A longitudinal study of collaborative parent-teacher involvement frameworks

Parental Involvement in Educational Outcomes

There is conclusive evidence that the involvement of parents in their children's education results in more positive educational outcomes (Hoover- Dempsey, & Sandler, 1995). However, there is a dissonance between educators and parents in that there is effectively no structured framework to facilitate such an integrative relationship (Hoover- Dempsey, Walker, & Jones, 2007). For the purposes of expanding the current field of research, this paper proposes a longitudinal cross sectional non- experimental study which will address not simply the parent, the teacher, or the child but rather all three working cohesively together throughout the course of that child's education. Though educational outcome is the dependent variable which is being studied in this instance it should be acknowledged that there is a great deal of developmental and emotional impact on children whose parents become involved in their academic endeavors, this is perhaps an area of probative further research.

Introduction

Standardized test results in the United States have shown there is an immediate need to affect change in the educational outcomes of children in elementary and high school. Not only are grades suffering, but also the number of children successfully completing high school and continuing their education is also decreasing. The dropout rate of students in the first year of university is on the rise as well (Hill et al., 2009). It is imperative that schools, parents, and guardians make every effort to improve the currently dire situation of the education system in the United States.

Research regarding various intervention strategies implemented in schools has shown degrees of improvement; however the results have not been significant. It is clear that intervention in schools alone is not sufficient. Parents, families, and legal guardians must also become involved in the process of educating children. This full circle approach necessitates parental involvement not only in homework but also active participation in school events and even in the classroom (Hoover- Dempsey et al., 1992). Teachers and parents must work together to ensure positive educational outcomes.

The current dissonance between parents and teachers though is not the result of animosity, nor is it a result of inadequate parenting and teaching. There is however a significant lack in the development of skills educators need in order to effectively involve parents and families in their children's schooling (Hoover- Dempsey, Walker, & Jones, 2007). The lack of these skills has lead to ineffective and inaccurate subjective assessment of individual roles within the achievement of educational outcomes.

Parents and guardians also are under scrutiny. The decision to participate is a personal one based on an individual assessment of the role of parent as well as educational background, financial obligations, and even the nature or presence of invitations to participate in a child's education (Yap, & Enoki 1995). There are a multitude of internal as well as external forces acting continually on the role a parent plays in their child's education, a role that changes continuously as a necessary result of the maturation of the child in question.

Hypothesis & Null Hypothesis

Current research indicates that the missing factor in improving educational outcomes is parental involvement. Though the research regarding the specific mode of involvement is still ongoing, that the family needs to support and facilitate educational goals is empirically supported by studies across cultures and socioeconomic cohorts (Steinberg et al., 1992). Further, the best results are observed when parents become involved in the school as well as the school work of their child. Though educational outcomes are currently the relative standard for success in this instance, it should be noted that there is significant emotional and developmental impact resulting from parental involvement in a child's education (Sui- Chu, & Willms, 1996).

H:

Parental involvement in school affairs as well as their children's school work will result in improved educational outcomes for minors.

Ho:

Parental involvement in school affairs as well as their children's school work will not result in improved educational outcomes for minors.

Literature Review

A thorough survey of English language research in the field of educational outcomes was conducted for the purposes of developing a probative and unique study within this field. It was determined that while there are substantial bodies of literature regarding the ability of educators to incorporate parents into classroom activities, and the role of parents in their children's academic performance there was no unifying study which integrated both perspectives over the duration of a child's pre- collegiate education. Though all current research suggests an integrated approach, it is interesting that no group had undertaken the task of conducting such a study. However, the difficulty and time necessary to successfully study the construct of integrated parent and teacher efforts for a positive educational outcome is prohibitive of any smaller independent researchers taking on the project.

Reasons for Parental Involvement

Every parent develops a subjective definition of what their role as a parent entails. It is this definition which will ultimately determine the degree to which they involve themselves with their child's education and the ultimate outcome of their schooling (Deforges & Abouchaar, 2003). There are several factors which necessarily affect the development of this highly personal definition, and are subsequently of interest in the context of this study. This internal conception of parenting is complemented by external factors such as invitations from the school and from teachers to actively participate in class as well as entreaties from the child to take a more or less active role in their education (Deforges & Abouchaar, 2003). All of these factors are implicit in the decision not only of whether or not to get involved but also the degree of involvement.

