In what ways does Parent Involvement affect Children’s Academic Performance? Rebecca Deutscher, Ph. D. and Mary Ibe, M.
A. Lewis Center for Educational Research, Apple Valley, California Abstract This project examined the role that parent involvement has on children’s academic performance. Various types of parent involvement were assessed, including volunteering, home involvement, attending parent classes, school political involvement, talking to staff, talking to teachers, etc. Academic performance was measured by STAR test scores and by grades.Approximately 400 students in 7th through 11th grade were included. Overall, the results indicated that those who did the self-report survey, went to the parent class, or were involved in more home-type involvement (such as checking child’s planner, talking to child at home about school-related topics, or engaging in educational activities outside of school) had children that performed better in various areas of the STAR test or had better grades. Objectives and Perspective Parent involvement has been shown to be an important variable that positively influences children’s education.
More and more schools are observing the importance and are encouraging families to become more involved. Because of this recent trend, it has become essential to understand what is meant by parent involvement and in what ways it has an influence on children’s education. A comprehensive view of involvement is presented by Epstein’s model. Epstein (1997) discussed how children learn and grow through three overlapping spheres of influence: family, school, and community. These three spheres must form partnerships to best meet the needs of the child.Epstein defined six types of involvement based on the relationships between the family, school, and community: parenting (skills), communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Epstein stressed the fact that all of these six types of involvement need to be included to have successful partnerships.
Much of the research that examines the relationships between parent involvement and children’s education assesses parent involvement by utilizing one particular measure, such as counting the umber of parents that volunteer, coming to meetings, or coming to parent-teacher conferences (Baker & Soden, 1997). Other studies utilize measures that consist of a few closedended questions that target a particular aspect of parent involvement and often focus on the number of times parents participate in particular events (Goldring & Shapira, 1993; Griffith, 1996; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Zellman & Waterman, 1998). According to Baker & Soden (1997), this type of measure does not allow for a rich picture of parent involvement, nor generate new ideas.In the project summarized by this paper, many of these measures were included. Also added were home-related activities that encourage children’s education. Home-related activities included parents working with children on their homework, parents talking to children about school-related topics, and parents taking kids on fieldtrips. In addition, this study had open-ended questions to give the parents an opportunity to explain more about their involvement.
The various areas of parent involvement were examined as they relate to Epstein’s six types of parent involvement.
Writing Question
Consider our discussion of Given Circumstances from today. You may use all your notes, the class recording, and the Given Circumstances powerpoint slideshow I have posted elsewhere in this Module 3/Week 3 folder. You should also use the script of the play posted earlier, and the short video clips I’ve posted for reference. These are all resources you can and should draw on in your replies.
A: Send me a list that includes your best effort at the following:
at least 1 example from KING OF THE YEES of a Given Circumstance that is ongoing, unchanging, and true for all/most INSIDE the world of the play. Once condition, circumstances, factor that is shared and continuously true without change (equivalent to all of you born in 2000s or all of characters in Fences live in Pittsburgh in 1957, etc
at least 1 example from KING OF THE YEES of a Given Circumstance that is true and ongoing for the play AS A PLAY, external to/outside the world of the character
at least 1 example of a Given Circumstance that is ongoing and holds true specifically for a single character, over the entire play:
at least 1 example of a Given Circumstance for a single character that either is immediate to a specific moment or that changes in the moment (they learn something new, get what they needed, lose something important, discover something, encounter a new problem or obstacle). Anything that changes their state of being in the moment.
B: For each of your 4 items or examples you should be sure to:
cite the text or other info that proves your claim–don’t just tell me something, or decide it’s true, or guess; show me where you see or get the info–this might be a line, a section of dialogue, a statement by a character, a gesture or action, something Lauren says in a video, a stage direction, whatever. what is your proof, or what’s the basis for your assumption?
tell me why these Given Circumstances matter–what effect do they have on the character or the world of the play, what we see or what we know, how anyone behaves or what we think of the play or whatever the result might be. I didn’t eat, so I feel hungry, so i’m distracted or short-tempered or tired or want to leave etc. Lyons comes over begging every Friday, so now I’m pissed about $10
Describe whether you think the Given Circumstances is specific and particular and sets something apart, or does it connect and tie together? How so–and what does that do to how you think of the character, their behavior, the situation, the play?
Feel free to add any other observations.