Parental Involvement In School Essay

According to Young, Austin, and Growe (2013), school administrators, teachers, and parents perceive parental involvement differently, although their research predominantly covers the perceptions of parental involvement by school administrators. These researchers analyzed the qualitative data collected through a written answer to the question, “How do you define parental involvement?” The findings from this study revealed that the school administrators define parental involvement as parents actively engaging in the school, e.g., communication with school personnel, and as supporting the students at home, e.g., helping with homework (Young et al., 2013). As noted in Chapter 1, Zedan (2012) defines parental involvement according to four attributes:

Second, “Basic obligations of schools” (p.290) which refers to the role of schools in communicating with the parents about the academic progress of their children and providing constant feedback to parents about their children’s schooling and development. Third, “Involvement at school” (p.290) which refers to parents’ visits and volunteer work at the school to help support their children with both academic and extracurricular activities; Epstein and Dauber (1991) suggest that schools can improve this type of involvement by offering flexible schedules that allow more families to be involved. Fourth, “Involvement in learning activities at home” (p.291) which includes parents being involved in their children’s homework and learning activities through the guidance of a school’s teachers; this promotes collaboration between the teachers and parents allowing them both to keep track of children’s development and academic growth. Fifth, “Involvement in decision-making” (p.291), which refers to active participation in parent-teacher associations (PTAs) and other community support groups. Sixth, “Collaboration and exchanges with community organizations” (p.291) which refers to the