THE EFFECT OF FAMILY INVOLVEMENT

IN EDUCATION ON STUDENTS

HOLLY M. GROVER

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY

AUGUST 2014

BACKGROUND

Defining family involvement in education:

• At-home involvement

• e.g., Family expectations and aspirations, Learning at home, Parenting style, Parent-student communication

• At-school involvement

• e.g., Parent-school communication, Volunteering, PTA

Seeking for similarities across ethnic groups

• African American

• Hispanic

• Asian

• Caucasian

AFRICAN AMERICANSTRONG OR MODERATE* Family Involvement

 Student Outcome

Effect Size/Correlation

Checking/Helping with homework Standardized test scores

 ES = .72a

Overall Parent Involvement Other measures ES = .62a

Educational Aspirations/Expectations Overall Achievement ES = .57a

  Reading Achievement r =.44b

  Locus of Control β= .44c

  Math achievement r = .32b&d

Authoritative parentingOther academic measures ES = .57a

Communicating with children Achievement ES = .52a

Attending school functions Overall achievement ES = .51a

General PTO Involvement** Science Achievement r = -.55 e

  GPA β= .30f

Aspirations and communication combined Grades b = .47i

Parent perceptions of child academic abilities Math achievement r =.45b

  Reading Achievement r =.37b

Parent beliefs/attitudes overallChild self-concept in Reading r =.41b

 Child self-concept in Math r =.40b

Discussing school and future plans Locus of Control β = .38c

WEAK*

Family Involvement Student OutcomeEffect Size/Correlation

Authoritative parenting Overall Achievement ES = .44a

  Grades ES = .34a

Overall Parent Involvement Overall Achievement ES = .44a

  GPA ES = .32a

  Standardized Test Scores ES = .31a

Encouraging outside reading Standardized Test scores ES= .39g

Rules on school & leisure Overall Achievement ES= .35g

Contacting school about teen experiences and future plans

 Enroll in post-secondary

 ES= .32h

General PTO Involvement Student Dropout r = -.29e

  Math test scores β= .26f

Number of books at home Reading Achievement r =.29b

Educational Aspirations/ExpectationsStudent’s competence behavior r = .28d

  Reading Achievement r = .26d

  Problem behaviors r = -.26d

 

Attending education-related activities in the community

 r = .20d

Parent satisfaction with the schoolStudent’s competence behavior r = .27d

  Math Achievement r = .21d

Talking about high school (student-reported) Science test scores r = .26e

Discussing school and future plans (parent-reported)

 Student aspirations

 β = .25c

Parent beliefs/attitudes overallSchool parent involvement r = .25d

  Educational expectations r = .20d

Attending school functions Attend zoo, museums r = .22d

At school involvement composite Student Dropout r = .20e

* Moderate effect sizes (ES) defined as at least .5 and weak effect sizes as at least .2 (see Rosnow & Rosenthal, 1996). Strong correlations (r) and beta coefficients (β or b) defined as at least .40, moderate as at least .30, and weak as at least .20. These effect sizes and correlations are not meant to be compared across studies. All reported relationships are significant at the .05 level or better. **Gray indicates a negative relationshipa Jeynes, 2003 b Halle et al., 1997 c Hong & Ho, 2005 d Reynolds & Gill, 1994 e McNeal, 1999 f Desimone, 1999 g Listed by Jeynes (2003) as being from a single study, not from his actual meta-analysis h Yan, 1999; Effect when compared to high-achieving Caucasian students, ES= b/sd i Keith et al., 1998

EFF

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ES

   Parent Involvement

 Student Outcome

Effect Size/Correlation

Strong or Moderate*

 Aspirations and communication combined

 Grades

 b = .56f

    Achievement r = .31 d

  Educational Aspirations Student aspirations β =.52 a

  Discussing school and future plans Locus of Control β =.42 a

  General PTO Involvement Reading test scores β =.34 b

  Attending PTO meetings*** Reading test scores β = - .33 b

       Weak* Overall Parent Involvement Standardized Test Scores ES= .44 c

    Overall Achievement ES= .43 c

    GPA ES= .25 c

  General PTO Involvement Math test scores β =.22 b

  Attending PTO meetings Math test scores β = - .24 b

  Discussing school and future plans Student aspirations β =.26 a

  Authoritative parenting Overall Achievement r = .25 e

  Rules on school and leisure Overall Achievement ES = - .25 c

  Encourage outside reading Standardized test scores ES= .21 c

* Moderate effect sizes (ES) defined as at least .5 and weak effect sizes as at least .2 (see Rosnow & Rosenthal, 1996). Strong correlations (r) and beta coefficients (β or b) defined as at least .40, moderate as at least .30, and weak as at least .20. These effect sizes and correlations are not meant to be compared across studies. All reported relationships are significant at the .05 level or better. **Gray indicates a negative relationship

