TURKISH PARENTS\u27 PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLING

Parent involvement has an influence on children\u27s educational engagement during the elementary years. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of rural Turkish parents about their involvement in schooling with elementary school students based on Epstein\u27s (1995) six types of parental involvement (parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community). This study also examined the differences among parent demographic characteristics (education level, income, marital status, and age) and parent involvement at the elementary grade level in rural areas of Turkey. Epstein\u27s survey was used to collect data from 742 parents of elementary schools in three rural settings in the city of Konya, Turkey. Data was analyzed with Factor Analysis and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). This study indicated that family income had a statistically significant impact on combined factors of parent involvement. No significant differences were found in parent involvement among parents who are from different education levels, marital status, regions, and age groups in Turkey