PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

AND
ITS PERCEIVED IMPACT ON CHILDREN'S ACHIEVEMENT

BY

REV. ALEXIUS MINJ, S. J.

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School,

Marquette University,

in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Master of Arts

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

November 1999

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ii

Rev. Alexius Minj, S.l.

ABSTRACT

Parental Involvement and its Perceived Impact

on Children's Achievement

The purpose of this study was to investigate parental involvement and the parents'

perceived impact in their children's achievement. The subjects of this study were parents

having children ih a suburban Catholic elementary school. Modes of investigation were

survey, interviews, and review of school documents.

The findings of this study indicate that, as individuals, the overwhelming majority

of the respondents were directly involved in their children's learning activities; however,

as a school community, for instance, as members of PTAlPTO, almost sixty-five percent

of the parents who responded to the survey had not attended any of the meetings in that

year. However, almost all of the respondents perceived parental involvement as not only

very important but as crucial for their children's achievement.

The next step, therefore, is to educate school personnel so that they may be more

open and accessible to parental involvement and devise a plan providing ways for parents

to perceive more deeply their own impact on their children's achievement. It is also

important to educate and inform parents of the vital role they play in the lives of their

children.
iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are several people who deserve my gratitude for their help and support

during my studies at Marquette University. First of all, I wish to express my appreciation

to the members of my Master's thesis committee: Dr. Jack 1. Augenstein (Advisor), Dr.

Angeline Cepelka, and Dr. Mark Joerres. I am especially indebted to my advisor, the

person most responsible for my completing the master's program at Marquette. His

patience, guidance, advice, and support were invaluable.

I would also like to express my special thanks to Rev. Jeffrey Loebl, S.J. who

was always ready to help. I am grateful to the principal and the parents of the suburban

Catholic elementary school, who facilitated my survey work. I also owe my deepest

gratitude to the Jesuit community at Marquette, and to my Jesuit brothers in Darjeeling,

India for their love and friendship . Finally, I wish to thank my parents (Mr. Simon Minj

& Mrs. Gabriella Tirkey) who truly were my first teachers. Although they are dead and

gone, I believe they are with me for my future ministry in education. I dedicate this thesis

to them.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I Introduction --------------------------- 1

Statement of the Problem------------------------------------- 2

Significance of the Study ------------------------------------ 2

Research Questions ------------------------------------------- 3

Definitions of Terms ----------------------------------------- 3

Limitations of the Study -------------------------------------- 4

The Outline ---------------------------------------------------- 5

CHAPTER II Review of the Literture---------------------- 6

Introduction ---------------------------------------------------- 6

A Brief History of Parental Involvement------------------- 6

The Importance of Parental Involvement ------------------ 9

Types of Parental Involvement ------------------------------ 10

Parental involvement in the school----------------------- 11

Parental involvement in the home ----------------------- 14

Effects of Parental Involvement ----------------------------- 15

Barriers to Parental Involvement ---------------------------- 17

Changing demographics ---------------------------------- 18

School norms that do not support partnership---------- 20
Resistance from educators -------------------------------- 21
Resistance from parents ----------------------------------- 22
Limited resources (Time, Money, Training, and
Leadership) to support parental involvement------- 24

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Parental Perception on their Children's Achievement ----- 27

SUUIUn1aJ){---------------------------------------------------------- 29

CHAPTER III Methodology---------------------------------- 31

Selection of Subjects ------------------------------------------- . 31

Instrumentation ------------------------------------------------- 31

Data Collection Procedure ------------------------------------ 33

Data Analysis Procedure -------------------------------------- 34

Inter-Coder Reliability----------------------------------------- 35

CHAPTER IV Presentation of the Findings----------------- 36

Introduction --------------------'--------------------------------- 36

The Findings of the Mailed Survey-------------------------- 37

Demographic information --------------------------------- 37

Parental involvement at school --------------------------- 43
Parental involvement at home ---------------------------- 45
Parents' perception of their own involvement----------- 47
Grade point average (GPA) of children ----------------- 48
Highlights of the open-ended responses ----------------- 49

SummaJ){ of Interview Data---------------------------------- 54

Introduction ------------------------------------------------ 54
Findings of the interview ---------------------------------- 55
Demographic information --------------------------------- 55
Summary of open-ended responses ---------------------- 56

Review of the School Documents ------------------------------- 59

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CHAPTER V SummarY, Discussion, Conclusion, and

Recom menda tions----------------------------------- 62

SUrrunl3l){ ---------------------------------------------------------- 62

Discussion of the Findings ------------------------------------- 64

Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------- 66

Recorrunlendations for Future Research ---------------------- 67

LIST OFT ABL ES--------------------------------------------------------- 37

TABLES
1. Subjects Completing Survey ---------------------------------- 37

2. Parents' Age Groups ----------------------------------------- 38

3. Parents' Educational Background -------------------------- . 39

4. Family Income ------------------------------------------------ 40

5. Parent Marital Status------------------------------------------ 41

6. Number of Children In a Family ---------------------------- 42

7. Parental Involvement at School----------------------------- 44

8. Parental Involvement at Home ------------------------------ 46

9. Parents' Perception of Their Own Involvement ---------- 47

10. Child's GPA on Last Report Card--------------------------- 48

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REFERENCE LIST 68

APPENDIX:

A -----Parent Survey---------------------------------------------- 73

B -----Cover Letter------------------------------------------------ 76

C -----Interview Guide Questions------------------------------- 77

D ----- Hwnan Subject Consent Fonn-------------------------- 79

E -----Introductory Letter For Consent------------------------- 80

F -----Consent Response Fonn---------------------------------- 81

G-----Table 11--------------------------------------------------- 82

H -----Table 12 --------------------------------------------------- 84

I -----Table 13 --------------------------------------------------- 85

J ----- Table 14 --------------------------------------------------- 86

K -----Table 15 --------------------------------------------------- 87

L -----Table 16 --------------------------------------------------- 87

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PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
AND
ITS PERCEIVED IMPACT
ON CHILDREN'S ACHIEVEMENT

