Introduction
Over the decades, scholars are disturbed by the poor academic performance of the students. Education is of significance value to individuals’ and in the development of the society. Parents’ behavior and attitudes towards the children education have been identified as one of the contributing factor that causes academic achievement. Parents have a responsibility of supporting their children physically and psychologically to make them industrious members of the society. The students’ achievement has been linked to parental involvement to achieve positive academic outcomes. The focal role of the parents in children learning has been recognized and therefore the teachers and parents are a complete set for the development of the student’s personality and their career. Parents who are educated have a better understanding of breaking problems into different parts, and they are aware of effective motivational strategies that they can use to motivate students’ effectively. When parents involve in their children education, high scores and better grades on standardized tests are observed. Clearly, lack of parental involvement and interests in the children learning is a major contributor to the poor academic achievement.
Parental Support
Practitioners and policy makers are certain that parental involvement in learning is important. Parental involvement which is broadly defined as parents behaviors and activities associated with children students schooling promotes the academic, behavioral and socio-emotional of low-income students who have a high risk of poor achievement. The level of parental involvement is determined by various factors such as economics, time constraints, education socio-economic status, and culture ( Sanders & Sheldon, 2009). With the implementation of the No Child Left behind Act, the elementary and secondary institutions are directed by the federal government to enhance parental engagement in education. Although fostering parental involvement in learning is neutral and rhetorically popular, the ecological perspectives argue that the interaction between social and home is of great importance as it reinforces positive student outcomes. The ecological structure suggests that an independent impact of each setting of the student and an interactive impact of the school and home settings works in a distinct way to further affect the development of the student (Erlendsdóttir, 2010). Nevertheless, parental involvement is hardly analyzed in the context of the activities of the teacher with the students.
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Theoretical background
Past studies on parent involvement have recognized a positive link between parents involvement in their students' education outcomes. Similarly, studies on school intervention indicate that efforts to promote student results can be more productive when the parents are involved. Previous works have largely concentrated on academic attainment outcomes rather than behaviors of the students. A longitudinal analysis of parent involvement across the country for the fifth graders found that engagement did not predict improvement in academic achievement, but it did indicate the decline in behavior problems (Erlendsdóttir, 2010). More recent works have begun to recognize empirical and conceptual unique dimension of the involvement of parents in learning through homes based learning actions such as assisting with homework and maintaining the students study routines.
Additionally school-based involvement such as volunteering at school occasions and fundraising as well as home-school communication such as attending conferences (teacher-parent) and writing notes to the teacher are important for student growth and development in learning. Studies that analyze the unique dimension of the involvement of the parents indicate positive outcomes with the students’ behaviors. For instance utilizing time-lagged growth structures Erlendsdóttir, (2010), found that the involvement of the parents' activities in homework, volunteering in schools projected low levels of behavior problems in the future for the school children in elementary schools. Moreover Sanders & Sheldon (2009) identified various dimensions of involvement linked to positive socio-emotional outcome in the young children through a cross-sectional research in the urban areas and the ethnic minority children.
Epstein & Sanders (2006) argues that are numerous reason for establishing collaboration between the school, home, and the community. The primary reasons for developing such partnerships are to assist the students in thriving at school ( Epstein & Sanders, 2006) . Other reasons are improving the climate of the school and the school programs, assisting families in linking with others in the community and at school and helping the teachers with their work. All these reasons stress the significance of the parents in playing an active role with the education of the students’ as well as keeping a positive and strong relationship with the schools.
Epstein’s framework
Epstein’s framework comprises of six chief factors concerning parental involvement which was established by Epstein and her colleagues. The framework is based on the findings of numerous studies which indicate the mist effective factors regarding the students’ education. The six factors include parenting, volunteering, decision making, learning ta home, communication and partnering with the community ( Epstein & Sanders, 2006) . Parenting highlights the importance of assisting all families in understanding the growth and development of both the children and adolescents. It also aims at creating a healthy environment at home for children and students.
Communication highlights the significance of designing an effective two-way communication (school-home and home-school programs) to aid in the students’ progress.
Volunteering involves recruiting and setting up help and parents support in schools programs as well as stunt activities.
