Parental Involvement 1

RUNNING HEAD: Parental Involvement

The Impact of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement

By

Kent Obico

Submitted to

Professional Education Faculty

Northwest Missouri State University Missouri

Department of Professional Education

College of Education and Human Services

Maryville, MO 64468

Spring 2013

July 27, 2015

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant relationship between the

level of parental involvement and student achievement. The study groups selected for this study

were the 6th and 7th grade classes. The grade point average for the school year and the level of

parental involvement for each student were tracked through the 2014-2015 school year. Using

this data, a correlation coefficient was calculated to determine if there was a significant

relationship between the variables. The results indicated that there was a direct significant

relationship between parental involvement and student achievement. Increased parental

involvement positively affects student achievement.

 Parental Involvement 3

Introduction

Background, Issues and Concerns

The family unit is an ever changing dynamic. More children are coming from

challenging family homes with little to no parental support. Divorce is common in the current

society as well as parents conceiving children without being married. This leads to a lot of single

parent, single income homes for children to grow up in. Some students may not be receiving as

much support as home as they might need.

Parents are being forced to work long hours and spend less time with their children. This

leads to students being forced to teach themselves proper study techniques and work ethics.

Teachers can only do so much to develop these habits, but they are much less likely to stick if

they are not reinforced at home.

Students need help with school. Homework is not the only place students need help.

Students may need help adjusting to a new teacher, classmates, or even a new school. Many

parents may not be able to assist their children when it comes to prioritizing school. Students

continue to need support from their parents when it comes to school and parents need to be

aware of it and able to help.

Practice under Investigation

The practice under investigation looked at the relationship between student achievement

and their lives at home. There was an investigation to discover what constitutes as an involved

parent and what effect that involvement has on a student at school. There was information

presented to support the idea that involved parents mean high achieving students.
 Parental Involvement 4

School Policy to be Informed by Study

This is an issue that affects many schools. This study gave concrete reasons why a school

should strive to have parents involved with their student’s education. This study showed how

much better a student can do if they have support at home and at school to show the value of an

education.

Conceptual Underpinning

Every student has a different life in school than they do at home. Some students find

more structure at school than they ever might at home. A solid foundation at home can greatly

affect how a student performs at school. Students who have parents that are involved in their

learning usually perform better in school. They see that education is something to be taken

seriously and to be given their best effort. Theoretically, a student that has parents who push

them to do their best in school will encourage their student at home as well as at school. These

are the same parents who will help their children with their schoolwork and show an interest in

what they are doing. If a child sees that their parents don’t value school than the children won’t

either. Some students don’t have this support and might require extra attention during their time

at school in order to keep up with their schoolwork and understand its importance.

Purpose of the study.

To find if there is a significant connection between student achievement and parent

involvement in their students’ learning.

Research questions.

RQ: Is there a significant relationship between parental involvement and student’s

academic achievement?
 Parental Involvement 5

Null hypothesis.

Ho: There is no significant relationship between parental involvement and student’s

academic achievement.

Anticipated benefits of the study.

If a significant pattern is found between parent support and student achievement, teachers

will be able to better understand their students and teach them in the way that suits them best.

Teachers will also be able to provide some extra support before, during, or after school for this

student based on the circumstances.

Definition of Terms

GPA – Grade point average – is a number representing the average value of the accumulated

final grades earned in courses over time

Summary

A study was conducted to decide how big of an impact parents and their level of

involvement can effect a student’s achievement in school. If the study finds that a parent’s level

of involvement directly impacts their child’s performance in school in a positive way, then

schools can alter how they approach parent’s interaction with their students.
 Parental Involvement 6

Review of Literature

Research has been performed by many on the subject of parental involvement and its

correlation to student achievement. In their article Exploring Effects of Parental Involvement on

Student's Achievement, Tokac and Kocayörük (2012), outline many of the positive effects

parents can, and do, have on their students. They believe that parental involvement is critical

during the middle school years. The relationships young people form with their parents need to

be positive in order to ensure a healthy development. The parents play possibly the largest role

in helping young people become competent and achieve the ability to perform at a high level in

school. (Tokac et.al, 2012) Parents have a profound effect on their student’s ability to value

school.

