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Engagement as a Predictor of Student Achievement 1

Engagement as a Predictor of Achievement in

African-American Suburban Students

Idea Paper for Portfolio III

George Mason University

Jamila Jones Kennedy


Engagement as a Predictor of Achievement in African-American Suburban Students

Purpose of the Study

Increasing parent involvement has become a considerable focus of the U.S. educational

system. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (ESEA) stressed shared

accountability between schools and parents for high student achievement. Specifically, the No

Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which reauthorized ESEA, brought parental involvement to the

forefront, and placed an unprecedented emphasis on the role of parent involvement in education.

The law defines parental involvement as the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and

meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities,

including ensuring that (1) parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning; (2)

parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school; and (3)

parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included in decision-making and on

advisory committees to assist in the education of their child (U.S. Department of Education,

2004). The parental involvement provisions in Title I, Part A of the ESEA stress shared

accountability between schools and parents for high student achievement, including development

of parental involvement plans and building parents’ capacity for using effective practices to

improve their own children’s academic achievement (U.S. Department of Education, 2004).

The U.S. Department of Education’s definition of parent involvement—which empowers

parents to advocate and make decisions on behalf of their children—aligns with the shift from

the use of the term parent involvement to family engagement. Family engagement recognizes

that all family members—and friends and neighbors—contribute significantly to children’s

education and development (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). In addition, engagement is also

characterized by involving parents as school leaders and decision-makers, as opposed to


volunteers and fund raisers. Engagement also takes advantage of community resources to expand

learning for the student (Epstein, 2001).

From the school’s perspective, engagement requires commitment from the educators and

administrators, accompanied by professional development and other resources to assist them in

their efforts to engage families and communities. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Education

issued a draft of its revised framework which indicates a shift from traditional parental

involvement to greater family engagement, with a specific focus on building school officials’

capacity to engage with families to increase academic achievement (Mapp, 2012).

Figure 1: Family engagement capacity building framework, U.S. Department of Education.


Currently, family-school-community engagement is being discussed in the education

policy arena as an essential strategy for education reform. It is a shared responsibility of families,

schools, and communities for student learning and achievement. It is continuous from birth to

young adulthood; and it occurs across multiple settings where children learn (Weiss, H. B.,

Lopez, M. E., and Rosenberg, H., 2010). As a reform strategy, it should be systemic

(purposefully designed), integrated (embedded into structures and processes), and sustained

(operating with adequate resources). Community engagement refers to the support, services and

advocacy activities that community-based organizations—including businesses and faith-based

institutions—provide in order to improve student learning and promote family engagement

(Weiss, H. B., et al, 2010). To that end, family, school, and community engagement could

become the means by which to not only close achievement gaps, but also build a pathway to

college- and career-readiness in today’s competitive global society.

This paper will present an argument for the need to conduct research on specific types of

parental engagement in the African American suburban community. The goal of the proposed

study is to better understand which parental engagement behaviors will lead to African American

students’ success so their parents can maximize the impact on their children’s academic

potential.

Models of Parent Involvement and Engagement

Several parent involvement models have been developed that are accepted in the field.

Discussed here are two well-known models that form the framework for the proposed study.

Epstein (2001) introduced six types of parental involvement: (1) parenting, (2) communicating,

(3) volunteering, (4) learning at home, (5) decision making, and (6) collaborating with the

community. Epstein’s framework is based, in part, on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems


Theory, which states that the development of children is affected not only by factors within the

child but also by their family and surrounding world (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Epstein’s six

parent involvement typologies are:

Type 1—Parenting: Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child

and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at

each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families.

Type 2—Communicating: Communicate with families about school programs and student

progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.

Type 3—Volunteering: Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as

volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school

programs.

Type 4—Learning at Home: Involve families with their children in learning activities at home,

including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.

Type 5—Decision Making: Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and

advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.

Type 6—Collaborating with the Community: Coordinate resources and services for families,

students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the

community (Epstein, 1997).

Epstein’s model is comprehensive and helpful but it is focused on the educator’s side of

the process. Since the main actor in parental involvement is the parent, the parent’s perspective

should be a major domain in a model if their involvement is to be analyzed and enhanced. The

Ecologies of Parent Engagement (EPE) framework includes parent’s views as an important part

of the model. The framework incorporates how and why parents engage, and how the process of


engagement relates broadly to parents’ experiences and actions in and outside of the school

community. Moreover, EPE uses the term engagement rather than involvement to reflect a more

authentic relationship between parents and schools. Parent engagement is perceived as a

phenomenon that relies on activity networks and the importance that space and capital play in the

relative success parents have in engaging in school settings (Barton, A. C., Drake, C., Perez, J.

