Parental Involvement

School Administrator, Sept, 1997

Parents base decisions on whether to get involved in their children's schooling on their own ideas and experiences as well as on environmental factors, according to a study published in the spring 1997 issue of Review of Educational Research.

Researchers Kathleen V. Hoover-Dempsey and Howard M. Sandler identified three major factors that account for parents' decision to become involved:

* parents' beliefs about what is important, necessary and permissible for them and their children;

* the extent to which parents believe that they can exert positive influence on their children's education; and

* parents' perceptions that the child and school want them to be involved.

The authors recommend that communities and school districts include parents as an explicit part of the schools' mission. They also recommend that schools and teachers are enabled to spend at least a portion of the work week interacting with parents.

A free single copy of the article is available by contacting Denise McKeon or Mary Meyers of the American Educational Research Association at 202-223-9485.