Parent Involvement Typologies and Student Achievement: A Correlational Study of the Overlapping Spheres of Influence

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between six types of parent involvement and student achievement. These typologies included parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with community. Four research questions guided the study and nine null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the level of significance. The degree of relationship between the independent variables, parent involvement typologies, and student achievement were analyzed by utilizing Spearman\u27s rho correlation coefficient, Pearson\u27s product-moment correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The study sample consisted of 627 elementary and middle school parents in Mitchell County, North Carolina. The results of this study indicate significant yet relatively weak relationships between student achievement and the parent involvement typologies volunteering and collaborating with community; however, the relationships between student achievement and the parent involvement typologies in conjunction with parent education level and parent educational expectation for their child were much stronger. While the importance of parental involvement remains undisputable, an inherent purpose of this study was to enhance perceptions of the value of parent involvement within the theoretical context of the overlapping spheres of influence, to encourage further research on the relationships between parent behaviors and student achievement, and to proclaim with conviction that schools, parents, and communities, though somewhat distinct in their roles, are natural allies, sharing common goals