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Parental involvement in the learning activities of their children and the perceived

impact of parents on their children's achievement are of continuing interest to educators

as they are trying to find ways to improve the academic achievement of their students. In

the last few decades, the importance of parental involvement in schools has increasingly

gained recognition at both state and national levels. For example, the eighth goal of the

National Education Goals, as set out in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, noted that

every school should promote a partnership between home and school that will increase

parental involvement and participation in the social, emotional, and academic growth of

children (U.S. Department of Education, 1994). Many other studies also support the

important role parents play in the education of their children. For example, Dauber and

Epstein (1993) maintained:

Research conducted for nearly a quarter of a century has shown convincingly that
parent involvement is important for children' s learning, attitudes about school, and
aspirations. Children are more successful students at all grade levels if their parents
participate at school and encourage education and learning at home, whatever the
educational background or social class of their parents (p. 53).

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Likewise, Henderson (1987) has argued that "the evidence is beyond dispute: parent

involvement improves student achievement. When parents are involved, children do better

in school and they go to better schools" (p. 1).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study investigated parental involvement in their children's education and those

same parents' perceived impact on their children's achievement. The importance of

parental involvement in schools is acknowledged throughout the literature (Bempechant,

1990; Epstein, 1991; Henderson, 1987; Kagan, 1984; Satters, 1985). Many studies have

examined parental involvement and student achievement; however, very few studies are

found that have examined what those parents perceive is their impact on their .children' s

achievement. This research study, therefore, has combined both parental involvement and

those parents' perceptions of their impact on their children's achievement.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study will be important to parents. As the title indicates,

parents are the central figures in children's education, and their perceived impact is

relevant to their children's achievement. It is hoped that the findings will foster parents'

awareness, perception, interest, competence, and responsibility in the education of their

children. Furthermore, this study re-emphasizes the importance of parent-teacher

partnership and advocates a strong shared responsibility for children's achievement.

Ultimately, this study may help to bring a sense of unity and collegiality among parents as

well as with educators in general.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions addressed in this study are as follows :

1. What role do parents play in their children's education?

2. In what activities/functions can and do parents participate?

3. What are the barriers to parental involvement?

4. What do parents perceive is their impact on their children' s

achievement?

DEFINITION OF TERMS

For the purpose of this study, relevant terms have been identified, defined, and

clarified. The key terms in this study are parent, parental involvement, and parents'

perceived impact. Following are the applied definitions for the present study.

Parent:

In the context of this study parental involvement means the involvement of not just

biological parents, but any adult who has parenting responsibilities and who makes contact

with the school on the child's behalf

Parental involvement:

Parental involvement is participation by parents in any school-related activity in

school as well as the home. These activities are not limited to merely the traditional

categories, such as attendance at school events, home tutoring, teacher-parents

conferences, discipline management, and participation on school committees. This

participation is seen by educators as supportive of instruction, which mayor may not

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influence school policies (Epstein, 1984, 1995; Epstein and Salinas, 1993; Moles, 1987;

Ost, 1988). In this research study parental involvement is incorporated into two

categories: 1) Parental involvement in school activities, and 2) parental involvement in

learning activities in the home.

Parent perceived impact:

Parent perceived impact means parents' understanding, or beliefs, or awareness of

their own influence or effect on their children's achievement.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

There are three major limitations that must be considered in evaluating the results

of this study. First, this study was limited in random sampling of the study. The sample

subjects were all comprised of one hundred percent Roman Catholic and white parents of

a suburban Catholic elementary school. The findings cannot be generalized to parents of

other religious denominations or ethnic groups.

A second limitation of this study was its small number (121 survey respondents

and only ten individual interviews) of participants. An argument could be raised about

whether the sample represented the entire school that consisted of 274 families with 400

children in attendance.

Finally, this study is limited by the cooperation and veracity of the parents. For

instance, regarding the children's GP A, whatever the parents confided was assumed to be

accurate.

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THE OUTLINE

In Chapter Two, a review of the literature begins with a brief history of parental

involvement followed by the discussion on the specific research that highlights the

importance of parental involvement, various types of parental involvement, effects

(benefits) of parental involvement, barriers of parental involvement in the school activities,

and parent perception of student achievement.

Chapter Three describes the methodology used to conduct this research study. In

this section, selection of survey instrument, and the procedure used in collecting and

analyzing the data are described.

Chapter Four provides the findings or answers to the research questions regarding

parental involvement and those parents' perceived impact on their children's ~chievement.

Chapter Five presents a summary of the interpretation of the research ~ndings, its

implication, and the conclusion of the research study. Further recommendations for

research are also included.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

A great amount of information is available regarding the role and significance of

parental involvement in the process of the education of children. The following review of

literature includes a brief history of the growth of parental involvement, the importance of

parental involvement, the various types of parental involvement, the effects of parental

involvement, the barriers of parental involvement, parental perception on their children's

achievement, and a concluding summary.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Since early times, parents have been the most important educators of their

children. Children received their first education in the home until 1580 B.c. when in Egypt

the first formal education outside the home was started. The root of the current emphasis

on parental involvement, however, can be seen in the works of Rousseau (1712-1778) and

Pestalozzi (1747-1827). Rousseau emphasized education' and the importance of mothers

being involved in the education of their children. Pestalozzi viewed a mother as the child's

first educator. His thoughts were that the mother is the first to nourish her child's body;

so she should also be the first to nourish his or her mind (Pestalozzi, 1951).

In the United States, the kindergarten movement began in the 1880s with its

emphasis on involving parents in their children's education. As a result, in the late 1880s

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national parent educational organizations were established, and by the 1920s and 1930s

there were m.o re than 75 such organizations. Gestwicki (1992) reported that during the

1930s parent cooperative nursery schools began and continue today involving middle-class

parents with opportunities to participate in the life of the schools. These efforts may

include helping to define school philosophy and practices to aiding in the care and

maintenance of facilities.