Factors Affecting Parental Decision to Participate

The social class of the family has been determined to be one of the most influential factors influencing whether or not a parent or parents involve themselves with their child's education. This factor has been shown to be more influential even than the ethnicity of the family in question (McLoyd, 1998). It is theorized that families with a higher socioeconomic standing are able to devote more time to their children's education through regular school involvement and participation in parent teacher conferences than families of lower socioeconomic status. Further, more financially comfortable parents have been shown to identify as more competent and qualified to participate in their child's classes.

Another factor in the decision to become involved in a child's education is the gender of the parent spending the most time with the child, in other words the parent most likely to be called upon to help with homework or to participate in school activities (Lareau, 1987). Historically, this role has been reserved for the mother. With more mothers working full time both before and after the birth of children, and working away from the home, it is becoming more of a realistically egalitarian role. However, the inclusion of this characteristic in a subjective definition of "parenting" is much less common in the father (Cabrera et al., 2000). This is a factor also heavily influenced by the ethnicity of the family. In certain cultures, rearing of the children included there in the involvement in that child's education is strictly the domain of the female caregiver. In such situations if that female caregiver is not present to assist the child, then the child will not experience the same level of involvement as other children within the same socioeconomic bracket (Cabrera et al., 2000).

Influence of Parental Involvement

Parental involvement has been shown to have several extremely positive outcomes not only educationally but also in terms of personal development. Children who have enjoyed parental support and involvement in their academic pursuits exhibit more positive self regard as well as a greater degree of comfort and confidence in their ability to achieve learning outcomes (Perna & Titus, 2005). Also, children whose parents were involved in their education are more likely to ultimately pursue further degrees upon the completion of high school. There are a number of theories related to this substantial difference between children of involved and uninvolved parents. Chief among those theories is that children of involved parents have a greater sense of self-worth. Their subjective assessment of their own intrinsic value is highly significant in the determined pursuance of higher education which is largely accomplished independently (Eccles & Harold, 1993). Only those children who have developed a sense of ability accomplishment and entitlement will ultimately seek and succeed in higher education.

Interaction Between Professional Educators and Parents

Though teachers are aware that they must work cohesively with parents, there is a degree of discomfort regarding the immediate overlap of home life and school life. Many educators are not necessarily unwilling to involve parents in their classrooms, simply they do not know how to do so effectively without jeopardizing their position of authority within the classroom (Hoover- Dempsey, Walker, & Jones, 2007). There is also a pervading concern that their competence would be questioned as a result of reaching out to families to help not only in the home but also in the classroom.

A study evaluating the personal biases held by educators in the context of parental involvement the (T.I.P.) project returned interesting results regarding intervention and assessment strategies designed to draw parents into the class room while maintaining the educator's sense of control and competence. It has been observed that while educator self-concept may differ, the successful involvement of parents in learning objectives results in increased assessment of educator competence by the parents (Hoover- Dempsey, Walker, & Jones, 2007). Other potential obstacles to the successful nesting of learning contexts are the evaluations of the relative value of the parent's potential contribution. If the educator perceives the parent's contribution poorly as a result of educational, economic, or even social background, then they are less likely to implement effective inclusion strategies (Hoover- Dempsey, Walker, & Jones, 2007).

Educational Outcomes

Ultimately the target educational outcome of this study is the successful completion of a high school degree, with the intention of moving onto further education, be it vocational or collegiate. These outcomes though cannot be achieved without marked success in both grades as well as standardized test scores. Coordinated efforts between parents and teachers in the context of both of these assessment categories are instrumental in assuring the success of children. Equally acceptable educational outcomes would be early graduation as well as the decision to pursue a G.E.D. As opposed to traditional education routes. While the achievement of a G.E.D. is not ideal, it is an accepted substitute for a high school diploma and for the purposes of this study is equivalent if only roughly of having achieved their educational objective.

