt

Lehigh University


The Impact of Parental Involvement on Academic Performance

INTRODUCTION

Parental involvement is an important influence on children’s academic performance. In

response to numerous studies that have demonstrated this connection, several broad initiatives

have been developed through academia and government policy to increase parental involvement

as part of an overall strategy to improve academic performance. Many individual schools and

school districts have also responded to the national movement to develop and strengthen

strategies to involve parents in their children’s education.

Both parental involvement and children’s academic performance have been

operationalized and measured in numerous ways. Parental involvement has been defined as

participation in school meetings and events, communication between school and home,

involvement in Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTOs) and school activities, supervision and help

with homework, reading or other educational activities at home, and planning for the future.

Academic performance has been measured through standardized tests, grades, and teacher

reports. Because of the complexity of both constructs, the literature exploring this topic is

immense and diverse.

This paper will review five empirical studies that measure the impact of parental

involvement on children’s academic performance. Articles were selected so that this analysis

represents a variety of disciplines and approaches the subject from multiple angles. Research

included in this review represent the fields of sociology, psychology, education, and child

development. Each study is unique and captures a different aspect of the subject; these

distinctions are related to age of the students, inclusion of socioeconomic status (SES), race, and


gender characteristics, definition and measurement of variables, primary vs. secondary research,

and nationality of subjects (one article used a sample of Canadian students).

Ho Sui-Chu and Willms (1996) used secondary data from the National Educational

Longitudinal Study (NELS) to investigate the relationships between parental involvement,

personal and family characteristics, and reading and math scores. Their main purpose was to

reject the culture of poverty theory, which would imply that low SES families are less involved

in their children’s education than high SES families. Their methodology was unique because

they considered the aggregate impact of school community qualities in addition to student and

family characteristics. Overall school SES was found to have a stronger impact on parental

involvement than family SES. The four components of parental involvement that they identified,

home discussion, home supervision, school communication, and school participation, were all

found to have a statistically significant relationship with academic performance. School

communication had a negative relationship, possibly because students with learning or

behavioral challenges tended to have higher levels of school communication, and all other areas

had a positive relationship.

Hong and Ho (2005) used latent growth modeling (LGM) to analyze data from the 1988,

1990, and 1992 NELS. This statistically sophisticated approach was used to determine the

impact of parental involvement on academic achievement, with student characteristics as a

mediating variable, and to establish differences among ethnic groups. They found that there

were differences among ethnic groups in both the direct relationship between parental

involvement and academic achievement as well as the indirect impact of student characteristics.

The results of this study can be used to understand the specific areas of parental involvement that

are most effective for each ethnic group included in the study.


Jeynes (2005) also used NELS data from 1990 and 1992 to determine whether or not

parental involvement had an impact on the academic performance of African American high

school seniors. He also investigated the role of SES and gender. The results showed that

parental involvement has a statistically significant impact on academic performance for African

American 12th graders; however, the relationship is not significant when controlled for SES.

Parents of girls in all ethnic groups were found to be more involved than those of boys.

Senechal and LeFevre (2002) examined the impact that early storybook exposure and

parent’s reports of teaching at home influence literacy skills and reading ability. The sample was

drawn from three middle class schools in Canada with a progressive approach to education.

They found that storybook exposure was a good predictor of children’s receptive language

development while parent teaching at home predicted emergent literacy skills. They also

determined that certain literacy skills serve as mediating variables between parent’s involvement

in education at home and reading fluency.

Englund et al. (2004) investigated the relationships between mother’s level of education,

mother’s quality of instruction, child’s IQ, parental expectations, parental involvement, and

academic performance. This longitudinal study followed 187 first time low-income mothers and

their children from birth through 3rd grade. A positive and significant correlation was found

between all of the variables under investigation. A bi-directional relationship was found between

parental involvement and academic performance; high child achievement in 1st grade was

positively correlated with increased parental involvement in 3rd grade.

See the attached appendix for a summary table of these studies.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Methodology


Ho Sui-Chu and Willms (1996) analyzed secondary data for 8th grade students from the

National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) using a hierarchical linear model. From this

data set, they chose four of the twelve components of parental involvement that accounted for

55% of the variance: home discussion, home supervision, school communication, and school

participation. These components represent activities that occur both at home and at school,

offering a balanced investigation. In addition to analyzing parent’s impact on academic

performance, Ho Sui Chu and Willms also looked at the effects of characteristics of the school

community. Their first test was to determine the impact of SES, family structure, the presence

of learning or behavioral disabilities, gender, and ethnicity on parental involvement at both the

individual and school level. Next, they assessed the relationship between the aforementioned

personal characteristics and academic performance as measured by reading and math test scores.