Although the nation was consumed by World War II during the first half of the

1940s parent education continued, and child care services were provided to allow mothers

to work in the war effort. During this decade of war, greater awareness of the emotional

and social health of children became important (Berger, 1991). Bloom (1992) described

the expanding role home-school communications played in the 1940s. There was

communication between parents and teachers and between parents and administrators, but

there was also a distinct separation between home and schooL Parents were considered

experts at bringing up their children, and schools were considered experts at educating

children with both parties confident that the other would uphold its end of the bargain.

However, in the 1950s school systems consolidated, and children began to travel long

distances from homes to schools. School administrators played strong leadership roles,

and parents' power was reduced as parents became less involved with their children's

schools (Berger, 1991).

Bloom (1992) also discussed that in the. 1960s parents actively sought more

individual identities for themselves and their children. This resulted in a decrease in the

distance between home and school. Parents interested in the relevancy of the curriculum
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looked more critically at what was being taught in the schools. During this time, Lopez

(1992) described two innovative efforts initiated to interrupt the cycle of poverty and

provide inter-generational education in parenting and literacy. These two programs, Head

Start and the University of Oregon Follow Through Program, empowered parents through

training and communication to become involved in the education of their children.

Parent involvement efforts during the 1970s were described individually by Bloom

(1992) and Lopez (1992). Parent involvement in public schools became institutionalized as

many federal and state-funded programs, such as Head Start, the Original Follow Through

Program, and Title 1 mandated parent involvement. During this decade, educators began

to see the need for help and support from parents as reflected in the growth of the Parent-

Teacher Associations (PTA) and Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO). The .PTAs /

PTOs gained a strong voice in public school hierarchies as parents became more actively

involved in all areas of educational policy and practice.

Bloom (1992) and Lopez (1992) also illustrated how parental involvement in

schools changed in the 1980s. During this decade, parents became polarized. Many

parents who kept their children in public schools were actively involved and instrumental

in supporting innovations such as parental choice, site-based management, and school

reform. Others reacted by pulling their children out of public schools and putting them

into private, parochial, or more homogeneous suburban systems. Furthermore, this

decade is marked by an increasing lack of parent-teacher partnership due to dramatic

changes in family structures. The number of working mothers, single-parents, and step-

families increased drastically. Schools had an additional challenge of working with parents
9

who were least likely to be able to get involved with their children's school the working

poor, the non-English-speaking, those on welfare, and homeless families. During this time

decentralization and an increase in site-based management made it possible, for some

groups of parents to become very involved at local levels, while other groups of parents

were not encouraged or invited to participate in schools.

Finally, Bloom (1992) and Lopez (1992) in separate chapters described the current

state of parental involvement in schools. The schools of the 1990s, they believed, are

attempting to create climates of support and respect for parents. Although largely

unfocused and at a grass-roots level, parental involvement in the current decade has seen

an increase in schools on all levels. Comprehensive parental involvement policies with

nationwide and state networking capabilities are evolving. Parents, continuing to be

frustrated with public education, are forming ad hoc parent groups devoted to instigating

specific changes or promoting specific issues. PT As and PTOs are continuing to grow in

number and strength as parents are feeling an increased sense of urgency to become

involved in their local schools.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Everyone seems to agree that parental involvement in their children's education is

a wonderful idea, simply because the challenges which school children face cannot be

solved by either the school alone or the family alone. As Henderson (1987) stated,

"parent involvement is neither a quick fix nor a luxury; it is absolutely fundamental to a

healthy system of public education" (p. 153). In fact, research has found that the fastest

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way to improve a student's academic performance is to increase the amount and improve

the quality of parental involvement (Fuller & Olsen, 1998).

Kim, Fruth, and Bowles (1976) found that a child's prospects for future academic

success were enhanced by parental involvement in the educational process. They said that

parental involvement is the critical factor in the aspirations and achievement of high school

students. Marquand (1987) reported that parental involvement in school issues establishes

a powerful climate for student learning in school as well as in the home. The National

Education Goals Panel has defined one of the eight goals to be achieved by the year 2000

as "every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and

participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children"(U.S.

Department of Education, 1994). According to a meta-analysis including 66 studies of

student success (Henderson, 1987), when parents become involved in their children's

education at school, one or more of the following results were included: higher grades

and better test scores, better attendance and regularly completed homework, reduced

placements in special education or remedial classes, higher graduation rates, and more

positive attitudes surrounding student behavior at school.

TYPES OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

There are various types of parental involvement in their children's education

(Gestwicki, 1992). Gestwicki asserted that parental involvement varies by school and

program, simply because the term "parental involvement" means different things to

different people. The models of parental involvement range from a low to a high level of

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participation. Schools with low levels of parental involvement allow parents to take part in

activities that do not challenge the expertise of teachers or the decision-making power of

school administrators. These activities may include newsletters, parent meetings, and

individual parent conferences. These activities keep parents at a distance while learning

secondhand about their children' s lives at school. In contrast, schools with high levels of

parental involvement provide opportunities for parents to directly participate in their

child ' s education through school visits, classroom observations, or volunteer activities

such as serving on school decision-making communities. In these schools parents are

regarded as partners and are given the power to make decisions concerning the education

of their children. Epstein (1 987a) categorized two major types of parental involvement in

their children's education: (1) parental involvement in school, and (2) parent.al

involvement in their children' s learning activities at home. Both of these major types are

examined below under separate headings.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE SCHOOL

Parental involvement in school refers to parents who come to school as part of an

audience or as visitors to encourage and to support school events, or as volunteers who

can be classified as tutors or mentors to students, and as helpers who assist teachers in

classroom and school activities. A newer and growing form of parental involvement in

school also refers to parents' participation in governance and advocacy to assist school

administrators (Epstein, 1988).

