Parent Involvement and Academic Achievement Susan Campbell & Sharon Glasgow EDU Spring 2010 May 20, 2010

Table of Contents Introduction –Statement of the Problem –Review of Literature –Statement of the Hypothesis Methods –Participants –Instruments –Experimental Design –Threats to Internal and External Validity –Procedure Results –Pre and Post test Data –Correlation Graphs Discussion Implications References

Introduction Research indicates that there are positive academic outcomes stemming from parental involvement with benefits beginning in early childhood throughout adolescence and beyond. (Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Patrikakou, Weisberg, Redding, & Walberg, 2005).

Statement of the Problem As children move up in grades, parent involvement wanes. This research project will attempt to prove that increasing parent involvement will improve children’s academic achievement.

Review of Literature It is a well-established fact that parental involvement is linked to children’s success at school. When parents are involved in their children’s education at home, they do better in school. (Henderson & Berla, 1994) When school and home work together collaboratively using a competent approach to education, it can make a huge difference in student achievement (Padgett, 2006). Educators, parents and community partners work collaboratively on action teams and they become engaged in productive ways at school, at home, and the community (Epstein, 2002). Parent involvement is a valuable component of any student’s education. The level of parent–school involvement is a better predictor of grades than are standardized test scores. (Desimone, 1999). There is no question that parent involvement represents an exceptionally powerful way of making schools more effective, and of dramatically enriching children’s experiences (Walberg, 1984).

Hypothesis HR-1 Parents/caregivers reading for a maximum of 30 minutes five times a week over a six week period will increase the reading scores of 40 students at P.S. X in Brooklyn.

Method Participants: –40 sixth grade students at P.S. X in Brooklyn, New York. –75% African American; 25% Hispanic –Two classes of 20 students will be involved. - Parents of participating students –Teachers and Administration

METHOD INSTRUMENTS  Parent Release/Consent form  Parent Questionnaire used to assess the level of parent involvement in student academic life  Student Questionnaire used to assess student study habits and parent involvement  Reading Passages  ELA Pre-Test  ELA Post-Test

Research Design Quasi Experimental: Non equivalent Control Group Design - Two groups: Designated treatment group (X 1 ) and control group (X 2 ) are pretested, exposed to a treatment (X) and post-tested (O) –Groups are not randomly assigned Symbolic Design O X 1 O O X 2 O This design is Quasi Experimental –It is performed with two groups with similar demographics. –The participants are not randomly assigned. The two groups are pre-tested, exposed to a treatment, and post-tested.

Threats to Internal Validity History Participants may not be focused and may not give honest responses on the questionnaires and surveys. Mortality Participants parent or child may drop out of study for a number of reasons. Testing Preparation outside of school could affect test scores. Tutoring Parents can pay for private tutoring for subjects. Maturation Children’s attitude can change toward studying and test taking as they grow and mature. Home Environment Children may not have a structured home environment. Fatigue can negatively impact reading comprehension scores. Instrumentation Parents may refuse to fill out the questionnaires and surveys

Threats to External Validity Ecological Validity The weather can affect the subjects mind set. Children may daydream on a snowy day and may not complete the test. Selection Treatment Interaction (Selection Bias) Some familiarity of subjects exists. Prior knowledge about student performance can affect outcome. Experimental Mortality Students may be absent for pre or post test or drop out of study.

Procedure This Action Research was conducted from November 2009 to May 2010 Parent consent forms were distributed in November 2009 The ELA pre-test was given in January 2010 Student and Parent Questionnaires were distributed in January 2010 Reading passages The ELA post-test was given in April 2010

Quantitative Data Class # Never (1) Once per week (2) 2-3 times per week (3) 5 or more (4) Parent survey question #1: How often do you read to your child? (4) – 5 or more times (3) – 2-3 times per week (2) – once per week (1) - Never Student survey question #12: Do you read books for fun that is not required for homework? Class #Never (1) Once per week (2) 2-3 times per week (3) 5 or more (4)

Pre & Post-test Data Class 601  Most students showed improvement in grades from pre to post test results  Improvement in grade was not significant enough to change ELA Level for most students

Pre & Post-test Data Class 603  Most students showed improvement in reading levels.  Six students had no improvement. One student went down in score from pre test.

Results  Based on the data, there is no clear indication that a high attitudinal score will yield a high post test level.

Results-603  The data for class 603 also indicate that there is no clear correlation between attitude score and the level a student achieved on the ELA.

Correlation Graphs Rxy= Rxy= The data for class 601 indicate that there is no correlation between the student attitude to reading and the change in test scores. The data for class 603 indicate that there is no correlation between student attitude as represented by the questionnaire responses and the post test results.

Analysis The data for class 601 indicate that after treatment, 2 students improved their reading level from level 3 to level 4. The percentage of students testing at level 4 on the pre-test jumped from 15% to 25% on the post-test. Most students remained the same from pre-test to post-test. The data for class 603 indicate that after treatment, the number of student testing at a level 3 jumped from 15% to 45%. A total of 6 students improved their reading level. Mean Median70 72 Mode70 Mean Median Mode85

Discussion  There is a correlation between parent involvement and student achievement as demonstrated in the survey results and in the test scores of those students whose parents are involved in their students’ academic life.  There is a strong correlation between overall academic performance and parent involvement as demonstrated by the grades of those students who have active parent involvement in school and at home.  The socio economic status of students is indicative of low level of parent involvement as demonstrated by the low percentage of parent questionnaire returned – 12/125 ( inferred based on personal knowledge of student population – refer to threats )

Implications Larger Sample Size Parent Involvement Examine other factors that impact parent involvement Recognize common values of parents and schools

References Carey, N., Lewis, L., Farris, E., & Westat, I. (1998). Parent Involvement in Children's Education: Efforts by Public Elementary Schools. National Center for Education Statistics Statistical Analysis Report. Cheung, C., (2009). Evaluating the benefit from the Help of the Parent-Teacher Association to Child Performance. Retrieved October 1, 2009 Desimone, L., (1999). Linking Parent Involvement with Student Achievement: Do Race and Income Matter? The Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Sep.-Oct., 1999), pp Published by: Heldref Publications Epstein, J., (2005). A Case Study of the Partnership Schools Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Model. Retrieved October 20, 2009, from Elementary School Journal, Vol. 106 Issue 2, p Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence. Austin, TX: National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools. Henderson, A. T., & Berla, N. (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. St Louis, MO: Danforth Foundation and Flint. Hill, N., and Tyson, D., (2009) Parental Involvement in Middle School: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of the Strategies That Promote Achievement. Developmental Psychology 2009, Vol. 45 NO. 3, Patrikakou, E. N., Weissberg, R. P., Redding, S., & Walberg, H. J. (Eds.). (2005). School-family partnerships: Fostering children’s school success. New York: Teachers College Press. Yap, K., and Enoki, D., ( ). In Search of the Elusive Magic Bullet: Parental Involvement and Student Outcomes (2007), Perceptions of Parent Involvement in Academic * Achievement. O’Connor-Petruso, Sharon A., (2009, February 5) Descriptive & Inferential Statistics, Analyses, Threats and Designs. Powerpoint. Brooklyn College, Graduate Department of Education.

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