If parents don’t find school to be of importance, it is likely that their child will echo their

thoughts. According the article, Why Parenting Is More Important Than Schools, Paul (2012)

cites studies performed by North Carolina State University, Brigham Young University, and the

University of California – Irvine that indicate that “parental involvement – checking homework,

attending school meetings and events, discussing school activities at home – has a more powerful

influence on students’ academic performance than anything about the school the students

attend.” (Paul, 2012, p. 1)

Schools will find themselves in a constant battle with their students if they can’t enlist the

help of the parents. Parents aren’t always going to be the birth parents of the children. Parents

are often considered to be primary caregivers for the student. (Kim, 2012)

Parents are the ones who give their children their views on school. Many things parents

may not even consider to be influential are having lasting impacts on their children. Tokac and
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Kocayörük (2012), attest that when a parent has a positive attitude about school, it has been

found that their children perform well based on that attitude. The main place a student obtains

their attitude about school is out of school. The way their parents act about school usually

translates through to student performance as well as their relationship with their teacher.

Measuring parent involvement includes many things like attitude and activities done at home

independent of homework assigned by the teacher. (Topor, D., Keane, S., Shelton, T., & Susan,

C, 2010)

Parent involvement can be characterized in many ways. It can range from simply talking

and having engaging conversations with students, to taking on a tutor-like role. Parental

involvement is characterized by “participation, engagement, healthy child care, child rearing,

sharing activities, and it is conceptualized and measured in a variety of ways.” (Tokac et.al,

2012, p. 257)

One important aspect of parent-child interactions involves making sure that parenting

styles are stimulating and responsive. (Topor et.al, 2010)

In the article, Parent Involvement and Family-School Partnerships: Examining the

Content, Processes, and Outcomes of Structural versus Relationship-Based Approaches, two

models a parent can use to assist their children and become more involved are described. They

listed various practices that parents can do at home to increase student performance called parent

involvement models. They include things such as home literacy practices, communication,

expectations, and rules and routines. Another model presented by was the family-school

partnership model which is defined as “child-focused approaches wherein families and

professionals cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate to enhance opportunities and success for

children and adolescents across social, emotional, behavioral, and academic success.” (Kim, E.
 Parental Involvement 8

M., Coutts, M. J., Holmes, S. R., Sheridan, S. M., Ransom, K. A., Sjuts, T. M., & Rispoli, K. M.,

2012)

There are many ways for parents to become involved in their student’s educational

success. According to Tokac et.al (2012) “discussing children’s progress with teachers on a

regular basis, checking homework every night, reading to preschoolers, encouraging students to

take the challenging courses.” (Tokac et.al, 2012, p. 261) This is especially important in middle

school as they are being prepared for high school where there is more freedom of courses and

less of the teacher checking up on everything. The students with parents who perform these

simple tasks are the ones who will be better suited for high school and beyond. (Tokac et.al,

2012)

On top of doing some of these things, parents don’t need to only be involved with their

student’s education, but engaged. In the article, Parental involvement in education leads to

successful students, stronger schools, Margaret Bernstein (2012) suggested that if parents are

engaged, they will prevent their children from missing school and showing up late.

A parent being truly engaged is important for a child to truly feel supported and gain the

benefits of that support. If a parent is genuine in what they say and do about school, the child

will understand the expectations and perform at a higher level. Toby Parcel, of North Carolina

State University, said that “parents need to be aware of how important they are, and invest time

in their children — checking homework, attending school events and letting kids know school is

important. That’s where the payoff is.” (Gannon, 2012, p. 1) Parents don’t always need to talk

about school to support their child. Conversations had about topics other than school can have

just as much, if not more, of an impact.