G., St. Louis, K. and George, M., 2004; Howard and Reynolds, 2008). The EPE framework is

relevant to the proposed study because parents of suburban students may have the “space” and

“capital” to navigate school and community relationships.

Current Research on Parental Involvement and Student Achievement

This section will address current research on parental involvement and academic

achievement as it is relevant to this proposed study. Three strands of research inform my

approach to conducting this research. The first strand covers the research linking parent

engagement with student achievement, including specific types of engagement. The second

strand reviews studies that analyze the impact of family-school-community partnerships and

collaborations on student achievement. The third strand covers empirical research on factors that

predict student achievement.

Engagement and Achievement Outcomes

Research and conventional wisdom suggest that parent involvement is positively

correlated with academic success for most students, and that the more parents are involved in a

child’s education, both at home and at school, the more academically successful the child will be

(Aronson, 1996; Baker and Soden, 1998; Christenson, Rounds and Gorney, 1992; Coulombe,

1995). Regarding African American and other minority students, two meta-analyses of the

existing evidence found in the literature by Jeynes (2003, 2007) add credible arguments for the


case of parent involvement leading to increased student achievement. The first meta-analysis

(Jeynes, 2003) found that parental involvement affected academic achievement for all minority

groups under the study, but in different ways. Although the effect sizes of African Americans

were positive for parental attendance and style, they were not statistically significant for other

groups (Jeynes, 2003). The second meta-analysis (Jeynes, 2007) included 52 studies focusing

exclusively on urban secondary students and found that parental involvement has a significant

influence on student achievement for minority secondary school children.

Engagement Behaviors

There is disagreement among researchers about the strength of evidence and causal

relationship between different forms of parent involvement and student outcomes, especially for

racial/ethnic minority populations (Hong and Ho, 2005; Juvonen et al, 2004; Yan and Lin, 2002).

Many studies argue that parents can help a child’s learning and transition. However, other

research suggests that certain aspects of parent involvement are more closely related to

achievement than others. In particular, parent involvement in the form of communicating with

the school, volunteering, and attending school events appears to have little effect on student

achievement (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). The three studies, described below, examined

specific types of parent involvement and their effects on African American students.

Ingram, Wolfe and Lieberman (2007) conducted a study to construct a model of parent

involvement that could improve student achievement, even in schools considered at risk due to

high numbers of minority and impoverished students. Specifically, the authors used survey

methods to determine which of Epstein’s parent involvement typologies were consistently

present in high-achieving, at-risk schools. It further examined how the components of parent

involvement were evidenced in those schools, and how the parents defined and interpreted their


roles and impact on their children’s performance. The authors used the Family Involvement

Questionnaire (Fantuzzo, Tighe and Childs, 2000) that identified three family involvement

dimensions as framed by Epstein’s typologies: home-based involvement, school-based

involvement, and home-school conferencing. The authors sent more than 1,000 surveys to

approximately 800 families at three at-risk public schools in Chicago, IL. In all, 220 surveys

were completed with response rates of 20 percent, 19 percent, and 39 percent, respectively, at

each of the three schools.

Ingram, et al (2007) assumed that all six of Epstein’s typologies would be present at the

schools under study. Instead, the authors found that Type I - Parenting and Type IV - Learning at

Home were identified as the most common practices of parent involvement in the schools. There

were eight survey questions pertaining to specific Parenting practice, including limiting the

child’s television time, keeping a regular morning and bedtime schedule, and praising a child for

schoolwork, among others. Parents in all three schools consistently indicated that they always

participated in 7 of the 8 parenting activities addressed on the questionnaire. There were nine

questions on the survey pertaining to learning-at-home activities, including reviewing

schoolwork, taking children to the library, and spending time on reading, writing, and number

skills. The most common response across all nine questions and all three schools was 4 (always),

meaning respondents always participated in the learning activities at home as identified in the

questionnaire.

The study provides evidence that a link clearly exists between parent involvement and the

educational outcomes of their children. With respect to the role of parents in high-achieving

schools serving low-income, at-risk populations, the study suggests that investing resources into

encouraging effective parenting and learning at home will yield the most significant results.