Learning at home entails providing the parents with ideas and information on how they can help their children with homework and learning related activities and decisions.
Decision-making entails involving the parents in school decisions as to develop the parents.
Finally, community collaboration comprises of identification and incorporation of communities respires and services to fortify schools, learners, and their families
These factors cause different outcomes for the students, parent teachers and climate of the school. Additionally, each factor comprises of multiple different activities of the partnership. Lastly, each factor has its challenges while involving parents and these challenges must be handled effectively. Even though the main emphasis of these six factors is to enhance academic accomplishments, they also contribute to different outcomes for the parents and teachers. For instance, it is argued that parents acquire more self-confidence and portray good leadership in the decision-making processes. Additionally the achieve productive communication with the students’ concerning school work and have a more open communication channel with other parents at the school (Griffin & Steen, 2010). They also gain a positive outlook towards the school and the whole staff in general. They are also likely to support the school and the programs by gathering support from the community and hence becoming active members of the community.
Parental Involvement and Learners Academic Outcomes
According to Epstein (2006), parental engagement is the most powerful impact in the student’s education. It can have various outcomes for the students’ concerning their academics and behaviors. Initially, the study on parent involvement did not focus on distinguishing between the impacts of specific types of engagement on the outcomes of the students but rather the link between measures of the participation of the parents with students’ grades, and tests scores were examined. However, in recent times the researchers have focused on studying how different types of parental involvement are related to specific outcomes of the students’ (Griffin & Steen, 2010). Successful parental engagement has been described as the active and ongoing participation of a primary caregiver of the parent in the students' education. At home, the parents can exhibit their involvement in various ways such as assisting with homework, reading, and having constant discussions about school work or school with the students.
Reading and parental involvement
Studies have illustrated that there is a huge relationship between literary works in the homes and the students’ reading skills. It was found that students who come from reading oriented homes in that their books are readily available and their parents are ardent readers have a tendency of scoring higher on reading attainment tests compared to children who come from less reading oriented families. Hence parents have positive impacts on the students’ reading skills and stimulate their comprehensions readings by reading out to them and ensuring that the books are readily available (Griffin & Steen, 2010). Most studies have been carried out on the effects of the involvement of parents in primary schools in the students reading skills and literacy.
Nonetheless, the studies conducted with old students indicate that although schools and teachers have an important role in their learning, the parent remain influential to the performance of the children. Furthermore, studies have indicated the involvement of the parents have an impact on the reading attainments of the students particularly in the early years of education. Instead, it appears that their involvement continues to have positive effects on their reading achievement as well as the students’ development in academics in primary, secondary and high schools (Chohan & Khan, 2010). Research conducted in secondary schools show that parents who have high expectation on their children’s education have a tendency of discussing school, future strategies, monitor their student’s homework and hence the students’ often perform better in reading achievement skills and in English.
Mathematics and parental involvement
Parental involvement in school work had a direct effect on the student’s success in math. Parents who involve in their education of the children are more likely to achieve better results in math compared to other students. Griffin & Steen (2010) agrees with and argues that parental engagement has a huge impact on the achievement of students in math both in primary and secondary schools. Moreover, these students’ are more likely to advance their studies in mathematics. Chohan & Khan, (2010) also posits that the higher the parents' expectation towards the students' achievement in mathematics the more the students’ achieve (Chohan & Khan, 2010).
Additionally, a large mass of evidence suggests theta the environment of the home does not only influence the performance of the students’ but also their capabilities and mindsets towards math. Chohan & Khan, (2010) further argue that the cooperation and partnership between comes and schools are significant because how the parents relate to students can greatly impact their children’ view of their capabilities and achievement (Chohan & Khan, 2010).
Family Breakdown and Its Effects on Students'
Based on different outcomes such as the educational achievement, mental health, social competence, behavior, self-concept and long-term health, important distinctions exists among the children who go through parental separation compared to those who have intact families. Students’ from intact families can experience amplified risk of poor outcomes like poverty, violence, parental conflict and poor parenting. Numerous researchers have indicated that the children going through family breakdown have a high tendency of functioning well or much better compared to the students from intact families ( Patall et.al, 2008) . Although family transitions might have increased risks of adverse outcomes, studies indicate that relatively few students experience lasting problems and that some students’ benefit when a “ harmful ‘situation is brought an end, for instance, parental conflicts are high including violence.