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Previous studies have found that there were three main areas that described parent

involvement and how it links to student achievement which were “(a) education at home, both

directly and indirectly, (b) socialization, including discipline, parental aspirations and beliefs,

and cultural influences, and (c) formal parent-school involvement.” (Tokac, 2012, p. 258) The

studies indicate that “parents who are warm, supportive, and consistent in their behavior and

style of discipline can effectively support the child and adolescent development.” (Tokac, 2012,

p. 258)

Doing things at home that are specifically geared towards academics have a positive

effect on students. Other ways to improve student performance is through conversation. The

student involved in the conversation will gain much more than just academic prowess. The

easiest thing for parents to do to stay involved with their children is talking. It doesn’t cost

anything, it can be about almost anything, and it does more than ask the question, “How was

school today?” These conversations should be about all kinds of things. Paul (2012) said that

the more academic language used when talking to the student, the better because the student will

achieve in that particular area. A specific example she uses is that “children who hear talk about

counting and numbers at home start school with much more extensive mathematical knowledge.”

(Paul, 2012, p. 1) These conversations require that students actually talk. It can’t be only the

adult talking but the child and adult conversing in equal capacities. “Engaging in this reciprocal

back-and-forth gives children a chance to try out language for themselves, and also gives them

the sense that their thoughts and opinions matter.” (Paul, 2012, p. 1)

A student’s self-esteem is something that proves very delicate in the middle school years.

Parents have the responsibility of nurturing and developing that self-esteem of each student so

that they may better achieve and believe they can do it. Through conversation with parents,
 Parental Involvement 10

students will cognitive competence, which is defined as “the extent to which children believe

that they possess the necessary cognitive skills to be successful when completing academic tasks,

such as reading, writing, and arithmetic.” (Topor et.al, 2010 p. 186)

When a student knows they can achieve, there is so much more than can do. Cognitive

competence describes the student’s knowledge of their ability. It is a very important thing for

students to have because they will not be do something if they don’t think they can do it. As

should be expected, a student with parents that had a higher involvement in their educations had

a much higher cognitive competence when compared to their peers. (Topor et.al, 2010)

Topor, et.al (2010) list four ways that a student’s cognitive competence can be affected by

others:

 Performance accomplishments/ performance mastery

 Vicarious reinforcement

 Verbal persuasion

 Emotion regulation

In a study it was verified that a positive parent attitude leads to a higher cognitive competence, a

better student-teacher relationship, higher test scores on standardized tests, and an overall

increase in student performance. (Topor, 2010)

Students with parents that are consistently involved learn better, have better attitudes,

have better self-esteem, and understand that school is important and should be taken seriously.

(Tokac et.al, 2012)

There are varying levels of involvement, which include attending parent-teacher

conferences and volunteering at the school to helping out with different homework assignments
 Parental Involvement 11

or something as simple as encouraging the student. (Tokac et.al, 2012) These simple

encouragements could make the difference between a good and poor self-esteem. It is

increasingly important to uplift children every chance that presents itself.

Parental involvement does more than school spending can do for a child. The intangibles

that a parent can give their child is more meaningful than what a school can spend on a student.

This would lead to the understanding that school socioeconomic status shouldn’t be an excuse

for low student achievement. Schools should look to their parents to see what is hurting or

helping their achievement. In the article titled “For Kids' Academic Success, Parents May

Trump Schools,” Megan Gannon (2012, p. 1) states that “students with high family social capital

and low school social capital generally had better grades than students with high school social

capital but low family social capital.” Gannon (2012) described family social capital as the

measure of how involved the parent is in their student’s life as well as the trust and

communication shared between parent and child.

In terms of student achievement, parental involvement transcends what teachers and the

students themselves can do. Paul (2012, p. 1) says that “schools would have to increase their

spending by more than $1,000 per pupil in order to achieve the same results that are gained with

parental involvement.” In light of this study, the talk really is cheap. Talking to the student can

bring about many benefits and doing so doesn’t cost anything. A professor at Harvard

University, says that parents will make a much bigger impact on their middle school children by

using academic socialization. She defines academic socialization as “setting expectations and

making connections between behavior and future goals.” (Paul, 2012, p. 1) Using this academic

socialization, parents can encourage their students to succeed without necessarily relating it
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directly to schools. These goes back to simply having conversations with students about their

future and letting them respond as an equal.