Next, they investigated the relationship between the four aspects of parental involvement, within

both families and schools, and test scores.

Hong and Ho (2005) used NELS data from 1988, 1990, and 1992 to investigate the

relationship between parental involvement, student characteristics, and academic performance

and to determine whether or not there were differences among ethnic groups using latent growth

modeling (LGM). The student characteristics of educational aspiration, self-concept, and locus

of control were treated as mediating variables. Parental involvement was measured as

communication, parental educational aspirations, parental participation in school activities, and

parental supervision at home. Test scores were approximated using item response theory so they

could be compared from year to year. They randomly selected 1500 students from the African

American, White, Hispanic, and Asian American ethnic groups from the total sample of 24,599

students. There were similar numbers of males and females represented in each ethnic group.


Jeynes (2005) used NELS data from 1990 and 1992 to examine the impact of parental

involvement on academic achievement for African American 12th graders. He included parental

involvement data from 1990 and academic achievement data from 1992 to determine causality.

Two categories of parental involvement were established: highly involved and less involved.

Those who attended school functions, communicated with their children about school,

maintained high expectations, and supervised homework were considered to be highly involved;

this included 514 students. Parents who were not involved in all of these ways were considered

to be less involved; this included 1,746 students. Academic achievement was measured with test

scores and identification of students who were left back a year or more. Test scores included

standardized tests that measured levels of reading, math, social studies, and science. The author

also examined the impact of gender and SES.

Senechal and LeFevre (2002) conducted a five-year longitudinal study with middle and

upper middle class elementary age children in Ottawa. There were two cohorts: 110 students

began to participate in Kindergarten and 93 started in 1st grade; they were all followed through

the end of 3rd grade. They examined the impact that storybook exposure and parent teaching at

home, as well as parent literacy experiences, have on children’s reading capacity and subsequent

reading ability. To measure storybook exposure, the researchers compiled a list of children’s

book titles and authors and asked parents to name those that were familiar. Parents were

informed that the lists contained fake names to reduce guessing (40 book titles and author names

were real; 20 were made up). Children’s exposure to storybooks was also assessed by showing

children a picture and asking them to name the title and author of the book and to describe the

story. Parents reported how often they taught their children words and reading at home using a

five-point scale ranging from never to very often. Parents were also asked to identify popular


adult authors that they were familiar with to approximate their own literacy level. Children’s

reading capacity consisted of receptive language, phonological awareness, emergent literacy, and

analytic intelligence. These were assessed with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Stanford

Early School Achievement Test, Concepts About Print Test, and Weschler Preschool and

Primary Scale of Intelligence. Reading levels were assessed using the Gates-MacGintie Reading

Test and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. Parent teaching at home and

reading capacity were measured at the beginning of the study and reading levels were assessed at

the end.

Englund et al. (2004) conducted a longitudinal study with 187 children of low-income

first time mothers who were identified through public health clinics in Minneapolis, MN. The

study followed the mothers and their children from birth through 3rd grade. The authors used a

path analysis to examine relationships involving mother’s education, mother’s quality of

instruction, child’s IQ, parental expectations, parental involvement, and academic achievement

using interviews with parents and teachers, observation, and intelligence tests. Each mother’s

highest level of education obtained at the birth of the child was recorded. Mother’s quality of

instruction was assessed through observation of participation in four problem-solving activities

conducted in a controlled environment when the children reached 42 months of age. Each

child’s IQ was tested when they reached 64 months. Parental expectations were measured

during 1st and 3rd grade by asking the highest level of education they expect their children to

complete. Parental involvement and child’s academic achievement were assessed through brief

interviews with the children’s teachers in 1st and 3rd grades. Parental involvement was scored

from 1 to 5 with 1 being ‘not involved’ and 5 being very involved. Academic achievement was

rated from 1 (‘very poor’) to 5 (‘outstanding’). All coding was done to by two individuals to


ensure reliability. A conceptual framework was developed using a path analysis to demonstrate

the direct and indirect relationships amongst the variables.

