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Parental Involvement and Children’s School Success


File number :
CS-CEFC-17e

Bibliographic reference :
Reynolds, A.J. & Clements, M. (2005). Parental Involvement and Children’s School Success. Dans E. Patrikakou & al., School-Family Partnerships for Children’s Success (109-127). New York: Teachers College Press.

Abstract :

The effect of parental involvement on student academic achievement has increasingly become the object of study. In fact, it is now the priority of many educational programmes and policies to encourage parents to become involved. The authors of this chapter present a summary of some research results on this topic.

Several of the results presented were drawn primarily from a longitudinal study conducted in Chicago (United States). This study monitored the progress of 1539 underprivileged students who took part in the Child-Parent Center Program (CPC) that started during the 1983-1984 school year. The CPC offers services to underprivileged families with preschool children until their third grade. One component of the programme aims at encouraging parental involvement in school (e.g., parent resource room, engagement in classroom activities).

The Effects of Early Interventions Supporting Families
Based on a test administered during this longitudinal study, short-term positive effects were observed upon students’ entry to school. A greater number of students who took part in the CPC had higher achievement in core abilities than those from the comparison group.

On the longer term, it was observed during this study that special education services were needed less, while the high school completion rate increased.

Other studies underlined the fact that parental involvement predicted higher reading achievement, greater socio-emotional adjustment and lower rates of grade retention.

It was observed that the duration of parental involvement also had an effect. The same longitudinal study showed that the high school completion rate was higher when families took part in the CPC over a longer period of time. By comparing scores, children whose families took part in a CPC during one to four years had higher achievement in mathematics and reading, compared to children whose families took part in the programme during a period of four to six years. Another study showed a 16% increase in the high school completion rate among students whose families took part in a CPC during one year in the children’s early years. This proportion was 36% when involvement extended over a period of four years.

The Need for Research to Go Further
In spite of positive results, there must be further research to enhance knowledge of this topic. The definition and measurement of parental involvement across studies vary a great deal for the time being. This makes it hard to compare models and studies and, in turn, the use of results in practice. Lastly, studies are needed to identify more precisely the way in which different kinds of parental involvement influence academic achievement.

Conclusion
These results highlighted the determining role of preschool educational programmes in children’s academic achievement and later socio-emotional adjustment.

Similarly, parental involvement continuing at the elementary level increases the chances of achievement all the more. While parents’ educational aspirations for their children and involvement in school activities appeared to be the most determining practices, parental supervision appeared to have the least effect.



Key Words :
Parental Involvement, Preschool Educational Programme, School Entry, Socio-emotional Adjustment, High School Completion, Reading, Mathematics, Socio-economic Status, Child-parent Center Program, Literature Review, Longitudinal Study, Newsletter14