The Connection between Parental Involvement and Academic Achievement

Introduction

A family is the most basic factor that contributes to the development of children. The family provides the first educational and social environment that a child uses for their development and education. Children, therefore, need the right beginning in the form of a supportive family since a right beginning is the most crucial part of a child’s development and education ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ). The educational influences that families have on children can be classified as either direct or indirect. Direct educational influence is demonstrated through less or more visible actions while indirect influences are demonstrated through the behavior models that most family members offer through the psychological climate within a family ( Benner, Boyle, & Sadler, 2016 ). The educational strategies that are used by families play a huge role in determining educational and personality development of their children. One of the variables that have been consistently studied is the educational practices of parents and their contributions to the future social, emotional, and intellectual growth of a child. This research paper samples different research literature explaining the connection between parental involvement and the academic performance of their children. Various research projects indicate that there are several things done by parents that may contribute to the academic performance of their students ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ). This research paper, therefore, aims at explaining the various ways that parental involvement can contribute to the performance of a student. 

Literature Review

There are many ways that various authors have defined parental involvement in different literature. In most cases, parental involvement includes six major categories which are basic parenting, the facilitation of learning at home, volunteering at school, communicating with the schools where the children attend, active participation of the school's decision-making process, and collaborating with the community ( Benner et al., 2016 ). It is important to note that most studies that did not employ a multi-faceted typology in describing parental involvement regard it as a single dimensional construct ( Chun, & Dickson, 2011 ). Home-based parental involvement involves the efforts put by parents and guardians to help students with their school work such as homework, encouraging their students to work hard in school, holding discussions about school, expressing high expectations and creating a conducive learning environment at home for their children ( Chun, & Dickson, 2011 ). Conversely, school-based parental involvement refers to a parent's efforts to participate in various school activities such as volunteering in school events and organizations, and communicating with teachers and school staff to find out how their children are faring in school ( Yap, & Baharudin, 2016 ).

Perriel notes that parental involvement can be described as the degree and extent to which parents are dedicated to their roles and the development of their children's education. Additionally, it can be described as the amount of effort put in by a parent to ensure that a student achieves their educational goals (2015). As Kwan and Wong observe, the level of dedication and involvement that a parent has to the education of their student greatly affects the performance of the students. According to the social cognitive theory, children are more likely to learn more about socially accepted behaviors and goals by observing and imitating the people that are important to them. In this context, parents have the unlimited potential to instill positive attitudes and behaviors in their children from a young age (2016). According to several studies carried out by multiple researchers in developed countries, parent involvement plays a significant role to the academic success of their children mainly because students are more likely to put in more effort and focus in their education if their parents show interest in their school work ( Myers, & Myers, 2015 ). The interests of parents in school work can be demonstrated by different actions such as helping their children with homework and holding them accountable for the completion of the homework provided by the teachers.

Furthermore, parents hold great influence on the educational achievements of their children compared to other people due to the amount of time that they spend with them. Spending more time with the children enables parents to continuously influence their children positively thus improving and complementing what the schools teach their children. According to research findings, the attitudes of parents together with the seriousness with which they approach their children’s education determines whether or not the children will be academically successful ( Luo, 2013 ). There are however instances where parents fall short of the content that they can use to inspire their children to achieve academic success positively. Such a scenario arises in cases where a parent does not possess the knowledge or the educational qualification to assist the children with school work. Such instances were common in various studies where children openly disclosed their parents could not help them in various subjects such as physics or mathematics ( Neymotin, 2014 )

From various research studies, it is evident that parental involvement can be classified as being a bidirectional and a multi-dimensional construct ( Nargis, 2013 ). The level of parental involvement has been identified to have direct links between the academic performance of children and their social interactions ( Neymotin, 2014 ). The traditional definition of parental involvement is mainly concerned with the interest that parents showed in their children’s education. A more comprehensive view of parental involvement goes a step further and suggests that parental involvement in a student’s academic life must shift concern towards various individual subjects such as mathematics and English. The comprehensive view of parental involvement is influenced by various studies which established that the success of students in individual subjects like Mathematics and English at senior high school level was influenced by different contexts such as the school, home and the community from which the students come from ( Luo, 2013 ). 

As several educators and researchers have found out, a strong positive bond that exists between individual homes and schools plays a major role in the development of children and their educational success ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ). According to Chun and Dickson (2011), academically successful students have strong support from their parents. Additionally, studies carried out on successful learning institutions, even those found in poor neighborhoods have established that the success of the schools is primarily due to the strong school-home relationship. Mailhot and Feeney (2017 ) note that successful schools always take the initiative of reaching out to the families where their students originate from. Constant communication with the families is important as it creates a strong bond, a conducive environment, and different ways to collaborate to ensure the academic success of students.

