Parental Involvement and Student Academic Achievement

Introduction

As educationalists search for ways to improve the modern educational system and to eradicate its problems, it is essential for them to investigate the root causes of those shortcomings. It is apparent that the drawbacks do not originate entirely from within academic institutions themselves. As a result, it is clear that dynamic parental involvement in the education of children is a requirement for meaningful improvement.

In order for a student to achieve academic success, a relationship based on respect and mutual understanding among students, teachers, and parents is of the essence. Gaps anywhere in this relationship cause a student's academic achievements to collapse into failures. However, an intimate and reinforced connection can sustain immeasurable potential in a student's academic success (Brandt, 1979).

The involvement of parents in a child's education — their roles as teachers, friends, and parents at home, at school, and outdoors — is necessary for a child's academic achievements as a student. This paper highlights the history of parental involvement in students' academic achievements, discusses what is necessary for effective involvement, how it can be made to benefit all parties, its impact on students, and its accruing advantages for both parents and children.

History of Parental Involvement in Education

Background Overview

Before the 1900s, the system of public education was not widely practiced. Children were educated by their parents and other family members at home. The advent of the 1900s brought a sweeping revolution in the establishment of schools. As the schooling system expanded, it required skilled professionals rather than ordinary trainers to accomplish the task of educating children. Child education was thus elevated to the status of a professional discipline. This growth in the education of the general population raised awareness of the profession's significance. Additionally, as teachers became professional educationalists, many began to believe that specialists alone should be responsible for students' academic development (Stein & Thorkildsen, 1999).

Growing Public Awareness

With the passage of time, public awareness of the schooling system grew among parents, who in turn demonstrated concern regarding their children's education. It was a significant step for parents to transfer the responsibility of their children's education to a system whose effectiveness was not yet fully proven. However, as the profession came under the charge of skilled educationalists and produced noteworthy individuals who served society, the system gained goodwill and recognition. According to the needs of each era, educationalists developed educational systems, associations, and foundations — such as the Montessori system, the National Congress of Mothers, and the Parent Teacher Association — throughout the century (Stein & Thorkildsen, 1999). These developments created effective communication between educationalists and parents regarding students' academic progress. Gradually, trust and confidence in educational systems increased as bodies for the standard management of educational organizations were established.

Research Findings on Procedural Progress

In the last two decades of the twentieth century, effective programs were put into practice as parents grew keen to be actively involved in their children's academics. From 1991 to 1992, there was a considerable improvement in the percentage of principals who reported high levels of voluntary parental involvement in students' academics (ABT Associates). It was documented that 40% of parents volunteered at their child's academic institution (National Center for Educational Statistics).

The National Center for Educational Statistics reported in 1996 that 80% of school students' parents participated in meetings of one kind or another with their child's educator. Additionally, parents of 60% of school students attended at least one academic event (National Center for Educational Statistics).

The Ongoing Effect

These research findings reveal genuine and active efforts by parents to be involved in their children's academics. Research and development aimed at evaluating the importance of parental involvement in education — and at encouraging such involvement — represent an ongoing process. As population figures and public awareness on the subject increase, these percentages are expected to continue rising, sustaining parents as an active element of the academic process.