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Parents as part of an audience or visitors contribute a great deal to the school by

responding to invitations to watch children's performances in musical events, dramatic

productions, sport activities, science projects, curriculum fairs and so on. Such activities

provide parents with an opportunity to see their children's academic as well as co-

curricular projects on display. Parental presence as an audience at graduation and award

ceremonies not only affirms the children's self-worth and helps children to become more

intrinsichlly motivated and thus encourages children to do better. This presence also

provides recognition for the educators who work in preparing children for these great

moments.

Parents as volunteers (helpers, tutors, mentors) assist in classrooms as well as in

other areas of school activities. In classrooms, parents provide help to teache!,s, check

homework, and other assignments. As tutors, parents listen to children reading aloud

individually as well as in small groups or other such activities. As tutors, parents provide

remedial tutoring to the children in need, help children to select appropriate literature in the

library, or assist in computer-based instruction, and so forth. Parents as mentors

collaborate with teachers as problem solvers. Parents as volunteers take part in field trips,

sports programs, fund-raising, and so forth. Thus, parents as helpers, tutors, and mentors in

school can be very effective in supporting children's learning at school (Gestwicki, 1992).

Parental involvement in school governance (administration) refers to parents'

participation in policy and decision making. It also refers to parents who serve as

monitors of changes instituted for school improvement (Epstein, 1988). Parents in

governance participate as voting members of school councils, steering committees,

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advisory councils and other committees or groups at the local level. When parents are

involved in governance of the school of their children, they provide input to policies that

affect their children's education. Through parents' participation in governance, school

faculty and administration become aware of parent perspectives of school policy

development. When parents serve as members of a governing body of the school, they not

only feel supportive of their children's learning environment, but also that their children's

rights are protected (Fuller & Olsen, 1998).

Parental involvement in advocacy involves parents, individually or as a group, In

participatory roles in such groups as (PTA) or (PTO), and other committees or groups at

school, district, state, and national levels. Parents' involvement in advocacy includes

connections with educational agencies, such as the National Parent Teacher A~sociation

(NPT A), the National Parenting Association (NP A), businesses, and other groups as well

that share responsibility for their children's education and future successes. For instance,

parents may become linked to political groups and elected representatives who design and

approve educational programs, funding appropriations, and budgets. Parents in advocacy

not only advocate within the school but they can also be very powerful advocates for the

initiation of new policies and programs within and outside of the school to improve

education. Thus, parental involvement in the school is one of the most important. factors for

the educational improvement of their children.

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PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE HOME

Most parent groups and educational authorities agree that children's learning is

supported when parents fulfill their basic obligations as parents. The parents' obligations

include providing for their children's health and safety as well as developing parenting skills

and child-rearing practices that prepare children for school, maintain healthy child

development across the grades, and build positive home conditions that support school

learning and behavior throughout the school years. For instance, parents make sure their

children get sufficient rest, are fed an ample and nutritious diet, get to school regularly and

on time, are dressed appropriately for the weather, have clean clothes to wear, and have a

quiet and a well-lit place to study at home. Walberg (1984) noted that the home

environment has such a strong effect on learning because "87% of a student' s ~aking time

is normally controlled by the parents" (p. 397). This "at-home" time can strongly influence

school productivity and, if academically stimulating conditions are maintained, will

dramatically increase the student's total learning time.

Walberg's (1984) research shows that increasing parental supervision of homework

and reducing children's viewing of television strongly affected academic achievement.

Walberg further argued that children whose parents had rules concerning television

viewing achieved at higher levels in math and reading. Walberg insisted that homework

develops self-discipline, enriches the experiences of the school day, provides opportunities

for independent study, helps draw the home and school closer together, and maintains

students' interest in learning.

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A survey by Epstein (1982) found that fifth-grade students who had greater

parental involvement in homework reported more positive attitudes towards school. These

students also reported more regular homework habits, more similarity between the school

and their family values, more familiarity between the teacher and their parents, and more

homework assigned as well as completed on weekends. Learning activities that involved

parents in their children's education at home includes listening to their children read,

encouraging homework and participating in homework or other learning activities,

especially with elementary school children.

EFFECTS OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Research has consistently documented the effects of parental involvem~nt on their

children's achievement. In 1981, the National Committee for Citizens in Educ~tion

(NCCE) published The Evidence Grows (Henderson, 1982), which described 35 studies on

parental involvement. The findings of all the studies in this meta analysis supported the fact

that parental involvement in almost any form appears to provide gains in student

achievement. In 1988, the NCCE published The Evidence Continues to Grow: Parent

Involvement Improves Student Achievement (Henderson, 1987) with 18 new studies that

strongly suggest that involving parents can make a critical difference (Henders<?n, 1987).

Becher (1984) did an extensive review of the literature on parental involvement in

education. She examined how parental involvement affects children and found that there

are several key family behaviors that clearly relate to student achievement. According to

Becher (1984), regardless of socioeconomic status, children reach high achievement scores
16

with the support of high expectations from parents who interact frequently with their

children. These parents also communicate with a broader vocabulary, provide problem-

solving strategies, and reinforce what their children learn in school .

Clark (1983) conducted an intensive case study of 10 families living in public

housing projects in Chicago. Five had a senior high school student who was doing well

academically (top 20% of his or her class), and five had a senior high school student in the

bottom 20% of his or her class. Clark visited with each family for at least two entire days

and observed its structure and interrelationships. In the high achievers' homes, Clark found

strong parent encouragement of academic pursuits, clear and consistent limits for children,

warm and nurturing parent-child interactions, and consistent monitoring of time use. These

parents also seemed to hold common attitudes toward education that showed .great

concern for the school's success and a belief that only with parental input would schools

provide sound education.

Dornbusch's (1986) study was concerned with family behaviors that can make a

difference in student grades no matter what the income or educational level of the parents.

