Increasing parental involvement in elementary education: An analysis of the effects of schools' practices on parents, teachers, and children.

This study explored the impact on parents, teachers and children of efforts by the children's schools to increase parental involvement in education. Eleven first grade classrooms in four elementary schools in a single school district were studied using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The district had developed innovative involvement programs targeting home-school communication, volunteering at school and involvement at home. Parents in the four schools completed surveys in the fall ($N=183$; response rate = 71%) and spring ($N=106,$ response rate = 40%). The surveys assessed the ways parents were involved in their child's education, their attitudes and beliefs about involvement, and their satisfaction with their child's school. In the spring, teachers in each classroom completed a survey assessing their classroom practices. In two of the four schools, qualitative case studies were also conducted. Participant observations were carried out in the six first grade classrooms in these two schools. Teachers $(N=6)$ and a sub-sample of parents $(N=18)$ in each classroom were interviewed. Children in the two schools were interviewed $(N=84)$ and completed a mathematics test $(N=131).$ The qualitative and quantitative data were combined to illuminate the process by which parents become involved in their children's education. The effects of school's practices on the relationship between parents and teachers as well as on child outcomes were explored. As expected, each form of involvement had a different impact on parents, teachers, and children. Furthermore, practices defined at the district and school level were transformed during implementation by both teachers and parents. Transformations by teachers led to wide variation among classrooms which were related to differences in parents' experiences. The way teachers and parents responded to and transformed practices was influenced by their beliefs about where and how it is appropriate for parents to be involved. Both parents and teachers supported increased home-school communication, but teachers were more resistant to increasing parental involvement in the classroom. The analysis also illuminated the tensions inherent in the process of involving parents in schools. Theoretical and practical implications of these tensions are discussed.PhDDevelopmental psychologyEducationEducational administrationElementary educationPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130826/2/9811185.pd