Parents aren’t alone in getting students to achieve success in school. While parents are

the primary tool for ensuring success, teachers certainly play an important role in the success of

students.

Tokac (2012) said the following about the parent-school relationship:

Facilitating this involvement requires a good communication and collaboration between

school and families. Schools might also encourage parents, teachers, and students to

meet at the beginning of the school year to agree on goals and develop a common

understanding. In fact, it can make a difference in student’s achievement at school and in

the healthy development when school sponsors family involvement initiatives and

activities to improve student learning and to support effective school performance

through family-school partnership. (p. 261)

A beneficial student teacher relationship is one where there is an open line of communication

and a true sense of caring instead of an over dependency of the student on the teacher. A

positive parent attitude has been found to increase the student-teacher relationship which is a

very important part of a student’s ability to be successful in school. (Topor et.al, 2010)

Parental involvement doesn’t only benefit students, it also is greatly appreciated by

teachers. When students show higher achievement, graduate high school, and move on to

college, teachers are found to have higher morale and job satisfaction. (Tokac et.al, 2012)

Positive parent relationships are paramount to any success in a school. They can achieve

two main things that will help the student succeed. One benefit is helping the student gain better
 Parental Involvement 13

their self-perception and confidence in their own abilities. The other benefit is that teachers are

able to create more meaningful relationships with their students. (Topor et.al, 2010)

Some parents have indicated that they are not very open to talking to teachers. A study

performed by Don Slocum, founder of Neighborhood Leadership Institute in Cleveland, found

many reasons that some parents don’t get involved. One of those reasons being “some parents

feel they don’t have a strong enough voice or they feel intimidated by the system, or by a

teacher.” (Bernstein, 2012) Some other things that sometimes deter parents from approaching

teachers and beginning that relationship are socioeconomic issues and language gaps. (Parental,

2012) Schools and teachers must present themselves as an approachable entity. If parents

continue to feel wary of talking to teachers, there is no progress to be made. There definitely

need to be some boundaries on where a parent’s power ends, but parents should have a say in

their child’s education without hindering progress. Bernstein outlines several steps to help

improve parental involvement and engagement in their student’s school.

They include:

 Establishing a welcome room

 Identify a core group of committed parents

 Get kids to be recruiters

 Reward parents for their at-home support

 Train parents to be reading tutors (Bernstein, 2012)

These different implementations by schools can be an easy, free way to get parents involved.

Parents can have their own level of involvement that they feel comfortable with as long as they

are involved in some capacity. All of these things will help students because when teachers and
 Parental Involvement 14

parents are working together towards a common goal, it allows the student to see that there are

people who care about them and provides them with more of an internal drive to succeed.

Adrianes Pinantoan (2013) conducted a study that analyzed how the students of two

engaged parents differed from their classmates with less engaged parents. It found that students

with two supportive parents had a 52% more likely to enjoy school and perform well. This trend

continued into middle school. Students with two supportive parents had a 22% higher chance to

increased performance and enjoyment of school. The study attributed the difference in

likelihoods to the maturing of middle school students but it was a still a significant difference.

(Pinantoan, 2013) This study was performed on parents who were already deemed as engaged.

This is an important finding for schools to consider when trying to decide how and where to

apply the greatest effort to get parents involved. Perhaps they don’t need to worry so much

about students in a household with two parents that are involved. A single parent is certainly

capable of providing equal, if not better, care and involvement for their student, but schools

might increase their statistics using this information. Pinantoan (2013) found that an involved

mother is more likely to decrease behavioral problems than a father. Grades, however, were

found to be slightly higher with an involved father than a mother. Having one parent involved is

better than no parent involved, but these findings were noteworthy. (Pinantoan, 2013)