Results

Ho Sui-Chu and Willms found that home discussion, home supervision, and school

communication were relatively consistent across all schools in the sample. The level of school

participation, including attending PTO meetings and volunteering at school, varied quite a bit

from school to school. Thus, the overall level of parental involvement at individual schools was

found to be very similar. All measures of family background and parental involvement were

found to have a statistically significant relationship; however, the relationship between SES and

home supervision was less pronounced than the others. The presence of a learning or behavioral

challenge significantly increased the incidence of school communication; however, these

students experience less home supervision and discussion. Males had higher levels of school

communication than females while females received more discussion at home. Some differences

were found across ethnicities; Asian Americans and Native Americans reported lower levels of

parental involvement. Levels of parental involvement were fairly similar for Whites, African

Americans, and Hispanics, with the latter having higher levels of home supervision than the

others. They determined that the overall SES of a school community had a positive relationship

with participation in PTO meetings and volunteering at school, but home supervision and home

discussion were consistent across SES categories. Higher SES schools also demonstrated higher

levels of academic achievement, even when controlling for individual SES. There was a positive

and statistically significant relationship between home discussion and school participation and

math and reading scores. Home supervision was found to have a relationship with reading, but

not math, scores. There was a negative statistically significant relationship between test scores


and school communication. Academic achievement was more closely related to the overall level

of parental participation at a school rather than individual family participation.

Hong and Ho (2005) found that there were differences in the impact of parental

involvement on academic performance with mediating variables of student characteristics among

ethnic groups. Parent communication did not have an impact on academic performance for

African Americans. Participation in school activities was only a significant indicator of

academic achievement for Asian Americans. Parents’ educational aspiration for their children

did not have a significant relationship with academic performance for Hispanics. Parent

communication and educational aspirations had a very strong relationship with student

educational aspirations for all ethnic groups. Parent communication and educational aspiration

for their children was found to have a positive statistically significant relationship with student

locus of control for all ethnic groups. Participation in school activities and supervision at home

only had a statistically significant relationship with student locus of control for Asian Americans.

A relationship was not found between parental involvement and student self-concept, and student

self-concept was not found to have a relationship with academic performance. Student

educational aspiration and locus of control did have a significant relationship with academic

performance in all ethnic groups; the impact of locus of control was especially strong for

Hispanic children and less strong for Whites.

Jeynes (2005) found that highly involved parents had a statistically significant positive

impact on the academic performance of African American 12th graders. There is a positive

relationship between parental involvement and academic performance when SES is used as a

control variable, although it is not statistically significant. He also determined that parents were

more involved in girls’ education than boys’ and that this was true for all ethnic groups in the


NELS data set. The author concludes with theory about ways that SES might negatively impact

parental involvement; these reasons include working long hours, personal values and beliefs

about education, and the ability to purchase educational aids.

A relationship was not found between parent’s teaching at home and storybook exposure

in the Senechal and LeFevre study (2002). A statistically significant relationship was found

between storybook exposure and language (vocabulary and listening comprehension) and

between storybook exposure and emergent literacy (invented spelling and decoding). Reports of

teaching at home had a significant relationship with listening comprehension, phonological

awareness, and emergent literacy skills (alphabet knowledge, invented spelling, and decoding).

Both reports of teaching at home and early storybook exposure had a significant positive

relationship with reading levels in 3rd grade. Parent print exposure and parent’s level of

education did not have a significant relationship with children’s reading level. Storybook

exposure was found to predict receptive language development and while parent teaching

predicted emergent literacy. They found that many of the variables were interconnected, serving

as mediators as children expand their base of knowledge. Reading skills were more strongly

influenced by storybook exposure than parents’ teaching at home. This relationship is mediated

by receptive language skills; with this as a control variable, the impact of storybook exposure

was minimized. They concluded that reading storybooks to children develops emergent literacy

skills, and this leads to an improved reading ability.

Englund et al. (2004) found statistically significant relationships between all of the

variables studied. Academic achievement was most strongly influenced by the child’s IQ,

followed by the mother’s quality of instruction. Parental involvement and expectations were

most strongly influenced by the mother’s level of education. The level of education was


positively related to quality of instruction, as well. The mother’s instructional quality,

expectations, and parental involvement influence academic achievement when the mother’s

education, child’s IQ, and child’s previous achievement are controlled. They also found that

when mothers had a higher rated quality of instruction their children have higher IQs. Most

significantly, they determined that there is a bi-directional relationship between parental

involvement and academic achievement. Academic achievement in first grade positively

influences parental involvement in third grade.

Limitations and Areas for Further Research

All of the studies that analyzed NELS data faced several challenges. Although the drop

out rate in this longitudinal study is comparable to others, the absence of data can make analysis

difficult. This could possibly bias the survey results because families that move might be less

stable (Jeynes, 2005). Statistical models can be applied to compensate for this limitation. This

data set does not include information about specific school policies and programs that may

promote or hinder parental involvement (Ho Sui-Chu and Willms, 1996). These extraneous

factors could impact each school’s level of parental involvement. Because the data collection

started when the students were in 8th grade, prior experience and performance is unknown (Ho

Sui-Chu and Willms, 1996 and Jeynes, 2005).

