Abstract
Parent involvement in their children’s learning is widely acknowledged as having a positive effect on student academic success. Of particular relevance is the finding that the influence of parent engagement can mitigate differences in socioeconomic status (SES) and family background. Family background is a multi-dimensional concept that includes the family’s “educational culture” (including for example, parenting style, parental expectations for children’s work at school, direct instructional support for school learning, active parent interest in the school’s curriculum, and the monitoring of children’s engagement with their school work). It is these features of a child’s home environment that directly influence much of the social and intellectual capital students need to be successful at school.
This chapter summarizes a quasi-experimental field study which explored the relative effects of alternative types of school interventions on parent engagement. All of these interventions aimed to further engage parents in the education of their children as a means of both improving student achievement and closing gaps in achievement for students living primarily in challenging social and economic circumstances. Initiatives by school staffs aimed at helping those families struggling to build productive educational cultures in their homes would appear to be a very promising strategy for closing achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students. The study provides eight lessons other districts might take heed of as they embark on their own parent engagement interventions.
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Notes
- 1.
Based on Bronfenbremmer’s (2005) bioecological model, Niehaus and Adelson (2014) these two sources of influence on children’s achievement as microsystems and mesosystems which, together, account for most of the “potential risk and protective factors ….highly important to students’ performance and well-being” (p. 812).
- 2.
In this study of parent engagement, student engagement is one of three outcomes used to assess the effects of changes in three components of family educational culture. For a discussion of the influence of school and classroom practices on student engagement, see for example the research series of Dunleavyet al. (2012).
- 3.
The full report of results (Leithwood 2014) includes individual district reports. These individual reports provide more detail about samples and sample selection.
- 4.
As a result of his series of meta-analyses, Jeynes (2011) has observed that parent engagement initiatives typically have significantly larger effects on report card scores than on standardized achievement test results.
- 5.
While scale reliabilities for this instrument could not be calculated from the data in this project, previous data sets have indicated reliabilities (Cronbach’s Alpha) for all scales significantly above minimum acceptable levels (0.60).
- 6.
Also see Turner et al. 2014, for a comparable theoretical account of factors contributing to student engagement.
- 7.
For a discussion of the relationships between student engagement and family and school factors see Willms 2003.
- 8.
For an outline of these differences and challenges, see Hill and Tyson 2009.
- 9.
These lessons should be considered provisional, of course, because of the small size of the sample on which they are based.
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Student survey | |
Behavioral engagement | |
Respond to requirements | |
1 | I rarely daydream in my classes |
2 | I rarely am late for school |
3 | I always finish my school work on time |
4 | I do all the homework that I am supposed to do |
5 | I respond whenever I am asked questions during class. |
6 | I rarely am absent for a whole day. |
7 | I rarely am sent to the office because of misbehaviour. |
8 | I rarely skip a class (without permission). |
9 | I rarely receive a detention. |
10 | I rarely stay home unless I am sick. |
Class-related initiative | |
11 | I put a lot of energy into my schoolwork. |
12 | I enjoy giving my opinion during class discussions. |
13 | I frequently ask questions during class. |
14 | I frequently have discussions with my teacher about things I find interesting. |
15 | I frequently do extra schoolwork to find out more about something that interests me. |
16 | I do a lot of extra reading for my own benefit. |
Psychological engagement | |
Sense of belonging | |
17 | I feel that I “belong” at this school. |
18 | Most of my teachers are interested in me as a person. |
19 | I have made many friends in my school. |
20 | Most of my teachers treat me the same as other students. |
21 | Most of my teachers make me feel comfortable in class. |
22 | I have gotten to know other students in our school really well. |
23 | I get along with most other students I have met at school. |
24 | My teachers spend time just talking with me. |
25 | Most of my teachers seem to understand me. |
26 | I get along with most of my teachers. |
Student survey | |
Valuing school | |
27 | The most important things that happen to me usually happen at school. |
28 | I think schoolwork is really important. |
29 | It is really important to me that I gain knowledge and develop skills. |
30 | I am proud of my school. |
31 | I really enjoy school most of the time. |
32 | All people should get as much education as they can. |
33 | School spirit is very high in my school. |
High expectations | |
34 | My parents/guardians make sure I do my homework before having free time. |
35 | My parents/guardians always know whether or not I am at school. |
36 | My parents/guardians make sure that I get to school on time. |
37 | My parents/guardians make sure that I attend school unless I am sick. |
38 | My parents/guardians contact my school when I am having difficulty or when they are not sure of how they can help me. |
39 | My parents/guardians encourage me to participate in extracurricular activities. |
40 | Study aids that I have at home help me do better schoolwork. |
41 | I have my own work space at home that is fairly quiet for doing school work. |
Social/Intellectual capital | |
42 | My parents/guardians usually go to parents’ nights and special school events. |
43 | I often discuss my schoolwork with my parents/guardians. |
44 | My parents/guardians ensure that I have a healthy diet and enough sleep. |
45 | My parents/guardians often talk with other parents about what is happening at school |
46 | My parents/guardians often discuss my work at school with my teacher |
Communication | |
47 | My parents/guardians always are willing to help me with my schoolwork. |
48 | I talk with my parents/guardians about what I am doing at school almost every day. |
49 | I have conversations about what is happening in my community and the wider world with my parents/guardians. |
50 | My parents/guardians listen to my ideas. |
51 | My parents/guardians encourage me to take responsibility for my own learning at school. |
52 | My parents/guardians encourage me not to give up when I am having difficulty at school. |
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Leithwood, K., Patrician, P. (2017). Changing the Educational Culture of the Home to Increase Student Success at School. In: Leithwood, K., Sun, J., Pollock, K. (eds) How School Leaders Contribute to Student Success. Studies in Educational Leadership, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50980-8_15
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