However, the biggest limitation of this study is the relatively low response rate at each of the

participating schools. Perhaps more of Epstein’s typologies would have been found in these

schools had the authors obtained data from more parents. Although the study attempted to

examine all six of Epstein’s typologies, only two survey questions—which asked about planning

school trips and classroom activities—focused on decision-making activities. In my view, they

do not fully address the types of decision-making that allow the parent to serve as an advocate

and help improve the quality of education that is offered to the child.

A study by Howard and Reynolds (2008) analyzed the role of parent involvement in the

education of middle-class African American students in southern California. Specifically, the

goal of the study was to examine how African American parents—who sent their children to

middle class schools—conceptualize notions of parent involvement, and if these types of

involvement have any influence on academic performance. Qualitative data were collected from

a series of individual and focus group interviews with African Americans parents whose children

attended schools in a predominately White, suburban community. The authors use Critical Race

Theory as the conceptual framework for examining parent involvement, which offered an

analysis of educational achievement in a more probing manner than other frameworks concerned

with race and theory (Sleeter and Delgado-Bernal, 2003).

According to the authors, the general sentiment that emerged from the focus groups was

that parent involvement typically meant being involved at the school and at home. Yet, a number

of the participants believed that many parents were not as committed to either of these areas, and

they believed that it is imperative to develop a sense of involvement that incorporates both in

school and out of school activities, in addition to a more nuanced relationships between parents

and school personnel (Howard and Reynolds, 2008). Findings from the study also provided


three factors that can inform discussions about how to involve middle-class African American

parents: (1) the importance of being informed, (2) the need to question, critique and challenge,

and (3) the importance of collaboration.

Focus group participants stressed the importance of being informed and remaining

inquisitive about their child’s school life. Although parents acknowledged that attending various

school functions was an important start in this process, they stressed going beyond traditional

school events to taking positions of engagement in which parents can have a powerful voice in

the day-to-day operations of their schools. Active membership in Parent Teacher Organizations,

School Site Councils, as well as active participation at local school board meetings give power to

parents and grant access to decision-making authority needed to negotiate the educational

experiences of children (Howard and Reynolds, 2008).

Several participants stated that they often find themselves in positions in which the

individuals with decision making ability orchestrated the space, set the rules and expectations

and produced the artifacts to which the student and parent would be held accountable. Their

social capital was not recognized or valued. Parents who do not question, challenge, and critique

their schools and their practices and fail to advocate for their children are entrusting the fate of

their children to the schools. We discovered that a number of parents received desired outcomes

from schools when they exercised their power as informed parents and demanded greater

accountability. Lastly, the study found that political power to change how and when parents get

involved with schools really rests with parents. Several of the parents from our work stated

adamantly that they have an unrealized powerful collective voice in the educational process of

their children.


The findings from this study show that middle class parents, particularly those equipped

with cultural capital valued most by the dominant society, can be a very rich asset for their

children. The factors that emerged from the focus groups can inform the overall discussion on

parent agency, engagement and overall involvement. Further, these factors also align well with

two of Epstein’s parent involvement typologies – decision making and community collaboration

– which implies that these typologies may be well-suited for middle class African American

parents (Howard and Reynolds, 2008).

Lee and Bowen (2006) examined the level and impact of five types of parent involvement

on 415 elementary school students’ academic achievement by race/ethnicity, poverty, and parent

educational attainment. Parent involvement was assessed with a composite of six items on a

survey. Three of the six items related to the parent physically visiting the school and measured

the frequency with which the parent went to the school for parent-teacher conferences,

volunteered at the school or in the child's classroom, and went to the school for fun events.

Through factor analyses, the authors assessed three additional types of parental involvement at

home—discussing educational topics with the child, helping with homework, and managing the

child's time. The dependent academic achievement composite was created by standardizing

scores on four teacher-report measures (Lee and Bowen, 2006).

Results of the correlation analysis showed that parent involvement at school and parental

educational expectations had the highest correlations with academic achievement, while time

management and homework help had the lowest associations with achievement. The authors also

found a relationship between family demographic characteristics and achievement outcomes.

Race/ethnicity and participation in a free or reduced school lunch program were significantly

associated with achievement over and above the effects of parent involvement. The positive


effects of parent educational level on achievement, however, appeared to be mediated by parent

involvement. Further, when demographic variables and types of parent involvement were

analyzed, parent involvement at school and parent educational expectations demonstrated the

strongest association with children's educational achievement (Lee and Bowen, 2006).

