Documentary search
 
 

Document

Parent Involvement in Elementary School and Educational Attainment


File number :
CS-DSC-04e

Bibliographic reference :
Barnard, W.M. (2004). Parent Involvement in Elementary School and Educational Attainment. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 39-62.

Abstract :

Theoretical Context/Research Topic
Concerned with the alarming rate of school dropout in the United States and with the consequences of this issue in the short and long terms, the author attempted to uncover whether there is a significant correlation between parent involvement in elementary school and academic success in high school. This is partly based on the assumption that academic achievement at the elementary level is linked to academic success in high school. Moreover, the author attempted to assess the link between what parents and teachers reported regarding parent involvement in school.

Methodology
Data used for this longitudinal study was taken from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS), a project focused primarily on promoting parent involvement in various spheres of their children’s development. Parent involvement in school was estimated based on teacher and parent reports for a total of 1165 youngsters, 49% of which had dropped out of school prior to obtaining a diploma. Parent involvement at home was also reviewed. With quantitative analyses, the author reviewed the correlation between parent involvement (independent variable) and school dropout (dependent variable). The control variables were as follows: participation in a parent/child program, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, parents’ educational level, parents’ occupations, family structure, index of socio-emotional maturity and word analysis score.

Results
The results of this study demonstrate a significant correlation between teacher perceptions of parent involvement and children’s academic achievement in the long term. The higher the involvement, the lower the dropout rate and the higher the completed grade of schooling. However, parent perceptions of their involvement do not appear to be related to the subsequent success of students. In order to explain this difference, the author based her conclusion on the fact that parents and teachers seem to have different perceptions on the quantity/quality of parent involvement or on the definitions of such involvement. However, the results of this study demonstrate a significant correlation between parent involvement during the early years of school and academic achievement in the long term, when control variables are taken into account in the analysis. The author concluded this article by underlining the importance of including parent involvement in programs designed to promote academic achievement.



Links :
This journal is also available in electronic format.

Key Words :
Parent involvement, Student perceptions, Parent perceptions, Teacher perceptions, Family predictive factors, Child development, Academic success, School-family-community partnership, Longitudinal study, Quantitative analysis, Elementary School, Primary School, Secondary/High School

Monitored Countries :
United States