Ho Sui-Chu and Willms (1996) used data from one year to establish parental involvement

as a predictor of academic success. This would imply, not necessarily accurately, that the current

level of parental involvement is equivalent to past parental involvement. Furthermore, it is not

possible to measure any cumulative effects that parental involvement may have over time using

this data. This article was published ten years ago and uses data from 1988; however, it was


included because its methodology was unique. This study could be replicated using more recent

NELS data and longitudinal analyses could be applied.

The statistical model employed by Hong and Ho (2005) was extremely complicated. The

article would be more appealing to a statistician than to an educator. This could possibly inhibit

the acquisition and implementation of the important findings of the study. The study does not

identify or explore specific cultural values that may influence parental involvement or student

characteristics, limiting the reader’s understanding of the issue to the construct of “race.”

Jeynes (2005) limited his study to African American students in the NELS study. He did

not analyze individual components of parental involvement and created just two categories to

express a composite level. If each component of involvement were tested separately, the results

could have been more revealing.

Senechal and LeFevre (2002) selected their sample from a three schools consisting of

mostly middle and upper middle class students. The generalizability of this study may be

limited; lower income families may have less money to purchase books and educational

materials for the home and less time to use them. Moreover, this school climate may have

influenced the literacy skills or reading ability of the students. The schools chosen for this study

were unique; they emphasized “self-directed learning, integrated curricula, parent and

community involvement, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.” In addition,

“many of the children had the same teachers in grades 1, 2, and 3.” These characteristics are not

necessarily representative of most schools. Because the schools were in Canada, there may be

cultural limitations in generalizing the results to students in the United States. Further research

could investigate the same variables in diverse communities. It would also be interesting to


study how, specifically, the academic instruction of parents differs from that of teachers or other

caregivers.

In contrast, Englund et al. (2004) selected their sample from a specifically low-income

population. This may limit the generalizability of the results to families who are middle class.

The measures used to assess parental involvement and child’s achievement were weak. By

relying on teacher reports of a single measure for each, the complexity of both constructs is

ignored and there is a potential for bias in the results. The study did not include information

regarding parental involvement practices that occur in the home.

SUMMARY

This review has presented a diversity of perspectives on the relationship between parental

involvement and academic performance. This sample of the literature included two original

studies and three that used secondary data. The data included in these articles reveals that

parental involvement has a direct impact on academic achievement, that several variables act as

mediators between those two constructs, and that increased academic performance may also

increase parental involvement. Specific components of parental involvement that have been

found to improve academic performance include home communication, home supervision,

attendance at school meetings and events, instruction at home, and exposure to storybooks in the

home. Academic performance that is impacted by parental involvement includes reading ability,

grades, and test scores. Moderating and mediating variables include race, gender, SES, parent’s

level of education, parental expectations, child’s IQ, and child’s self-concept.

There is overwhelming evidence in these and other studies that parental involvement

plays a key role in children’s academic performance. Continued research on this topic will

reveal additional insight into the relationships that improve educational outcomes. This


knowledge should be applied by parents, teachers, school administrators, and policymakers to

ensure that all children benefit from this critical strategy to enhance education.


Appendix

Study Experimental Design

Sample Variables Interesting Results

Ho Sui-Chu and Willms, 1996

Statistical analysis of secondary data (NELS 1989)

National sample of 24,599 eighth grade students and their parents and teachers from public and private schools in the US

IV: SES (individual and school)IV and DV: Parental involvement (individual and school)IV: GenderIV: Race DV: academic achievement

SES has a positive relationship with academic achievement with small effect sizes

School SES has a positive relationship with academic achievement when individual SES is controlled

Parental involvement is slightly higher among African Americans than Whites

Home discussion about school is the most significant parental involvement factor

Senechal and LeFevre, 2002

Five year longitudinal study using surveys with children and parents and school data.

168 middle and upper middle class elementary age children from Ottawa, ON

IV: Home literary experiences (teaching and use of storybooks)DV: Receptive languageDV: Phonological awarenessDV: Emergent literacyDV: Analytic intelligenceDV: Reading level at end of grades 1 and 3

Parents’ reported teaching at home and exposure to children’s storybooks did not correlate

Reading skills are highly correlated with early storybook use but not with parents’ reported teaching at home

Reading levels are influenced by home literacy experiences and mediated by the other DVs

Englund, Luckner, Whaley, and Egeland, 2004

Longitudinal study using observation, interviews, school data – followed children from birth to 3rd grade. PATH analysis.