Family, School, and Community Partnerships

As the definition of parent involvement began to shift to engagement, researchers began

to explore the benefits of family, school, and community partnerships as they relate to student

achievement. These partnerships are viewed as a viable strategy for addressing students’

academic, emotional, physical, and social needs (Ferguson, C., Ramos, M., Rudo, Z., and Wood,

L., 2008). The studies in this section explore the associations between family, school, community

and student outcomes.

Sheldon and Epstein (2005) explored levels of mathematics achievement in schools,

efforts of schools to involve families and communities in students’ mathematics education, and

the impact of these targeted involvement activities on student mathematics achievement.

Specifically, the study addressed the following three research questions: (1) What is the level of

mathematics achievement in a sample of schools in which the school community (staff, parents,

and community members) work to involve families and community members in students’

mathematics education?, (2) How do the schools perceive the effectiveness of specific school,

family, and community partnership activities to improve student achievement in mathematics?,

and (3) What is the relationship between the implementation of specific family and community

mathematics involvement activities and changes over time in school reports of student

performance on mathematics achievement tests?


To address the research questions, the authors conducted a baseline and follow up survey

of key contacts in 18 schools that served large numbers of economically disadvantaged students.

The schools were members of the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins

University and were working to improve the quality of family and community involvement and

the effects on specific student outcomes. The baseline survey collected information on school

characteristics, attributes of the student body, planned school–family–community practices that

focused on improved mathematics skills, mathematics achievement test results for a selected

grade level, and report card grades in mathematics for the fall term. The follow-up survey

collected information on the effectiveness of partnership practices and end-of-year mathematics

outcomes (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005).

Partial correlation analyses indicate that only one type of involvement—Type 4,

Learning-at-home activities—consistently related to improvements in students’ performance on

mathematics achievement tests. After statistically accounting for schools’ prior levels of

mathematics achievement, the percentage of students who attained satisfactory mathematics

scores was higher in schools that more effectively assigned homework that required parent–child

interactions (pr = .60) or that offered mathematics materials for families to take home (pr = .59).

After statistically accounting for school level, the percentages of students with satisfactory

mathematics proficiency in 1998 were associated positively with the same home-learning

activities of mathematics homework that required parent–child interactions (pr = .60) and the use

of mathematics materials at home (pr = .55). These findings suggest that need to strategically

plan family-involvement activities that encourage and enable interactions between students and

family members relevant to the mathematics curriculum if they hope to increase student test

performance in mathematics (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005).


One limitation of this study, like many others, is the small sample of 18 schools which

makes it difficult to generalize beyond the sample population. Additionally, the authors do not

investigate the relationships between Type 5 (decision making) and Type 6 (collaborating with

community) involvement activities because none of the schools reported decision making

activities and too few schools used Type 6 practices. This is an unfortunate circumstance,

especially since the study specifically sets out to address the role of the community, and because

decision-making and collaborative activities could likely be effective in involving families in

mathematics.

Gordon and Louis (2009) used exploratory factor analysis and regression to examine

democratic participation, which in school contexts, translates to broad practices of community

and parent inclusion in school improvement efforts and decision making. The researchers

addressed three questions: (1) How does leadership style affect principals’ openness to

community involvement?; (2) Is a principal’s openness to community involvement related to

student achievement?; and (3) How are participatory and shared school leadership structures

related to student learning? The data for this analysis come from a principal (N=157) and teacher

(N=4,491) survey administered in 2005–06 as part of a large multiyear, mixed-method study

focusing on the relationship between leadership and student achievement, augmented by

available state 2005–06 math achievement data.

The results show that principals with more diverse leadership teams are more open to

community involvement. Also, teachers’ perceptions of greater parent involvement are positively

associated with student math achievement (Gordon and Louis, 2009). The study relies on survey

data, which means that the authors were unable to examine in detail the processes of democratic

decision making within and across school boundaries. Nonetheless, the findings highlight how


principals and teachers can better organize their efforts to involve stakeholders for increasing

student achievement.

Predictors of Achievement

Knowing which parent involvement behaviors predict the achievement outcomes for

certain students is important if the goal is to raise student achievement, but few recent studies

have explored this topic using regression analyses. The two studies in this section focus

specifically on parent involvement activities as predictors of student achievement. The first study

examined the effects of parental involvement on elementary school students’ literacy

achievement. The second study examines specific parental involvement behaviors on

adolescents’ achievement outcomes.

Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, and Weiss (2006) examined longitudinal data on family

involvement within school environments and literacy performance from kindergarten through

fifth grade for a sample of ethnically diverse low-income children and their families (N=281).

