Parental Involvement in Schools: Impact and Action Plan

Introduction: Teachers vs. Parents in Student Success

When it comes to children and how well they do — or do not do — in school, a great deal of criticism and scrutiny is directed toward teachers and school administrators. Whether it be parents expressing frustration over poor student performance or national legislation such as No Child Left Behind, teachers tend to shoulder much of the blame when students fail to perform as expected. However, placing blame solely on teachers is unwise, because they are only one part of the equation — and some would argue they are not even the most important part. While having skilled teachers imparting knowledge to students is undeniably important, having parents or guardians who are involved and engaged in their children's education is even more so.

Research on Parental Involvement and Student Outcomes

One of the most important drivers of student success has been identified as self-determined learning. A natural follow-up question is: what leads students to develop and sustain this quality? One of the most compelling answers is the appropriate amount, type, and level of parental involvement in the learning and development process. Research shows that parental involvement is positively correlated — and to a significant degree — with the development and fostering of self-determined learning (Wang & Cai, 2017).

Even with this fairly clear linkage between parental involvement and student motivation, certain barriers remain apparent. One of the most significant is the socioeconomic status of the parents and students involved. Parents who must work long hours face real challenges when it comes to spending the time necessary to support their children's learning endeavors (Malone, 2017).

It is also important to consider the broader societal context of schooling, because the fractures within that context are deep and meaningful. For example, there was a period when mothers were quite prominent in labor and politics, and given the obvious connections between those women and their children's upbringing, this is no small matter. However, the link between parental involvement in schools and motherhood appears to be weakening. Labor, in this context, should be understood as any work that could also be defined as parental involvement. Even if raising a child or managing a household does not come with financial remuneration, it would be inaccurate and unfair to suggest it is not labor in a meaningful sense (Shuffelton, 2017).

Even as parental influence may tend to wane as a child approaches high school graduation and possible college attendance, it remains important to examine this period given the significant life implications involved. Though this stage of a student's life is less heavily studied than earlier years, clear indicators still tell the story. For instance, parental presence as an observer at school sports and other extracurricular activities is a strong positive sign. Conversely, parental communication that is primarily reactive to negative outcomes — such as referrals or poor attendance — tends to accompany less favorable results (Ross, 2016).

Key Barriers to Effective Parental Involvement

Even when parental involvement is present, challenges can persist. As noted, socioeconomic status plays a significant role in shaping outcomes for both children and parents. Work schedules and the general demands of life weigh more heavily on lower-income families compared to those with greater resources and education. Moreover, parental education level itself carries wide-ranging effects: if a parent's own literacy is moderate to low, this limits how helpful and insightful they can be as their child works through the same material. Even a well-intentioned parent may actually undermine their child's learning if their own literacy is insufficient. At minimum, such a parent would offer little practical benefit, which can leave their child behind peers who receive more effective support at home (Hemmerechts, Agirdag & Kavadias, 2017).

A related example involves families where a parent and/or child is learning English as a second language. Many children and parents are recent immigrants from Central and South America, and may have little or no English proficiency. Providing English as a Second Language (ESL) environments where parents can learn alongside their children can yield significant benefits, allowing families to develop language skills together. This should not be misread as nationalist or xenophobic sentiment toward the culture or language of families' home countries. Rather, it reflects a pragmatic focus on acquiring English as a means of functioning effectively within American society, where the majority of interactions occur in English. This principle applies equally to speakers of any non-English language, not only Spanish (Harji, Balakrishnan & Letchumanan, 2016).

Another especially vulnerable group consists of students with special educational needs and associated disabilities. These students have more intensive and extensive needs than their peers, and integrating them fully into general education settings is often not practical, even when it is the desired goal. Regardless, parental education level appears predictive of involvement with special education children: more educated parents tend to be more involved, while less educated parents tend to be less involved overall (Sukys, Dumciene & Lapeniene, 2015).

References

Harji, M. B., Balakrishnan, K., & Letchumanan, K. (2016). SPIRE Project: Parental involvement in young children's ESL reading development. English Language Teaching, 9(12), 1–15.

Hemmerechts, K., Agirdag, O., & Kavadias, D. (2017). The relationship between parental literacy involvement, socio-economic status and reading literacy. Educational Review, 69(1), 85–101.

Malone, D. (2017). Socioeconomic status: A potential challenge for parental involvement in schools. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 83(3), 58–62.

Ross, T. (2016). The differential effects of parental involvement on high school completion and postsecondary attendance. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(30).

Shuffelton, A. A. (2017). Parental involvement and public schools: Disappearing mothers in labor and politics. Studies in Philosophy & Education, 36(1), 21–32.

Sukys, S., Dumciene, A., & Lapeniene, D. (2015). Parental involvement in inclusive education of children with special educational needs. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 43(2), 327–338.

Wang, H., & Cai, T. (2017). Parental involvement, adolescents' self-determined learning and academic achievement in urban China. International Journal of Psychology, 52(1), 58–66.