a Hong & Ho, 2005 b Desimone, 1999 c Jeynes, 2003; Hispanics combined with Asian Americans due to the low number of empirical studies with only Hispanics d Keith & Lichtman, 1994 e Steinberg et al., 1992 f Keith et al., 1998

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HISPANIC

  Parent Involvement

 Student Outcome

Effect Size/Correlation

Strong or Moderate*

 Educational Aspirations Student aspirations

 β =.52 a

    Test Scores (AI) r = .34 b

  Aspirations and Communication combined Grades b = .46 c

  Discussing school and future plans Locus of Control β =.34 a

  Monitoring student behavior Science Test Scores r = .30d, .18 e

       

Weak* Overall Parent Involvement Standardized Test Scores ES= .44 f

    Overall Achievement ES= .43 f

    GPA ES= .25 f

  Educational Aspirations Test Scores (AA) r = .22 b

  Attending PTO meetings** Math Test Scores β = - .28 g

  Discussing school and future plans Student aspirations β =.26 a

  Authoritative parenting Overall Achievement r = .24h, NS f

  Rules on school and leisure Overall Achievement ES = - .25 f

  Encourage outside reading Standardized test scores ES= .21 f

  Attending school events and meetings, volunteering Test scores (AA) r = -.21 b

* Moderate effect sizes (ES) defined as at least .5 and weak effect sizes as at least .2 (see Rosnow & Rosenthal, 1996). Strong correlations (r) and beta coefficients (β or b) defined as at least .40, moderate as at least .30, and weak as at least .20. These effect sizes and correlations are not meant to be compared across studies. All reported relationships are significant at the .05 level or better. **Gray indicates a negative relationship

a Hong & Ho, 2005 b Mau, 1997, AI=Asian Immigrant, AA= Asian American c Keith et al., 1998 d McNeal, 1999 e Sui-Chu & Willms, 1996 f Jeynes, 2003; Hispanics combined with Asian Americans due to the low number of empirical studies with only Hispanics g Desimone, 1999 h Steinberg et al., 1992

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ES

ASIAN

  Parent Involvement

 Student Outcome

Effect Size/Correlation

Strong or Moderate*

 Educational aspirations Student aspirations

 β = .57a

    Test Scores r = .42 b

  Aspirations and Communication combined Grades b = .44c

  Authoritative parenting Overall Achievement r = .30d

Weak* General PTO Involvement Dropout r = -.25f

  Discussing school and future plans Locus of control β = .22a

    Student aspirations β = .22a

  Rules on homework, GPA, chores** Math test scores β= -.20e

  Attending school events and meetings, volunteering Test Scores r = .20 b

* Moderate effect sizes (ES) defined as at least .5 and weak effect sizes as at least .2 (see Rosnow & Rosenthal, 1996). Strong correlations (r) and beta coefficients (β or b) defined as at least .40, moderate as at least .30, and weak as at least .20. These effect sizes and correlations are not meant to be compared across studies. All reported relationships are significant at the .05 level or better. **Gray indicates a negative relationship

a Hong & Ho, 2005 b Mau, 1997 c Keith et al., 1998 d Steinberg et al., 1992 e Desimone, 1999 f McNeal, 1999

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CAUCASIAN

 