The degree of parent participation in school functions, such as parent conferences, open

houses, school nights, and so forth, are strongly linked to students' grades regardless of

the parent's own educational attainment. Another important family behavior is the reaction

of parents to good or poor grades. For instance, ignoring bad grades or overreacting in

anger towards low grades is ~neffective to improve the grades, while the use of extrinsic

rewards seem to be the most effective response for better achievement. Majoribanks (1976)

also showed that parental verbal encouragement and interactions regarding learning
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activities at home have a positive influence on achievement. Parents who praise,

encourage, and offer help aid their children in attaining better grades.

Bempechant (1990) found that it is not simply the amount of time parents spend

interacting in schools, but it is the parents' actions in the home and the psychological

process of creating positive expectations that are likely to matter in their child's school

performance. This study also found that those schools whose students perform well

academically are likely to have active parent organizations, numerous volunteer

opportunities, and a high frequency of positive interactions between parents and teachers.

Bempechant (1990) noted that accumulated evidence supports the importance of

parent involvement in children's education. Some parents have the skills to foster

academic achievement. Most importantly, research shows that when teachers ~nd

educational administrators are strongly committed to involving parents in their children's

education, academic outcomes for children can be very positive.

BARRIERS TO PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

In theory, parents and teachers overwhelmingly agree on the importance of parental

involvement or home-school partnership"that contributes to student success. However, in

practice, the paradox is that an actual resistance to parental involvement in schools comes

from teachers as well as from parents themselves. The benefits of home-school

partnership are evident, yet parental involvement in school programs and activities remains

rare (Bums, 1993). In 1932 Waller maintained that parents and teachers are natural

enemIes. He argued that, despite the urgent need for partnership and the weight of
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supportive evidence for such a partnership, parents are continually kept at a distance in

most schools. Pulitzer prize-winning columnist William Raspberry wrote: "I suspect that

the single biggest reason for noninvolvement is as simple as this: parents don't know how

important they are to tjteir children's academic success, and they don't know what to do"

(Raspberry, 1994, p. A27). One must conclude, therefore, that there are powerful

barriers against parental involvement. In this section the following five major barriers of

parental involvement are explored: (1) changing demographics; (2) school norms that do

not support partnerships; (3) resistance from educators; (4) resistance from parents; and (5)

limited resources (time, money, training and leadership) to support parental involvement.

CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS

Family structures have been changing very rapidly in the last few decades. For

example, the traditional two-parent nuclear family is now one structural form in a society of

multiple family structures; 70% of mothers of school-aged children are now in the work

force compared with 30% in 1960. Almost half of all marriages today result in divorce.

There are more single-parent families. A third of all marriages are now remarriages, and

one out of four children has one or more step-parents (Swap, 1990). The number of

children under 15 having children has increased dramatically in the last decade . .The

number of children living below poverty level is increasing. Racial, linguistic, and ethnic

diversity is more common in classrooms. Swap, goes on to say that by the year 2000, the

census bureau projects that the total number of minority children will have increased from

28% to 33% . Over and above, immigration figures are soaring. According to preliminary
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19

data from the 1990 census, immigrants now account for 30% of the nation's population

growth, up from 19% in 1980. All these demographic changes have made parental

involvement in their children's education more complicated. The growing necessity of

mothers to be employed outside the home limits their capacity to be involved in school

activities during school hours.

The demographic changes also affect educators. Their availability for meeting

parents before or after school cannot be taken for granted, especially when their time is not

compensated with released time during the day for other aspects of their educational duties,

or with greater compensation, or with a special arrangement to meet a child in special

need. For all these reasons, taking on the additional responsibility of reaching out to

parents in new ways may not be rewarding to educators. The increase in the d~versity of

our students has also created many challenges for educators. Swap's study (1990) found

that in Chelsea, Massachusetts, 70% of the children now come from homes in which

English is not the primary language. In a public school in La Jolla, California, 31 different

primary languages are spoken by children (Swap, 1990). In many cases, the diversity in

the student body can be enriching to the class, the teacher, and the curriculum. On the

other hand, the extent and range of differences make it difficult for teachers to cope.

Thus, demographic changes are one of the major barriers of parental involvement.

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20

SCHOOL NORMS THAT DO NOT SUPPORT PARTNERSHIP

Parental involvement, collaboration, partnership and so on do not make up the

dominant model for the management of schools in the modern age. The traditional

approach to managing schools emphasizes hierarchy, individualism, and technology rather

than dialogue, relationship, and reciprocity (Epstein, 1984). Team-teaching, collaborative

problem solving, or a respect for a strong teachers' voice in a school-based management

are still the exception. Teachers' training programs rarely emphasize a curriculum that

would help teachers to find and use their own voice to learn skills of working in groups of

teachers or parents to understand the effects of different approaches to school

management, or to explore the contributions of other human service professionals to family

and community development. According to Seeley (1985) :

The essential trouble is the nature of the system itself, a system that has been guided
by a "delivery system" mentality. Public education today is a professionalized,
bureaucratized, governmental enterprise attempting to deliver education as a
service. The system is at fault because it is designed to deliver something that
cannot be delivered. The system is failing and will continue to fail until education is
rediscovered as a dimension of human development dependent on personal
motivation, initiative, and relationship, not on systems service delivery (p. 4).

Seeley went on to argue that American schools have adopted a "delegation model" of

parent involvement in which parents signal that they do not have to be involved because the

job of education has been delegated to the schools, and educators see parent-involvement

as an interference with the jobs that have been delegated to them . In the delegation model,

conversation is necessary only during crises.

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21

RESISTANCE FROM EDUCATORS

The improvement of teacher-parent interaction is considered an integral part of any

successful educational setting (Ames, & Caroe et al. 1995 Epstein, 1987; Leitch & Tangri,

1988;). However, when educational reform movements began proposing changes in

schools, involving increased interaction from parents, teachers were unprepared for the

assertive attitudes of parents (Schreiber, 1962; Ost, 1988). Teachers reacted defensively to

community concern and became gradually isolated from parents, students, and

administrators. One manifestation of this isolation is that the majority of teachers were

observed relating to parents in a distrustful, hostile, and self-preserving manner (Ost,

1988). Brian (1994) observed that low expectations and negative attitudes of some

teachers toward low-income parents also inhibited the development of initiative to involve

parents. According to Ferro and Bush (1994), disillusionment and frustration within the

first two years of a teacher' s experience may also inhibit the development of initiatives to

involve parents.