Specifically, we used individual growth modeling and latent growth modeling to address three

research questions: (a) Was average family involvement level associated with average literacy

performance? (b) Was average family involvement associated with changes in literacy

performance?, and (c) Were changes in family involvement within families associated with

changes in literacy performance?

Parents reported on family involvement in children’s school at kindergarten, at third

grade, and at fifth grade. Specifically, eight dichotomous (yes/no) items on a survey were used to

assess involvement at school during the year, one of which asked whether the parent had

attended a Parent Teacher Organization meeting (Dearing, et al., 2006). Children’s literacy

performance at kindergarten, at third grade, and at fifth grade was assessed using the Letter–


Word Identification subscale from the Woodcock–Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery—

Revised (WJ–R; Woodcock & Johnson, 1989).

The results indicated that both between-families differences in school involvement and

within-families changes in school involvement were associated with child literacy. Although the

main effect of average involvement in school across the study was not a statistically significant

predictor, its effect did vary by maternal education. Specifically, average involvement was

positively associated with average literacy performance for children whose mothers were

relatively less educated, such that these children displayed higher levels of performance when

their families were more involved. In addition, increased involvement in school within families

was associated with improved child literacy performance, in both of the authors’ multilevel and

latent growth models (Dearing, et al, 2006). The primary limitation of this study was that

attendance at a Parent Teacher Organization meeting was one of eight yes/no items within the

family involvement variable being examined. Thus, there was no way to determine the true

impact of that specific decision-making activity, even though family involvement, overall, had a

positive association with student achievement.

Hayes (2012) examined parental perceptions of involvement (home-based, school-based,

and achievement values) in urban African American adolescents. The specific questions guiding

the study were: (1) Are specific parental involvement behaviors better predictors of achievement

outcomes in urban African American adolescents?; (2) Do specific parental involvement

behaviors impact the achievement outcomes of younger versus older high school adolescents

differently?; and (3) Do specific family demographic variables influence how parents'

involvement behaviors predict the achievement outcomes of urban African American

adolescents?


The study used survey data from 145 parents of adolescents in two large urban cities who

responded to questions on family demographics, their level of involvement in their adolescents'

lives in multiple domains, and their perceptions of the achievement of their adolescents as it

related to grades, school attendance, and behavior problems at school. Results from the

correlation analysis indicated that the different parental involvement measures were not all

significantly related to all three achievement outcomes. Adolescents' grades had a statistically

significant correlation with both home-based (r = .22, p ≤ .01) and school-based involvement (r

= .20, p ≤ .05). Additionally, results indicated a statistically significant negative correlation

between home-based involvement and days missed from school (r=-27, p ≤ .001). Finally,

discipline referrals were not significantly correlated with any of the parental involvement

measures examined in the current study (Hayes, 2012).

The author conducted three hierarchical regression analyses to determine which

involvement measure was the most salient predictor of two of the three adolescent outcomes

(grades, days missed, & discipline referrals). First, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that

adolescent age (ß =.18, p ≤ .05), employment status (ß= .23, p ≤ .01), and home-based

involvement (ß= .18, p ≤ .05) were all significant predictors of adolescents' grades. Overall, the

model was statistically significant F(8,136) = 2.9l, p≤ .01, R2 = .15) and accounted for 15

percent of the variance in the grades adolescents received. Next, hierarchical regression analysis

indicated that home-based involvement (ß = -.27, p ≤ .05) was the only significant predictor of

the number of days missed from school. Overall, the model was statistically significant F(8,136)

= 2.04, p ≤ .05, R2 = .11) and accounted for 11 percent of the variance in the number of days

adolescents missed from school (Hayes, 2012).


Overall, the study provided evidence that specific parent involvement measures,

specifically home-based involvement, predicts several achievement outcomes for urban African

American adolescents. The benefits of home-based involvement highlight the importance of

daily parental involvement at home rather than sporadic opportunities to engage in on-site school

activities (Hayes, 2012). Both of the studies presented here relied strictly on parents’ reports of

various involvement behaviors and activities. Although parent perceptions have been used in

many studies, the accuracy of parental ratings is questionable (Paulson and Sputa, 1996; Paulson,

1994). Therefore, incorporation of both parents’ and students’ reports of involvement would be

beneficial in future studies.

Limitations in the research

Research examining parental involvement and engagement is burdened by a number of

limitations. First, research on specific types of engagement behaviors—decision making and

collaboration with the community—are underrepresented in literature (Barton, et al, 2004;

California Department of Education, 2011). In addition, no studies that examined the effects of

specific parental engagement behaviors that involve collaborating with the community—that is,

regular church attendance—on African American student achievement have been found.