Method

The existing body of research indicates that the most successful estimation of educational outcomes includes standardized test scores, grades, and self report measures completed by both parents and teachers. The use of these specific data sets allows the researcher to not only chart the empirical progress of the student throughout their education but also to gather useful information regarding the self-perceived success of both parents and teachers relative to implemented techniques and theories. Education and the ultimate attainment of educational objectives require that specific participants be evaluated at several key stages throughout their life. Though it is difficult to maintain a large number of participants in a study which will span several years, it is essential that a large ethnically, and socioeconomically representative sample be studied in order to be able to successfully extrapolate their results to the population at large.

Sample

The ideal sample for this survey will be a representative stratified sample of elementary school students, middle school students, and high school students within a school district, every grade from first grade through twelfth grade must be included in the sample. A random sample of students should be chosen from each academic "track" within a school to ensure that children representing above average, below average, and median grades are present within the data collected. This systematic sampling would be carried out by researchers selecting every fifth student on the list of each academic "track" provided by school administrators. This should occur at both public schools as well as private schools. The extremely high number of resulting candidates should compensate for families wishing not to participate, as well as providing a large data set for analysis.

Variables

In a study of this magnitude there are many variables which must be considered. In the interests of empirical study though, these variables can be divided initially into two discrete categories, dependant and independent variables. There will be no direct manipulation of the independent variables, however the natural interaction of the environment on these variables will be noted and will factor into the analysis of related data. The dependent variable is academic performance. This will be measured through class grades as well as scores on standardized exams such as the C.A.T.'s (California Achievement Tests), S.A.T.'s (Scholastic Aptitude Tests, & subject tests), a.C.T.'s (American College Testing). This data will be collected for each student participant throughout the course of their education. This information will be used to establish a profile of the student participant's educational career identifying periods of significant deviation from the norm which may be of probative interest.

Independent variables in the context of this study include the teacher's assessment of parental involvement, the parent's assessment of their own involvement, the student's assessment of parental involvement, and the demographic information from both families and teachers. It is hypothesized that all of these factors are related to the ultimate expression of the dependent variable. Relevant though to the purposes of this study is the fact that there will be no overt manipulation of those independent variables. Each of these variables will be naturally occurring; it is the interaction between the environment and environmental factors on these variables and their subsequent effect on educational outcomes which is salient to this investigation. In future studies it may be probative to utilize different methods of manipulating parental involvement in a child's education, at this time however the primary goal is collecting naturalistic data for analysis.

The independent variable "teachers" will be defined for the purposes of this study as the primary educator for the student participant within their school. It is important to account though for additional educators working with the student participant as their involvement may impact their grades thus confounding the experimental data. In the case of such additional assistance, families will be asked to notify the researchers immediately. Student participants who are exposed to external educators including; tutors, coaches, homework help centers, and subject help courses (Sylvan etc.) will be removed from the general data pool. Their results will be evaluated separately so that the effects of their additional assistance do not confound the correlation results between parent involvement and grades.

The independent variable "parents" will be defined for the purposes of this study as the primary care giver or care givers of the student participant. It is important to collect data accurately representing the population, therefore single parent, and no parent (alternate guardian) households must comprise part of that sample. Participants with non- traditional households as defined by one mother and one father as primary care giver will be included in the general data pool, but will also be analyzed separately according to the type of primary care- giver present. Finally families who experience a change in the primary caregiver of a student participant will be separated from the general data pool and analyzed separately. There is a great deal of research regarding the negative effects of divorce, death, and incarceration which are among the most common reasons for a shift in primary care giver. It would be potentially confounding to the integrity of the research to include such instances in the larger body of data as the dependent variable will likely be more affected by the necessary life event than by parental involvement in education.