Pinantoan (2013) compiled her results into simpler categories. In primary grade levels, a

strong start is dependent on things that the parents have done outside of school to prepare their

child. These include familiarizing them with the alphabet, reading to them, and learning to

count. The differences between parents with higher degrees and parents without high school

degrees were very large. Parents with advanced degrees were “3.5 times as likely as parents

without high school degrees to teach their children the alphabet, 2.4 times more likely to teach
 Parental Involvement 15

them to count to 20, 1.8 times as likely to teach them how to write their first name, and 2.8 times

more likely to read to them daily.” (Pinantoan, 2013, p. 1) These numbers are important to

early grades. These parents are also more likely to make sure their students get through each

grade with “confidence and mastery” which becomes important as they begin to get into middle

school. (Pinantoan, 2013) Even something as simple as a bachelor’s degree versus education

beyond a bachelor’s shows a 10% difference between the two groups of parents.
 Parental Involvement 16

RESEARCH METHODS

Research Design

A study was conducted comparing student achievement and the level of parent

involvement. The independent variable for this study was the level of parental involvement.

The dependent variable for this study was the student achievement. The relationship of these

two variables was found by using a correlation analysis.

Study Group Description

A group of 26 students was selected for comparison. The students were all from the

same school. Their level of parent involvement was compared to how well they did in school.

Their achievement was based off of their GPA for the core classes: math, language arts, science,

and social studies. This school district has a free/reduced lunch percentage of 61.2. This is a

rural community with little ethnic diversity in the school. The school is 94.6 % Caucasian and

5.4% Hispanic. The sample size was made up of 14 boys and 12 girls.

Data Collection and Instrumentation

Data was gathered to decide a parent’s level of involvement on a scale of low (1),

medium (2), or high (3) based off of how the parents act with their kids at home, their presence

at parent-teacher conferences, and attendance at school events. Data was also collected based off

the end of the year GPA of the selected students.

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Statistical Analysis Methods

A correlation analysis was conducted to find out if there is a significant connection

between the two variables. It was used to find out if there is a pattern with high involvement and

high achievement.
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FINDINGS

Table 1: Correlation Analysis of Grade Point Average and Level of

Parental Involvement
N Mean r R² p-value
Free or Reduced
Lunch 26 3.019
Graduation Rate 26 2.269 0.827 68.38% 1.9E-7
Note significance = or < .25

A correlation matrix was completed after selecting twenty six students from a middle

school in rural Missouri gathering data on their GPA and their level of parental involvement.

The matrix was used to test the null hypothesis, which states that there is no relationship between

GPA and parental involvement. The mean, or averages, for both criteria were gathered with

GPA at 3.02 and parental involvement at 2.27. The data collected shows that the r, or

correlation coefficient, is 0.827; the R2, or practicality was 68.38%; and the p-value was 1.9E-7.

The correlation coefficient, 0.827, shows that the relationship between the variables is very

strong. The number is positive, so it is a direct relationship, which means that as GPA goes up,

so does the level of parental involvement. To be considered practical, the R2 must be above

10%. This number is 68.38% which shows that the relationship is practical. The alpha level is

set at .25 and the p-value, at 1.9E-7, is less than the alpha level which shows that the relationship

is significant. After reviewing all of the relationships, the null hypothesis would be rejected.

There is a significant relationship between a student’s GPA and their level of parental

involvement.

Table 1: GPA Compared to the Level of Parental Involvement

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4
3.5 3.71
3
2.5
2.65
GPA

2
1.5 1.89

1
0.5
0
3 2 1
LEVEL OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

The findings clearly suggest that students achieve at higher levels when their parents are

more involved with their school work. This significant difference between the levels shows that

the students with the highest level of parental involvement had the highest grades in the four core

classes. Parents setting education as a priority not only leads to students having more respect for

school but also positively impacts their GPA. With the p-value being well below the alpha level,

this relationship was significant.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The study clearly shows that parental involvement has a profound impact on student

achievement. The correlation analysis shows a correlation coefficient of 0.827, which shows that

the relationship between the variables is very strong. As parental involvement increases, student

achievement increases. The difference between students with low parental involvement and

students with high parental involvement was 1.82. This difference is almost two entire letter

grades.