Additionally, research has established that the involvement of parents influences the behaviors and attributes of children which in turn affects their academic performance. The theoretical framework that was developed by Benner et al. (2016) asserts that parental involvement improves the children’s intrinsic motivation to learn, self-regulation, and the social self-efficacy for the children resulting to improved academic performance. A perfect example is a study which found out that parental involvement was determinative of the engagement of school children and their socio-emotional adjustments. Other studies also established that students tend to perform better in their academics if they know that their parents are aware, knowledgeable and interested in their school work ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ).

Yap and Baharudin argue that conducive environments both at home and in schools play a big part in the improvement of the academic performances of children (2016). Results that were obtained from research carried out by Perriel found that the involvement of parents in their children’s education acts as an important determinant of a student’s mathematical achievement apart from promoting positive behavior and attribute development in children (2015). As Luo et al. argue, parental involvement is a vital factor for improving a student’s academic achievement (2013).

Different empirical studies have established that there are specific factors that greatly contribute to the improvement of children’s academic performance. The main factors identified by Neymotin are parent-child communication, the structure of the home, parental aspirations, and the involvement of a parent in different school activities (2014). For example, in a study conducted by Perriel , the results indicated that the students whose parents are well educated performed better in the standardized tests that were provided compared to students belonging to parents with fewer academic qualifications. This was mainly because educated parents were more capable of assisting their children in various school work and they could interact better on an intellectual level (2015). Since the academic performance of students depends on the extent of their parent’s interests in their academic life, students belonging to educated parents had the highest probability of achieving academic success ( Neymotin, 2014) .

There are however other studies that came up with contradictory findings. The studies aimed to find the differences between school-based and home-based parental involvement. In some of the studies that were carried out, home-based parental involvement proved to be more effective in improving the academic success of students while in others, school-based parental involved proved the better option ( Nargis, 2013 ). From the findings, it can be understood that the effectiveness of the interventions encouraging parental intervention varied based on the context in which they were applied. Despite the contradictions, one of the factors that have maintained consistency is the fact that parental involvement is strongly related to the performance of a student. What is yet to be fully understood by researchers and scholars are the specific mechanisms through which parents apply their influence on the performance of their children ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ).

From the sampling of different literature, it is evident that the relationship between a parent’s involvement and the academic performance of their students is established at lower levels of education. According to Nargis (2013 ), the main limitation is the fact that researchers have not been able to establish how parental involvement is related to the performance of students in various specific subjects like Mathematics and English language at senior levels of education. It was also confirmed that parents are heavily involved in their children’s education at lower levels of education, but the interest decreases as the children move to the senior levels of education.

Discussions and Recommendations

There are many rating scales used by researchers to measure academic performance. The main argument used while measuring performance is that the academic performance of students occurs on different levels and it’s meant to achieve different purposes. This research study however measured the performance of students according to their scores in Mathematics and English language test which were specially designed to achieve the purpose of the study ( Nargis, 2013 ). This gives validity to what was discussed by Nargis that in most cases, teachers use a specially designed test to determine the understanding and mastery of course content by the students (2013). Additionally, the research study aimed at sampling the views of students concerning the involvement of parents in their education. The views of the students were retrieved by the use of various questions that prompted the students to state whether or not they think their parents actively participate in their education ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ).

From the tests provided, it was established that most of the students who performed well in the English language and mathematics tests had reported that their parents are heavily involved and interested in their academic life. Those that achieved poor results had reported the lack of interest or involvement in their academic progress on the part of their parents ( Luo et al . , 2013) According to Nargis (2013 ), students reported that parents demonstrated an interest in their education through various ways such as encouraging them to take their education more seriously, asking if they needed anything in school, and regularly monitoring their studies by communicating with the teachers. The outcome of the study further stresses the importance of parental involvement in the education of their children through both emotional and material support.

Luo et al. (2013) argue that parental involvement in its different forms is a crucial factor in increasing the educational aspirations of a child. Some of the factors that were identified to be responsible for increasing a child’s academic performance include parent-child communication, emotional as well as material support of the children in their academic endeavors. It was also established that there exists a positive relationship between parental involvement at home and the improved academic performance of students in school. 

Additionally, the study established that the academic beliefs that parents have for their children play a crucial role in influencing perception that children have concerning their abilities ( Luo et al. , 2013). As Nargis notes, the beliefs, attitudes, and values that parents have influenced not only the behavior of their children but also their achievement beliefs (2013). This finding is in line with the study carried out by Neymotin , which reported that among a group of high performing students, the perception that they had regarding their academic performance was found to be closely related to their parent’s ambitions (2014). Such a result goes a long way in explaining the value of a parent’s perception in the academic success of their children.

