Parent involvement as social capital: Promoting the academic achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged youth

Low income adolescents are at risk for poor academic outcomes. Using social capital theory and the risk and resilience framework, the current study utilized 8th grade data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) to examine the association between parental involvement and adolescent academic achievement. Parental involvement was conceptualized as a protective factor that may that may help promote the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged youth. Three aspects of parental involvement were investigated: home involvement, school involvement, and academic socialization. Results indicated that home involvement was positively related to gains in math achievement and school involvement was positively associated with gains in reading achievement. Academic socialization was not a significant predictor of academic achievement, but it was the type of parent involvement low income parents engaged in the most. Findings indicate that home involvement continues to be an important form of parent involvement for math achievement during early adolescence, especially for low income adolescents from families with low levels of parent education. School involvement is also an important predictor of reading achievement among low income adolescents with low parent education. Home and school involvement appear to be important protective factors for the academic achievement of youth with limited access to home and financial capital. Parental involvement scale development and examination of other socioeconomic factors in connection with parent involvement (i.e., family structure, neighborhood) are important areas for future research