Recent research reviewing historical trends in parent involvement and student achievement point out the inconsistency of those findings by documenting apparent improvements in achievement while other studies do not support a relationship. Source: https://ebookscheaper.com/2022/02/25/new-trends-in-parent-involvement-and-student-achievement/

1. Recent research reviewing historical trends in parent involvement and student
achievement point out the inconsistency of those findings by documenting
apparent improvements in achievement while other studies do not support a
relationship. Previous studies have shown that parent involvement patterns vary
according to parents' social, racial/ethnic, and economic characteristics; but the
findings have been mixed. More recent parent involvement studies have pointed
out important concerns with research methodology and interpretation of results.
Less is understood about the effects of parent involvement on student learning at
the middle level because elementary studies have dominated the research.
New Trends in Parent Involvement
and Student Achievement

2. Developmentally responsive education
A review of the parent involvement literature would suggest that the effects of
parental involvement may vary with the age of the students. As a result, more
recent studies have begun to focus on middle level students and their parents. A
review of the parent involvement programs literature provides more promising
results. What we have learned from our review is that making a broad
generalization that parent involvement results in increased student achievement
clearly understates the complexity of the issue. Student achievement outcomes
differ based on:
- the particular component of parent involvement and whether this data was
parent- or student-reported;
- the achievement measure(s) used (e.g. achievement test scores, grades, G.P.A.);
- the cultural or racial/ethnic groups involved;
- the subject matter (e.g. mathematics, reading, science) being tested;
- income levels of the parents; and
- gender of the parents.
For a better understanding of research, we have adapted Epstein's typology of
parent involvement as a framework to organize the findings on this complex issue
of parent involvement and student achievement. Epstein's typology and
terminology are predominant throughout the middle level research. Epstein's
typology includes 6 categorizations: (1) Parenting; (2) Communicating; (3)
Volunteering; (4) Learning at Home; (5) Decision Making; and (6) Collaborating
with Community. The sixth type is not discussed in this summary because it is
more directly associated with community involvement.
Type 1: Parenting practices at home
While TV viewing (e.g. rules) has no direct effect on student achievement, it is
impacted indirectly and positively through some complex mechanism of parenting
practices. Although studies have questioned whether parenting practices are

3. within the appropriate sphere of influence of the schools, existing successful
programs that promote effective parenting practices that address this issue may
be considered.
Findings seem to suggest that there is a relationship between student-reported
rules and increases in reading achievement. Parent-reported rules predicted a
decrease in student achievement among nonminority students, which some
researchers believe reflects parent attempts to help the child when the child is
having difficulty. If this is the case, perhaps more proactive parent involvement
would avoid a decrease in achievement scores. However, this approach may be
tempered by the differences in parental ability (e.g. parent education level) and
available resources, such as time, to help their children. This would account for
the differences in achievement results when parent education is considered. In
order to address this, perhaps identifying alternative middle level educational
support systems perceived as positive by adolescents might be considered. Parent
involvement programs that use parent and student self-reports as a way to
determine the level of parent involvement and its effects should be aware that
student reports (i.e. student perceptions) are better predictors of student
outcomes than parent reports. Families of middle grades students could be
involved in learning activities at home. The program included parents who would
not otherwise have become involved.
Type 2: Communicating between school and home
Research suggests that the association between school-home communication and
student achievement was relatively small and outcomes varied to some degree by
race and whether the desired outcomes were standardized scores or student
grades. Grades are slightly more impacted than achievement test scores, which
may be the result of parent(s) communicating with the school and/or teacher at
the time grades were impacted. Because school-home communication and levels
of parent involvement vary by race and income level, this suggests that some
groups may feel more comfortable communicating with the school than others.
Type 3: Volunteering or being an audience at school

4. The association between volunteering and fundraising and student achievement
appears to vary by race and family income. Volunteering was almost twice as
predictive of grades as achievement test scores. While the reasons are not clear,
the findings suggest that there is a small overall relationship between this
component of parent involvement and student scores. However, volunteering or
fundraising on the part of white and middle-income parents was associated with
increases in mathematics and reading scores but was not significant for African-
American, Hispanic, Asian, and low-income students.
Type 4: Learning activities to involve parents with students at home
School-level involvement had less effect on achievement than parent-child
involvement. The findings show that parent-child discussion is significantly related
to increased achievement for whites and African-Americans; however, the link
was not significant for Hispanics or Asians. Home discussion of school activities
was one of the stronger predictors of student achievement. Although the
dynamics of parent-child discussion about school are not clearly understood,
studies suggest parent-child discussion, focusing on middle level age students, is
another area where parent involvement programs might make a difference.
Parent(s) helping students with homework or checking homework had a negative
relationship with achievement. Some researchers believe this is an intervention
strategy or a negative outcome of parental monitoring of an adolescent seeking
his or her own independence. The findings suggest that perhaps a more proactive
parent stance might prevent problems before they occur. Based upon initial
findings from parent involvement programs, students' academic work and
attitudes improve when students conduct interactive homework with family
members.
Type 5: Decision making, governance, and advocacy roles
Parent involvement research studies distinguish between P.T.O.(Parent Teacher
Organization) attendance and P.T.O. involvement, which suggests some degree of
responsibility and participation in decision making. P.T.O. attendance or parent
volunteering was associated with very small effects on reading and mathematics

5. achievement. P.T.O. involvement findings vary to some degree by subject matter
tested, income level, and race. Although the effect of parent P.T.O. attendance
and involvement is not clearly understood, it has been suggested that P.T.O.
involvement may mitigate some of the negative effects related to racial/ethnic
barriers and differences by providing opportunities for governance and advocacy
roles. Parent involvement programs that encourage and support involvement of
low-income parents in parent/school organizations may provide better insight
about the value of such involvement.
Type 6: Collaborating with Community
Although the dynamics of parent involvement and student achievement at the
middle level are not clearly understood, current efforts of purposeful parent
involvement programs provide promising strategies for making a difference.
These recently evolving programs have the potential to make a difference and are
expected to provide substantive data over the new few years to effectively
document their worth. The leadership of every middle level school, regardless of
school enrollment size or community socio-economic composition, has an
obligation to engage in discussions about purposeful parent involvement
programs. There is no evident research documenting a negative effect as a result
of the implementation of a well-designed parent involvement program and there
is an initial body of literature and research supporting the value of such programs.
Megan Wilson is a teacher, life strategist, successful entrepreneur, inspirational
keynote speaker and founder of https://Ebookscheaper.com. Megan champions
a radical rethink of our school systems; she calls on educators to teach both
intuition and logic to cultivate creativity and create bold thinkers.
Source: https://ebookscheaper.com/2022/02/25/new-trends-in-parent-
involvement-and-student-achievement/