187 first born children with low-income mothers in Minneapolis, MN

Mother’s educationMother’s quality of instructionChild’s IQParental expectationsParental involvementAcademic achievement(many of these are analyzed as both IV and DV)

Mother’s education influenced child’s IQ, parental expectations, and parental involvement

Mother’s quality of instruction, parental involvement, and parental expectations are better predictors of 3rd grade achievement than mother’s educational level, child’s IQ, or child’s previous performance

There is a bi-directional relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement – children’s academic performance also effects levels of parental involvement

Hong and Ho, 2005

Statistical analysis of secondary data (NELS 1988, 1990, and 1992). Latent Growth Modeling.

National sample of 1,500 students from each ethnic group studied for a total of 6,000 – and their parents and teachers from public and private schools in the US

IV: Parental involvementIV: EthnicityDV: Test scoresMediating: student self concept, locus of control, and educational aspiration

Found ethnic differences in the impact of parental involvement on academic achievement

Different types of parental involvement held different levels of importance among ethnic groups

Academic achievement is mediated by student characteristics

Jeynes, 2005 Statistical analysis of secondary data (NELS 1990, 1992).

National sample of 18,726 twelfth grade students

IV: Parental involvementIV: GenderIV: SESIV: RaceDV: Test scoresDV: Left back a grade

Parental involvement effects the academic performance of African American seniors; when controlled for SES, the correlation is not significant

Parents are more involved in girls’ education than in boys’ education (applies to all races)


References

Englund, M., Luckner, A., Whaley, G., and Egeland, B. (2004). Children’s Achievement in Early Elementary School: Longitudinal Effects of Parental Involvement, Expectations, and Quality of Assistance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94 (4), 723-730.

Ho Sui-Chu, E. and Willms, D. (1996). Effects of Parental Involvement on Eighth-Grade Achievement. Sociology of Education, 69 (2), 126-141.

Hong, S. and Ho, H. Direct and Indirect Longitudinal Effects of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement: Second-Order Latent Growth Modeling Across Ethnic Groups. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97 (1), 32-42.

Jeynes, W. (2005). The Effects of Parental Involvement on the Academic Achievement of African American Youth. The Journal of Negro Education, 74 (3), 260-274.

Senechal,M. and LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental Involvement in the Development of Children’s Reading Skill: a Five-Year Longitudinal Study. Child Development, 73 (2), 445-460.


ED 473: Social Bases of Human BehaviorResearch Paper Rubric

[100 points]

CRITERIA WEAK BORDERLINE PROFICIENT EXCEPTIONALChoice of sources Sources are not

research based and/or do not relate to the topic

1-3

Sources minimally support and demonstrate the topic

4-6

Sources are research based and adequately support and demonstrate the topic

7-8

Sources are research based, substantive, and facilitate understanding of the topic

9-10

APA Style/Writing Style/Grammar

Uses APA style with no more than 10 errors including spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors

1-3

Uses APA style with no more than 5 instances of spelling or grammatical error

4-6

Uses APA style with no more than 3 errors. Less than 3 grammatical/spelling/punctuation errors.

7-8

Uses APA style proficiently without error. Less than 2 grammatical/punctuation errors. No spelling errors.

9-10

Title PageTitle page omitted

1

More than 3 errors present

2

One or two errors on title page

3-4

Includes title, author’s name, institutional affiliation, and running head in the correct format

5

Introduction: Presentation of your topic and succinct summary of the literature

Disjointed, highly inaccurate summary of the literature

1-3

Some errors in interpretation and summarization of the literature

4-5

Adequate summary of the literature covering basic knowledge on the topic

6-8

Succinct, insightful summary of the literature

9-10Review of Specific Topic

(At least 7 empirical studies)

Significant lack of detail in describing the topic

1-10

Some details lacking in describing the topic

11-30

Adequate description of the topic including a review of the empirical literature

31-38

Detailed, succinct review of the literature including some of the most current research on this topic

39-55Summary of Paper

Inaccurate summary of information. Interpretation of literature is flawed. Serious grammatical and stylistic errors

1-3

Some inaccuracies in the summary and interpretation of the literature. Some difficult with grammar and writing style.

4-5

Accurate summary of information using a proficient writing and presentation style

6-8

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9-10

impact of parental involvement

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