It is important to note that this study was done on a very small scale and verification of

the results on a larger scale would be beneficial. This study only tested two variables, GPA and

parental involvement. The GPA was used from one school year and it could prove useful to

acquire information from multiple school years including other testing platforms.

As the study confirmed, a good foundation at home positively affects how they perform

at school. The students in the study who had a higher level of parental involvement consistently

showed a higher level of student achievement. The parents that showed more of an interest in

their child’s education were able to provide more support and their children earned higher grades

than their colleagues.

It is unfortunate that a student with such high potential should suffer because their parents

don’t involve themselves with their children or don’t hold education in a high enough regard.

Parents need to know how impactful they can be for their children and take the initiative and

pride to increase their self-esteem in school. There are many ways a school can get parents more

involved and they need to strive to get this done.

 Parental Involvement 21

Teachers and schools should make every effort to get their parents involved. Parents

need to make sure that their children see education as important. While there is little schools can

do to change the home life of students, there is much they can do at school. They can offer many

different programs for the students to pick up as much as they can and develop proper habits.

Parents have a profound impact on their children and schools have a duty to help nurture that

relationship to make sure that students value school.

Bernstein cites a study performed by Esperanza Inc. that asked 250 students what the

most influential force on their lives was. The top answer received was their families. (Bernstein,

2012) That information is enough to see the importance of involved parents. The first place for

parents to start their positive influence is at home. The attitude that children see at home will

likely be the attitude that translates into their school life and shapes the student they become.

Michael Cook of the Leadership Center for the Common Good put it best, he feels that “Parents

have knowledge. They have Expertise. We need to leverage that.” (Bernstein, 2012)

This study was able to prove that parental involvement directly affects student

achievement in a positive way. A recommendation for future studies would be to include more

students. Another would be to gather data over multiple years in order to further validate the

findings. Teachers should use this data to encourage their student’s parents to keep themselves

involved with their children. Parents can use this information to actually see that they have a

direct impact on their students and how they do in school.

 Parental Involvement 22

REFERENCES

Bernstein, M. (2012, November 11). Parental involvement in education leads to successful

students, stronger schools. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from

http://www.cleveland.com/bernstein/index.ssf/2012/11/parental_involvement_in_educat.

html

Gannon, M. (2012, October 10). For Kids' Academic Success, Parents May Trump Schools.

Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/23873-parent-involvement-

more-important-than-school.html

Kim, E. M., Coutts, M. J., Holmes, S. R., Sheridan, S. M., Ransom, K. A., Sjuts, T. M., &

Rispoli, K. M. (2012). Parent Involvement and Family-School Partnerships: Examining

the Content, Processes, and Outcomes of Structural versus Relationship-Based

Approaches. CYFS Working Paper No. 2012-6.Nebraska Center for Research on

Children, Youth, Families and Schools.

Paul, A.M. (2012, October 12). Why Parenting Is More Important Than Schools. Retrieved April

12, 2015, from http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/24/the-single-largest-advantage-parents-

can-give-their-kids/

Parental Involvement in Schools. (2012, September 30). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from

http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=parental-involvement-in-schools

Pinantoan, A. (2013, September 22). The Effect Of Parental Involvement On Academic

Achievement. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-

effect-of-parental-involvement-on-academic-achievement/
 Parental Involvement 23

Tokac, U., & Kocayörük, E. (2012). Exploring Effects of Parental Involvement on Student's

Achievement. International Journal of Social Science and Education, 2(2), 257-263.

Retrieved April 10, 2015, from

http://ijsse.com/sites/default/files/issues/2012/Volume%202%20Issue%202%20,%20%20

2012/Paper-25/Paper-25.pdf

Topor, D., Keane, S., Shelton, T., & Susan, C. (2010). Parent Involvement and Student

Academic Performance: A Multiple. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the

Community, 38(3), 183-197. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020099/