Lastly, the majority of studies on parental involvement have generally focused on the

general population rather than on urban African American students (Jeynes, 2005; Jeynes, 2007;

Yan, 1999). Therefore, there is a gap in knowledge regarding what kind of parental involvement

is most important in the school achievement of African American students, high school

adolescents in particular, which prevents parents and teachers from effectively engaging in

appropriate parental involvement programs (Fan and Chen, 2001; Hayes and Cunningham, 2003;

Jeynes, 2003). When studies have focused on African American students, they have relied


primarily on underprivileged African Americans without consideration of the effects parental

involvement has across various socioeconomic levels of African American families (Müller,

1998, Overstreet, Devine, Bevans and Efreom, 2005). The proposed study will address these

limitations in the research.

The Proposed Study

Parent engagement in a child's education has been found to be positively associated with

a child's academic performance, as described previously. However, the effects of two parent

engagement activity areas on achievement outcomes—decision-making and collaboration with

the community—are underrepresented in the literature, as noted earlier. Therefore, this study will

attempt to investigate the effects of these specific types of involvement on the academic

achievement of students. The proposed objectives are:

1. To what extent do specific parental engagement behaviors—decision making and community

collaboration—predict the achievement outcomes of African American suburban students?,

2. Do these parental engagement behaviors impact the achievement outcomes of students in

elementary school differently than they impact achievement outcomes of students in

secondary (middle and high) schools?

3. Do certain mediating factors, such as the school’s efforts to involve parents and parent

demographics, influence how parents' engagement behaviors predict the achievement

outcomes of African American adolescents?

The proposed study addresses many of the limitations in the literature. Specifically,

results of many studies provided valuable insight into potential forms of parental involvement

with high school adolescents but cannot be generalized to African Americans because the

samples consisted of majority White adolescents and parents. Additionally, the African


American families in the proposed study will not all be characterized as economically

disadvantaged, which is often the case when examining parental involvement in African

American families. Next, the current study will examine whether the effects of those types of

parental involvement varied for adolescents at various grade levels (elementary, middle, high).

Finally, the proposed study will examine the influence that mediating variables have on

predicting the achievement outcomes of suburban African American students.

Over the last twenty-five years, an increasing number of African American families have

transitioned from lower to middle class status (Patillo-McCoy, 1999). Along with this transition

in socio-economic status has been the opportunity for larger numbers of African American

students to attend middle class and suburban schools (Ogbu, 2003). As a result, the entrée into

the middle-class has provided many African American parents access to educational

opportunities that are perceived to be more selective and presumably better. Against this

backdrop, the researcher hypothesizes that African American suburban families could potentially

realize the greatest benefit from decision making and collaborating with the community—

particularly for the secondary school level—given the increased social capital and intellectual

capacity that this population of parents offers, as well as an increased potential for untapped

community resources.

Methods

To address the research questions, the researcher will employ survey and hierarchical

regression methods. Parent engagement, for the purpose of the proposed study, is defined as the

exchange of information, purposeful interaction, and meaningful participation between parents

and schools to support student learning and achievement. The researcher proposes developing

and employing a survey of African American parents who regularly attend church services and


whose children attend suburban schools in the state of Maryland. The researcher will rely on a

convenience sample of parents that attend the Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, MD. If

necessary, the researcher will expand its sample to other large, African American churches in

relative proximity to Mount Ennon; for example the First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper

Marlboro, MD and the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA.

The survey will include items that will measure the level and types of decision making

and community collaboration in which the parents engage. Additionally, the researcher will

collect data on other variables that have been associated with student achievement, such as

demographic variables (e.g., student grade level, gender, name of school/district); family

variables (e.g., parent’s educational level, employment status, income), and school and district

variables (e.g., teacher quality, expenditures). The survey will also include questions to gauge the

frequency with which the families attend church services or utilize church resources. Student

achievement will be measured by parents’ reports of their child’s letter grades overall and in

certain subjects, as well as grade point average.

The researcher proposes to examine hierarchical regression analyses to determine

whether decision making and community collaboration are salient predictors of student

achievement for the proposed sample. The researcher will also employ regression methods to

determine whether mediating factors, such as the school’s efforts to involve parents, influence

how parents' engagement behaviors predict the achievement. District- or school-level parent

involvement policies will be content analyzed and the researcher will assign a “score” for each

school represented in the survey that measures its efforts to engage parents.


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