The independent variable "demographic information" will for the purposes of this study be defined as the socioeconomic status, marital status, employment status, as well as the birth or loss of a child. Socioeconomic status will be evaluated through a report of familial net income for the year or projected familial income for the year based on current wages. Marital status will be defined as unmarried cohabitating partners, married, separated, divorced, or widowed. Employment will be assessed by the indication of employed or unemployed, and then further by listing the job. If the job differs from the one indicated previously, then an additional measure of length of time between jobs will be assessed. The birth or death of additional children is self explanatory.

Measures

The measures used in this study will be designed by the researchers. These measures will utilize a Likert rating scale. This allows the collected data to be more effectively converted to usable values for SPSS analysis. A Likert rating scale is also highly effective in the limiting of highly subjective questions to answers within usable parameters. The use of a Likert scale also makes the measures much less time consuming and easier to complete correctly. The scales will be ranked out of ten, an answer of one would be the least related to their assessment of themselves and subsequently an answer of ten would indicate that the statement was most related to their subjective assessment of self.

The assessment for Student participants to complete at the culmination of their high school career will be fairly straight forward. It is unrealistic to expect individuals to remember specific events occurring in the course of twelve years. It will be made clear that the statements should reflect the "norm, or average" for their parent and teacher involvement in their academic performance and ultimate educational outcome. The questions will assess the degree to which they feel their parent or parents were involved in their homework, classroom, and school. It will also assess the degree to which the student participant evaluated the interaction at various career stages between his teachers and his parent or parents. Finally, the student will be asked to discuss the general impact his teachers, his parents, and his teachers and parents combined had on his ability to achieve his educational outcomes which the student participant will indicate at the beginning of the survey. This survey will be the one non- quantitative measure of the study. Because it is given only upon the completion of the student participant's involvement, it will be used as a qualitative assessment of the education system from the perspective of the student. This point-of-view may provide valuable insight into the one component of this system which has not been considered in this study.

The active participation of the student in their education is essential to their successful attainment of their educational goals. Irrespective of parent or teacher involvement, if the student him or herself does not participate, then there is no amount of external involvement which will result in a positive educational outcome. This qualitative subjective information may help to better explain the data if for example there are significant outliers.

The measure given to teachers will address several key factors in their interaction not only with the student participant but also their assessment of parental involvement, their comfort level and frequency of requesting parental participation, and their evaluation of parental involvement on the student participant's academic performance. The questions will be addressed via Likert scale, allowing the teacher to make a subjective assessment without returning data which cannot be run through statistical analysis. Particularly telling in these surveys will be the way a teacher rates the impact of parental involvement as well as their willingness to request parental involvement and participation. In the body of current research on this topic, it is indicated that teachers though cognizant of the benefits of parental involvement are either lacking in the requisite skills to successfully integrate parents into the classroom or are uncomfortable asking the parents to participate at all. If this is a statistically significant response pattern, then the researchers will be able to investigate this phenomenon further perhaps even recommending special classes in teachers' education specifically addressing the subject of parental involvement.

The measure given to parents will address their subjective assessment of their own involvement both in and out of school, educational activities, and frequency of invitations to actively participate in the classroom and the school, as well as their assessment of the degree of impact their involvement had on the student participant's academic performance. The current literature discussed the reasons for parental involvement as including not only a proactive self-concept of the role of "parent" but also the nature of invitations extended they by educators and their children mitigated by their personal assessment of relevant skills and knowledge. If a parent does not feel academically competent, or feels as though they are unwelcome or unneeded in the classroom they are less likely to participate. It may also be probative upon intake into the study to evaluate the educational background of parents. If it is found that a statistically significant number of parents are withdrawing from their children's education because of feelings of inadequacy, then it may be beneficial for families and school alike to offer brief weekend programs making sure that parents are up-to-date on what their children are studying. This display of solidarity and commitment to their child's success may have positive outcomes for their children's commitment to their own academic pursuits.

Limitations

The primary limitations of this study are the length of the study as well as the self report nature of the measures. These limitations though are unavoidable in an assessment of long-term interaction and effect on educational outcome. Additional limitations are the necessary exclusion of some salient questions still yet to be addressed by researchers. In order to minimize attrition, it is important that the measures be simple and brief. Should the researchers include even annual interviews with the families and teachers not only would it be prohibitively expensive, but it would also cause undue inconvenience to the participants who may decide that the time commitment is too great to continue with the program.