It is also important to note that the findings of this study further emphasize the importance and increasing relevance of the social cognitive theory. The social cognitive theory holds the belief that children take in messages concerning appropriate behavior and socially accepted objectives by studying and observing the important people in their lives. The results of the study further show that parents have the potential to mold and instill positive values in their children while they are still young, enabling them to grow up as positive thinking individuals ( Nargis, 2013 ). Kwan & Wong also stresses that parents have a distinct advantage over any other person in their children's lives since they have the opportunity to provide a continuously stable positive environment to mold their children in the right way and improve their academic performance in future (2016). The findings are also in line in many other research studies which emphasize the fact that parental involvement plays a critical role in the academic achievement of students. The more interested and concerned a parent is to their children’s education, the more motivated the student will be in the pursuit of their educational goals.

Apart from parental involvement, other different ways can be used to improve the academic achievement of children, especially in the United States. Heise notes that the use of legislation to streamline and monitor the implementation of several education programs contributes to the improved academic performance of students (2017). One of the most notable laws that were created to streamline the education sector in the United States and help every student in the United States meet their academic goals is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The Act which was passed by Congress amplifies the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by mandating every state to provide a test measuring the abilities of students in English and Mathematics in grades 3 to 8 and also once in high school ( Heise, 2017 ). This requires that each state creates specific standards in reading and mathematics which students were expected to meet and exceed by 2014. The main aim of the Act is to necessitate parental involvement and to bridge the gap that exists in student achievements by providing every student with a fair and equal opportunity to get a high-quality education. Besides, the NCLB dictates that each state should create their state academic standards and a testing system which meet federal requirements. The accountability requirement is referred to as the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) ( Heise, 2017 ). The creation of such laws will contribute to student learning and improve their academic performance. 

Conclusion

The findings that were achieved by the study have resulted in the conclusion that there is a major positive relationship between parental involvement and the academic performance of students. Parental involvement includes six major categories which are basic parenting, the facilitation of learning at home, volunteering at school, communicating with the schools where the children attend, active participation of the school's decision-making process, and collaborating with the community ( Mailhot, & Feeney, 2017 ). According to Benner et al . (2016 ), the two main types of parental involvement are home and school-based parental involvement. Home-based parental involvement involves the efforts put by parents and guardians to help students with their school work such as homework, encouraging them to work hard in school, holding discussions about school, expressing high expectations and creating a conducive learning environment at home for their children.

Conversely, school-based parental involvement refers to a parent's efforts to participate in various school activities such as volunteering in school events and organizations, communicating with teachers and school staff, and regularly communicating with teachers to find out how their children are faring in school. According to the social cognitive theory, children are more likely to learn more about socially accepted behaviors and goals by observing and imitating the people that are important to them. In this context, parents have the unlimited potential to instill positive attitudes and behaviors in their children from a young age ( Neymotin, 2014 ). Furthermore, parents hold great influence on the educational achievements of their children compared to other people due to the amount of time that they spend with them. Spending more time with the children enables parents to continuously influence their children positively thus improving and complementing what the schools teach their children. As several educators and researchers have found out, a strong positive bond that exists between individual homes and schools plays a major role in the development of children and their educational success. Studies carried out on successful learning institutions, even those found in poor neighborhoods have established that the success of the schools is primarily due to the strong school-home relationship ( Myers, & Myers, 2015 ). Successful schools always take the initiative of reaching out to the families where their students originate from. From the research study, it is important for parents together with teachers to ensure that there is increased collaboration between different homes and schools to improve the academic performance of students through constant monitoring.

References

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Nargis, I. (2013). Considerations of the management of parental involvement and the performance of kindergarten organization.  Revista De Management Comparat International, 14 (1), 138-152.

Neymotin, F. (2014). How parental involvement affects childhood behavioral outcomes. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 35 (4), 433-451. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10834- 013-9383-y

Perriel, Y. (2015). Parental involvement and academic achievements: A case study.  Social and Economic Studies, 64 (1), 75-88,138-139,142. 

Yap, S. T., & Baharudin, R. (2016). The relationship between adolescents' perceived parental involvement, self-efficacy beliefs, and subjective well-being: A multiple mediator models.  Social Indicators Research, 126 (1), 257-278. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0882-0

Heise, M. (2017). From no child left behind to every student succeeds: back to a future for education federalism.  Columbia Law Review, 117 (7), 1859-1896.