London, Molotsi, & Palmer (1984) discovered that teachers face a certain dilemma

regarding parental involvement. While the request for such participation can suggest that

the teacher is professionally weak, any refusal to allow it can yield questions from

professional organizations over control issues. In the bargain some teachers may totally

reject parental involvement simply because it could interfere with their daily schedule and

lesson plans.

Other studies of teachers' attitudes toward parental involvement include Lortie' s

(1975) large-scale study in which he found that teachers want parents to be supportive of
,.
22

their efforts and participate when asked, yet want parents to stay out of the teacher's

realms. Gorton (1977) addressed the question of whether principals truly want parents to

become active in school affairs. The study concluded that principals look upon parental

involvement as demanding, time-consuming, and frustrating. According to Treffinger and

Fine (1979), much of the resistance from educators toward parent involvement and parent

participation in the schools revolves simply around the complications and difficulties in

arranging and conducting involvement programs.

As educators have become more possessed of a sense of their own importance as

they have become more professional and organized, parents have gradually been removed

from the decision-making process. Although research, as well as experience, reports the

importance of parental involvement in the school, parents are often perceived .as peripheral

and tangential rather than essential to education. The reason behind this perception of

parents is that teachers and administrators face realistic time constraints. The

administrators and teachers are busy maintaining the educational operation as it currently

exists. Any changes mean that something will receive less attention, and it all too often

seems to be parental involvement for all the noted reasons.

RESISTANCE FROM PARENTS

Studies conducted through parent-teacher interaction indicate that a difference in

educational values leaves the parents feeling awkward in their encounters with school

personnel. Furthermore, while the home and school value system may seem congruent,

parents feel ostracized in the face of indifference or unfriendliness received from school
,.
23

personnel. Parent perceptions of teachers' disinterest or disapprovals may be reasons that

many parents are reluctant to contact them or come to the school.

Sasser (1991) argued that a reluctant parent-participant is not an uninterested

parent. Reasons for parents' reluctance could be several. For instance, some parents believe

that they do not get enough information from the school to help their children at home.

Parents also have reported that school teachers often ask them to tutor children at home,

and these parents would be willing to do so if only they knew how (Brian, 1994).

Moreover, a study by Epstein (1986) found that parents believe that they should help their

children if the teachers give them learning activities to do at home. In addition, parents

often find that as their children progress through higher grades, they are less qualified to

provide the necessary help for their children. Thus, the parental involvement d';Vindles as

grade level increases.

Gress and Carroll (1985) reported that the setting of the school itself can create

territorial barriers for the parent and can create a psychological "set" in which the parents

may revert to childhood roles and role relationships. Gress and Carroll also found that

many parent-teacher conferences are defensive, antagonistic, disorganized, and frustrating.

According to Fredericks (1987), parents who do not become involved may reflect

uneasiness with the school, often due to their personal experiences as students th~mselves .

Shifts in sociological structures of home and school have apparently promoted parental

resistance to involvement and participation in their children's schooling.

Comer (1986) reported that, in addition to the racial, economic, educational, and

social differences between home and school, parents are reluctant to become involved in
t'
24
their children's school because they may be afraid that their children will perform poorly

and reflect negatively on their parenting ability. Parents will come to school activities, but

with time so precious, they want to make sure that they are not wasting their time on

activities where their involvement is not really wanted nor valued, or where they are not

making a contribution to their children's education and welfare. Increased diversity among

the parent population and a sense of being different from school personnel may lessen

parents' comfort in seeking contact with teachers or administrators.

LIMITED RESOURCES (Time, Money, Training, and Leadership)

TO SUPPORT PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Time is one of the most important resources in a school almost all of which IS

allocated directly to teaching. Finding time continues to be a barrier to home-school

partnership. Changing demographics have made time even more precious and fragmented

for both parents and educators. This reality needs to be acknowledged, accepted, and

planned for, but usually it is not. In the lack of easy solutions to this problem,

misunderstanding and conflict develop. Parents and teachers often interpret the other's

lack of availability as a signal of a lack of concern for the children involved. Teachers get

annoyed when parents fail to appear for conferences or neglect to carry out agreed-upon

educational activities at home for which there is not an adequate amount of time or energy.

Parents despair when teachers talk to them only in 15minute conferences and occasionally

fail to recognize their child' s special strengths. Anger and disappointment, frustration and

exhaustion are commonplace in this struggle, each party often seeing the other at fault.
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25

However, parents and teachers do make time for each other during a crisis, but at that

point, the stage is set for trouble, and the time spent togther is often punishing and

adversarial. When trust, respect, and openness do not already exist in the relationship

between parents and teachers, it is difficult to engage these foundational values in a crisis

, atmosphere.

Time is not the only limited resource, money raises problems as well. School

budgets are subjected to continual scrutiny. In many states, the financial resources that are

available to schools are declining; the need to provide salaries to attract good teachers, the

rising cost of the necessary technology, equipment and appropriate educational space

burdens the budget. Consequently, money is not readily allocated to parent-teacher

partnership programs, which makes it difficult to initiate or maintain this outreach for

parents. The lack of availability of money for start-up or expansion of partnership activities

is a practical barrier to successful outreach.

Beside time and money, inadequate training skill on the part of both parents and

teachers has been cited as a barrier to parental involvement. Even if they have positive

attitudes toward school, parents may not have the training or skill needed to help their

children learn (Bums, 1993). Many teachers and other staff members also lack the

necessary skills to work effectively with parents and families, particularly those who have

different cultural, socioeconomic, or language backgrounds. Teachers and administrators

may be uncomfortable having parents in the school because they do not know how to

involve parents in the classrooms while still maintaining their role as educators (Cotton &

Wikelund, 1989).