The length of the study proves problematic because over the course of twelve years it is not uncommon for families to move, experience a life event such that they are unable to continue participation, or simply forget overtime that they are part of an active study. The high attrition rate would indicate that researchers need an unusually high number of participants. However, the attempt to effectively include an unusually large number of participants is problematic in and of itself. It is likely that over the course of this study, the attrition rate will be high. However, this study is not dependent upon consistent numbers of students moving forward into the next year. If a family drops out of the program, that information should be noted but in the interests of acquiring useful data samples, their information should be included up to their last full year of participation. While it is important to study the overall pattern of involvement and achievement, it is also important to evaluate each grade individually for the potential confound of parents simply being more responsive and involved with younger children.

A problem posed by the self-assessment nature of the measures is that parents, teachers, and students are asked to rate themselves. This may result in inaccurate data, compounded by biased reporting. Also there is an existing bias regarding the "type" of individuals willing to participate in such a study. It is likely that they are already quite involved in their child's education and as such will not provide probative data into families where parents are unable or perhaps unwilling to participate fully in their child's education.

Conclusions

Conclusions drawn from the existing body of research support the hypothesis that parental involvement both in the classroom as well as in homework and related activities results consistently in more positive outcomes than does the lack of parental involvement in those arenas. However, what has not been determined is whether the value of parental involvement lies in actual assistance with work or in the emotional and educationally developmental maturation of the child. Much of the data regarding the specific outcome of parental involvement centers on the improved self-image such children exhibit as a result of this involvement (Campbell et al., 2002). While it is undoubtedly useful to have a parent assisting in homework and helping to explain classroom material, it is likely that much of the specific utility of parental involvement is in the development of positive self-concept which the child can carry with them beyond high school.

It has been shown that positive self-concept, as well as positive appraisal of abilities results in an increased determination to overcome obstacles and more orderly approach to difficult materials (Campbell et al., 2002). In light of this observation, it should be noted that parental involvement irrespective of their educational background should be invited to participate in academic pursuits with their children. Though they may be unable to contribute to the content of the coursework, they will undoubtedly by taking an active interest in that coursework help their child to develop a sense of capability and value which will be invaluable later in life.

Discussion of Data

Before the commencement of this study there were two certainties regarding the information available on this subject, the first is that parental involvement in a child's education will result in positive outcomes and the second was that it is the responsibility of educators to ensure that parents not only feel compelled to participate at home but also in the context of the actual classroom setting. Especially in the current economic climate, it is difficult to expect parents to take time away from their job in order to spend it at their child's school. It is also impossible to predict whether or not a parent possesses the necessary academic skills to effectively assist their child both in and out of school. However, it is imperative that parents who are able are included, and that parents who are not able are aided by school initiatives to become more capable of assisting their child not only strengthening their bond but imbuing parents with a sense of capability which may translate positively to their own employment or employability.

Implications for Teachers

The face of the "American" family is changing rapidly. Increasingly both parents are relying on after care programs to parent in their absence, and children are expected to be self sufficient earlier than ever before (Hoover- Dempsey et al., 1992). Though there is a great deal of attentiveness generally of parents to the success of their children, the actual involvement in the achievement of that success is becoming less of a priority. It is the job then of the educators to develop successful structured programs and involvement requirements for the parents. Ultimately what can be taken away from this research for educators is the urgent and imperative obligation to develop effective inclusion strategies and implement them whenever possible with a student's family.

Implications for Future Research

Based on the outcomes of the pilot study proposed above, researchers will be able to utilize the data collected to develop more effective and targeted intervention strategies. It is clear from the existing body of literature and research that parents and educators are generally willing and eager to work together, however effective frameworks to facilitate that relationship have not been successfully established. It is further probative to assess more interactive "full circle" strategies where the teacher not only works with the child or with the parent but with both the child and the parent at times together to develop a sense of accountability and shared goal orientation.