Parent Involvement
Parent Involvement in School Conceptualizing Multiple Dimensions and Their Relations with Family and Demographic Risk Factors
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group
Parent Involvement (PI) in school is associated with more positive academic performance and social competence in children. However, there are inadequacies in curriculum measures of PI and a need for a better understanding of predictors of PI. In this study, measures were obtained from a normative sample of 387 children in kindergarten and first grade from high-risk neighborhoods in 4 different sites. First, a confirmatory factor analysis of a theoretical factor model of PI identified 6 reliable multiple-reporters PI factors: Parent-Teacher Contact, Parent Involvement at School, Quality of Parent-Teacher Relationship, Teacher’s Perception of the Parents, Parent Involvement at Home, and Parent Endorsement of School. Next, the relations among 3 specific family and demographic risk factor-parental education level, maternal depression and single-parent status-and these 6 PI factors were examined using path analyses in structural equation modeling. Results indicated that the 3 factors were differentially associated with the 6 PI factors: Parental education was significantly associated with 4 PI outcomes, maternal depression was significantly associated with 5 PI outcomes. No significant ethnic group differences between African American and Caucasian families were found in these relations.
Keywords: Parent-school relationship, Single parents, Depression, Parent educational background, Racial and ethnic differences.
Parent involvement (PI) in school is a topic of great interest for researches and practitioners. At this point, there is substantial evidence that PI is associated with children’s academic performance and social competence, and policymakers recognized the importance of involving parents in schools by incorporating federal legislation into the Goals 2000 Educate America Act. Given the
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group
Parent Involvement (PI) in school is associated with more positive academic performance and social competence in children. However, there are inadequacies in curriculum measures of PI and a need for a better understanding of predictors of PI. In this study, measures were obtained from a normative sample of 387 children in kindergarten and first grade from high-risk neighborhoods in 4 different sites. First, a confirmatory factor analysis of a theoretical factor model of PI identified 6 reliable multiple-reporters PI factors: Parent-Teacher Contact, Parent Involvement at School, Quality of Parent-Teacher Relationship, Teacher’s Perception of the Parents, Parent Involvement at Home, and Parent Endorsement of School. Next, the relations among 3 specific family and demographic risk factor-parental education level, maternal depression and single-parent status-and these 6 PI factors were examined using path analyses in structural equation modeling. Results indicated that the 3 factors were differentially associated with the 6 PI factors: Parental education was significantly associated with 4 PI outcomes, maternal depression was significantly associated with 5 PI outcomes. No significant ethnic group differences between African American and Caucasian families were found in these relations.
Keywords: Parent-school relationship, Single parents, Depression, Parent educational background, Racial and ethnic differences.
Parent involvement (PI) in school is a topic of great interest for researches and practitioners. At this point, there is substantial evidence that PI is associated with children’s academic performance and social competence, and policymakers recognized the importance of involving parents in schools by incorporating federal legislation into the Goals 2000 Educate America Act. Given the