Strong to Moderate Effect Weak Effect

 AfAm

Asia

His

Cau

AfAm

Asia

His

Cau

Educational Aspirations                

to Student Aspirations   x a x a x a    

to Test Scores x b x c x c   x c  

Discuss School & Future Plans                

to Locus of Control x a x a x a   x a

to Student Aspirations   x a x a x a x a

Aspirations & Communication Cmbd                

to Grades x d x d x d x d    

Overall Parent Involvement                

to Test Scores   x e x e x e n/a

to GPA   x e x e x e n/a

to Overall Achievement   x e x e x e n/a

Authoritative Parenting                

to Overall Achievement   x f x e x f x f  

Encouraging Outside Reading                

to Test Scores   x g x e x e n/a

Rules on School & Leisure                

to Overall Achievement   x g x e x e n/a

PTO Involvement                

to Dropout   x h x h

to Math Test Scores   x i x i  

PTO Meetings                

to Math Test Scores           x i x i  

Attend events, meetings, volunteer                

to Test Scores           x c   x c

COMPARISON OF FAMILY INVOLVEMENT COMPONENT RELATIONSHIPS FOR MULTIPLE ETHNIC GROUPS

Moderate effect sizes (ES) are defined as at least .5 and weak effect sizes as at least .2 (see Rosnow & Rosenthal, 1996). Strong correlations (r) and beta coefficients (β or b) are defined as at least .40, moderate as at least .30, and weak as at least .20. All reported relationships are significant at the .05 level or better. Gray indicates a negative or undesirable outcome. n/a = not applicable because the study did not analyze Caucasians as a group for that variable

a Hong & Ho, 2005 b Halle et al., 1997; Reynolds & Gill, 1994 c Mau, 1997; includes one group of Asian Immigrants and one of Asian Americans d Keith et al., 1998 e Jeynes, 2003 f Steinberg et al., 1992 g Listed by Jeynes (2003) as being from a single study, not meta-analysis

h McNeal, 1999 i Desimone, 1999

INVOLVEMENT AT HOME

• Greater impact on students

• More universal as several aspects impact students from 3-4 ethnic groups

• No aspect of school-based involvement was significant at the .2 level or better for more than two of the four ethnic groups.

MEASURING NON-ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES

African Ameri-

can

Hispanic Asian Cau-casian

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Measured Non-academic achievement variables

Signficant Non-academic achievement variables

Measured Academic achievement variables

Signficant Academic achievement variables

DATA LIMITATIONS

• Small sample sizes for some variables

• Lack of replication within ethnic groups and across ethnic groups

• No research on some involvement reported as important to parents

REFERENCESDesimone, L. (1999, Sep. - Oct.). Linking parent involvement with student achievement: Do race and income

matter? The Journal of Educational Research, 93(1), 11-30.

Halle, T. G., Kurtz-Costes, B., & Mahoney, J. L. (1997). Family influences on school achievement in low-income African American children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 527-537.

Hong, S., & Ho, H.-Z. (2005). Direct and indirect longitudinal effects of parental involvement on student achievement: Second-order latent growth modeling across ethnic groups. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(1), 32-42.

Jeynes, W. H. (2003, February). A meta-analysis: The effects of parental involvement on minority children's academic achievement. Education and Urban Society, 35(2), 202-218.

Keith, P. B., & Lichtman, M. V. (1994). Does parental involvement influence the academic achievement of Mexican-American eighth graders? Results from the National Education Longitudinal Study. School Psychology Quarterly, 9(4), 256-272.

Keith, T. Z., Keith, P. B., Quirk, K. J., Sperduto, J., Santillo, S., & Killings, S. (1998). Longitudinal effects of parent involvement on high school grades: Similarities and differences across gender and ethnic groups. Journal of School Psychology, 36(3), 335-363.

Mau, W.-C. (1997). Parental influences on the high school students' academic achievement: A comparison of Asian immigrants, Asian Americans, and White Americans. Psychology in the Schools, 34(3), 267-277.

McNeal, R. B. (1999, Sep). Parental involvement as social capital: Differential effectiveness on science achievement, truancy, and dropping out. Social Forces, 78(1), 117-144.

Reynolds, A. J., & Gill, S. (1994, Dec). The role of parental perspectives in the school adjustment of inner-city black children. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23(6), 671-694.

Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S. D., Dornbusch, S. M., & Darling, N. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: Authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development, 63(5), 1266-1281.

Sui-Chu, E., & Willms, J. D. (1996, April). Effects of parental involvement on eighth-grade achievement. Sociology of Education, 69, 126-141.

Yan, W. (1999, Winter). Successful African American students: The role of parental involvement. The Journal of Negro Education, 68(1), 5-22.