Parental involvement, scholastic achievement, and student autonomy: Perceptions of parents, teachers and ninth-grade students

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the perceptions of parents, ninth-grade students and teachers with regard to parental involvement, scholastic achievement, and student autonomy. In order to better understand beliefs surrounding the aforementioned, interviews were conducted with all three populations and questionnaires were distributed exclusively to ninth-grade students. The targeted population came from two high schools, both located in the northeastern part of the US. Although close in proximity, these two schools are very different in cultural make-up and socio-economic status. As a result, the level of parental involvement differs greatly. The statistics employed when analyzing the quantitative data (questionnaire) include descriptive statistics, frequencies, and t-tests. Findings suggest that all parent, teacher and student participants believe parental involvement is important in achieving academic success and, in general, do not believe it negatively affects students\u27 quest for independence. Lastly, there was no statistical significant difference in the way females and males perceive the impact parental involvement has on scholastic achievement or student autonomy. In addition, there was no statistical difference between student s representing the two schools used in the study. In-depth interviews revealed that students would like to be consulted as to the type and level of parental involvement their parents exercise