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26

In his study, Starr (1978) found that school staff and administrators are not well

trained to facilitate parent-teacher partnership. Starr concluded that the average home is

open to a partnership with the schools, but that the average school personnel are afraid of

parent-partnership due to lack of training in such necessary skills. He contended that the

nature of teacher-education training retards the concept that parents can or should have

knowledge of their children's education. Comer (1986) suggested that teachers and

administrators are not necessarily hired for their ability to relate to parents, nor are they

taught how to work with parents or trained to assist them in promoting the growth and

development of students. According to Comer, educators do not offer meaningful

opportunities for parental involvement in the school. Often, they simply do not want

parents in the school. Thornburg (1981) found in one study that the teachers were actually

in subtle ways discouraging parental involvement.

The lack of leadership limits access to parental involvement. Epstein (1982) argued

that there is a relative lack of active administrative leadership and attention from the

educational administrators to promote parental involvement. Epstein (1987b) also pointed

out that, while administrative leadership in supporting parental involvement is very

important as a means of achieving good results in the educational process, administrators

often leave the selection and use of parent involvement activities to their teaching and

support staff On the other hand, there are very few teachers who make frequent or

systematic use of parent-involvement activities because pre-service and in-service training

sessions currently "result in attitudes and practices designed to keep parents out of the

learning process and even out of the classroom" (p. 23). Epstein goes on to say that in-
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27

service education offered to Iprincipals or teachers on parent involvement is generally

restricted to a single session, hardly enough time to confront complex attitudes, identify

and work on needed skills, or learn about promising practices in other settings. Thus,

although the infonnation about the benefits of home-school partnership is easily accessible

and often mentioned in professional journals, useful, organized infonnation or

comprehensive training that would help educators to incorporate the infonnation into their

own practice has not been widely available (Aronson, 1996; Bums, 1993).

PARENTAL PERCEPTION

ON CHILDREN'S ACHIEVEMENT

Kellaghan, Sloane, Alvarez, and Bloom (1993) reported that parental perception

towards education, interest in their children's education, and belief in the value of schooling

have been found to be related to children's academic achievement. A study conducted by

the Great Britain Department of Education and Science found that more of the variation of

academic achievement could be accounted for by variation in parents' perception, interest,

and attitudes (helping with homework, talking with the child about school, educational

aspirations for the child) than by either variation in the material circumstances in the home

or by variation in schools.

Marjoribanks (1976) found that for elementary and secondary school students,

family environment related strongly to academic perfonnance as measured by intelligence

and subject matter tests. This included parents' perception on aspirations for children,

parental literacy level, interest and support for schooling, initiative and responsibility taken

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28

by parents toward education, parental belief in the value of school, and parental interest in

helping with schoolwork. Support for this research comes from the National Assessment

of Educational Progress report, Crossroads in American Education, which states:

Children are more likely to be successful learners if their parents or care-givers

display an interest in what they are learning, provide access to learning materials,
and serve as role models interested in their learning experiences. The more
encouragement and resources provided at home, the more likely students are to do
well in school (Applebee, Langer, & Mullis, 1989, p. 34).

In research conducted by Keeves (1975), students in their first year of high school

and their parents were studied in order to describe the ways in which characteristics of the

educational environment of the home, the school, and the peer group accounted for change

in academic performance. Results suggested that the perceptions, attitudes, and ambitions

of parents for their children contributed to the highest level of achievement in .both

mathematics and science. The study further found,

if in cases where the parental perception, interest, and attitudes are low the mother
and the father could be persuaded to take a greater interest in the student's
schooling, the evidence from this investigation indicates that the level of
achievement of the student would be raised (P. 458).

Moreover, the evidence suggested that improved parental perception towards

school is accompanied by increased parental involvement in children's school activities

(Epstein, 1986, 1987b). Twillie, Petry, Kenney, & Payne (1991) found a positive

correlation between academic achievement of fourth grade inner-city students and parent

perceptions, interests, and attitudes about school. Likewise, Russell (1993) examined

parent perceptions of middle schools and their impact on parental involvement and student

achievement. Results of the study showed that parents' involvement, perception, and so

!"
29

forth are important for adolescents' learning, development, and school success. Students

performed better academically, possessed positive school attitudes, had higher aspirations,

and exhibited other positive behaviors when parents were aware, knowledgeable, and

involved in the school life of their children. However, Kellaghan et al. (1993) cautioned

that although the direct benefits to the child are unclear, parental support for the school

may be communicated to the child in a variety of ways. This reinforces the value of

schooling and academic achievement.

SUMMARY

The literature review supports the thesis that parents are their children's first and

most influential teachers. Additionally, what parents do to help their children learn is more

important to academic success than the socioeconomic status of a family. Although

teachers as well as parents overwhelmingly agree that parent involvement contributes to

student achievement, resistance for partnership comes from both sides. Nevertheless, if

school reforms for the twenty first century are to be effective, parental involvement in their

children's education must continue.

Henderson (1987) has summarized research on parental involvement and found that

the more comprehensive and long-lasting the parental involvement, the greater its influence

is likely to be, not just on student achievement but on the quality of schools as well. The

major message of parental involvement, therefore, is that parents are important for

children's learning, development, and school success. Berger (1919) wrote:

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30

Children are a nation's future . The hope of that future lies in the acknowledgment
by schools and society alike that parents must be involved with their children's
education if our nation is to continue flourishing. Strong parent-teacher
collaboration will be needed to ensure continuity in care and education, and support
for children of all income levels and ethnic backgrounds. A concerted effort by all
those involved with children's welfare is essential if we are to meet the needs of the
coming generation successfully (p. 217).