Long-term effects of children who experience family breakdown include problems such as mental health, alcohol abuse, low attainment in education and challenges with relationships ( Patall et.al, 2008) . However, research studies indicate parent’s emotional support is important when students face academic challenges at school. Sensible and educate parents often motivate their children and give suitable guidance in school matter, but illiterate and underprivileged parents’ regarding income may act violently and hence upset the students more.
Parental Involvement and Self-Concept
The “ self ” is a fundamental aspect, and it has been highlighted by different theories of personality in technology. “I” and “ Me ” are significant concepts and they are used in two different ways. The self “I” concept basic purposes such as self-evaluation and self-regulation whereas the “me” concept is an object that is used to analyze how people see themselves. As children grow they attain richer concepts of themselves and hence the self-concept can be regarded as a set of prearranged self-attitudes that are established or the attributes of an individual (Sanders & Sheldon, 2009) . Parental support has a significant contribution to the growth and development of good self-regard that is associated with students’ academic achievement. Similarly Sanders & Sheldon (2009) indicated that school failures play a huge role in the development of the student’s negative self-image (Sanders & Sheldon, 2009) .
Essentially, the parents do not have a direct engagement in the teaching-learning activities. They are expected to offer financial and material support for the students’ learning. However, the student’s emotional stability is of great significance concerning the educational outcomes as well as their emotional growth. Parents who fail to promote positive self-image to their children leads to poor performance in school and a negative attitude towards school ( Patall et.al, 2008) . The associations between parents and children are affected by the cultural and socioeconomic aspects of a certain society where they live. For instance, the way the children learning activities are managed at home relies on the parent’s socioeconomic level and their resources regarding money and time. Sanders & Sheldon, (2009) argues that the criteria of parental support are developed based on six dimensions which are strongly related to the students’ behaviors and attitudes towards school and learning (Sanders & Sheldon, 2009). These six dimensions include;
the expectations of the parents about the achievement of the children
the expectations of the parents about their children ability to accomplish important goals
parents behavior that portrays their interests in the children school activities and work
the degree of parents satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the achievement of their children at school
the level and type of help that parents provide to the children in homework assignments
parents reinforcement of positive behaviors for the achievement of children education outcomes
Conclusion
Parental involvement in learning has been a subject of interest for many decades. The studies conducted by different scholars have demonstrated the connection between parents’ involvement in school wok and activities and the academic outcomes of the students’ as well as their behaviors. Parental involvement has positive effects on the growth and development of the students’ cognitive ability and their self-image. Therefore the parents should become more involved in their children school work and activities to ensure that the students’ grow to become productive and successful members of the society. Involvement of the parents with the children from early years has been found to have better outcomes, especially in cognitive development. Students who narrated more parental support concerning their homework motivated them to do their homework assignments regularly. Additionally, the parents who involve themselves in school work and activities have a huge impact on the children especially in decreasing the drop-out rate. However, the level of education and the socioeconomic status of the parents have been acknowledged as key factors that determine the degree of the parents’ involvement in their children education.
References
Chohan, B. I., & Khan, R. M. (2010). Impact of parental support on the academic performance and self-concept of the student. Journal of Research and Reflections in Education , 4 (1), 14-26.
Epstein, J. L., & Sanders, M. G. (2006). Prospects for change: Preparing educators for school, family, and community partnerships. Peabody journal of Education , 81 (2), 81-120.
Erlendsdóttir, G. (2010). Effects of parental involvement in education: A case study in Namibia.
Griffin, D., & Steen, S. (2010). School-family-community partnerships: Applying Epstein's theory of the six types of involvement to school counselor practice. Professional School Counseling , 13 (4), 218-226.
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). Parent involvement in homework: A research synthesis. Review of educational research , 78 (4), 1039-1101.
Sanders, M. G., & Sheldon, S. B. (Eds.). (2009). Principals matter: A guide to school, family, and community partnerships . Corwin Press.