Likewise, research conducted over the last two decades suggests that students at all

grade levels do better academic work and have more positive school attitudes, higher

aspirations, and other positive behaviors if they have parents who are aware,

knowledgeable, encouraging, and involved (Epstein, 1992). It has been observed that

regardless of the diversity of culture, background, language, socioeconomic and family

status the more involved parents are, the greater their children's educational achievement.

J. '
31

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY
This study investigated parental involvement in children's education and the

perceived impact of parents upon their children's achievement. The purpose of this chapter

is to describe the methodology for the various components of the study. This chapter

addresses the selection of the subjects (participants), instrumentation., data-collection

procedures, data analysis procedures, and inter-coder reliability of the study.

SELECTION OF SUBJECTS

The subjects for this research study were parents of children in a suburban

elementary Catholic school. The selection strategy of the subjects was as follo~s : from a

total of274 families who have children in the school, 100 families (that is every 1 of3

families of the total number) were selected for participation in a survey and 10 parents (that

is every 27 th family of the total number) were selected for a personal one-on-one interview.

In the case of refusal (or inability to participate) of the selected parent, the next immediate

family with the following number was selected .

INSTRUMENTATION

A mail survey (Appendix A) and interview guide (Appendix C) were developed to

obtain data to answer the research questions of the study. The survey was comprised of 22

questions, 17 of which were multiple-choice and 5 were open-ended.The questions were

divided into three categories.

32

The first category of 10 questions were multiple-choice questions with four choices

each. These questions were aimed at investigating into the demographic information of the

respondent. The first question sought to establish the relationship of the respondent with

the student. The second and third questions were with regard to the mother' s age and

education. The fourth and fifth were with regard to the father's age and education. The

guardian's age and education were asked for in the sixth and seventh questions. The eighth

question sought information about the family income, the ninth marital status, and the

tenth on the number of children at home.

In the second category there were seven questions which were all multiple- choice

questions. These questions were aimed at inquiring into the parental involvement at school

and home. The first question focused on parents visiting the school. The secoijd question

was with regard to their attending PTAlP TO meetings. The third question inquired about

parents' participation in school activities. The fourth asked about parents helping their '

children with home work. The fifth question was regarding conversation between parent

and child about school. Whether the parents listened to the child's reading at home was the

sixth question, and the last question focused on the child's GPA.

In the third category there were five questions all of which were open-ended

questions. These questions were aimed at parents' perceptions regarding their own

involvement. The first and the second questions were on the importance of parental

involvement. The third question was on parents' perception of their own impact on their

children's achievement. The barriers to parental involvement was the fourth question, and

the last question sought suggestions to increase parental involvement.

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, 33

The interview schedule was comprised of 18 questions based on the survey. These

questions were divided into three categories. The eight questions of the first category

inquired into the demographic details of the interviewee. The four questions of the second

category inquired into the interviewees' participation in the learning activities of the

children at home, at school, and in the PTAlPTO activities. The first five questions of the

third category were aimed at investigating into the perception of the interviewee with

regard to their own involvement in their children' s learning activities. And lastly parents

were invited to share any other information on the topic.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

The modes of data collection were threefold - survey, interview, and r~view of

school documents.

The survey (Appendix A) together with a cover letter (Appendix B) and a self-

addressed stamped envelope were mailed to the 100 randomly selected families having

children in the selected school. The cover letter was added to inform the subjects that

their responses were voluntary. The respondents were given 15 days to complete the

questions and mail them back. From these first mailing surveys, 65(65%) were returned.

In the second mailing 100 surveys were sent, and 56 (56%) were returned. A total of 121

(60.5%) surveys were returned to the researcher.

A letter of introduction and request for participation in the interview (Appendix E)

was sent to 15 parents. The letter assured the respondents of complete anonymity. Ten

parents responded positively.

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34

For the interviews, all parents those who agreed to be interviewed were asked to fill

out the response fonn (Appendix F) and return it to the researcher. They were also asked

- - to give their written consent on the "Consent Fonn for Human Subject Protection"

(Appendix D). The guide questions (Appendix C) for the interview were the same as for

the survey, but they were restructured to suit the interview situation. Each interview

lasted approximately 20 to 25 minutes. All interview sessions were audio-taped and

transcribed for later analysis.

The review of the published school material was the third mode of data collection.

The researcher, collected monthly school newsletters, the principal's letter to the parents,

weekly memos, budget reports, minutes of different school committees, and such other

pieces, and explored the articles for ideas, and recurring themes indicating parental

involvement in the education process of the school. The researcher then identified,

categorized, and synthesized them in the thematic sequence of the research questions.

DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

The data collected from the survey, interviews, and published materials of the

selected school were coded and computed. The questions, section A, q. 1-10 and section

B, questions 1-8, were analyzed using procedures in the Statistical Package of tl,le Social

Sciences (SPSS, 1997) called frequency cross-tabs. The open-ended questions' responses

(data obtained by the survey section B, questions 9-12) were content-analyzed and

summarized according to the research questions of the thesis. The interview responses and

the data collected from the school's published materials were organized, content-analyzed,

and summarized according to the research questions of the thesis.

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35

INTER-CODER RELIABILITY

Once the researcher had completed his own observation and interpretation, three

independent observers were asked to review and interpret the same data. The observers

then reached an agreement among themselves with their own interpretations, and

determined the reliability of the researcher's interpretation.

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36

CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS

INTRODUCTION

The investigation was conducted during the month of May 1999. The modes of

investigation were mailed survey, individual interviews, and a review of documents of the

selected school. Of the 200 surveys that were mailed 121(60.5%) surveys were returned .

Of the 15 parents requested for the individual interview, 10 parents presented themselves.

The school documents that were reviewed included monthly school newsletters, weekly

memos, annual budget reports, and minutes of the school committee meeting.

In this chapter the results of the findings are presented in the following order: (1)

The findings of the mailed survey which includes the demographic information' of the

respondents, parental involvement at school, parental involvement at home, parents'

perception of their own involvement and impact, and the grade point average (GPA) of

children on the most recent report card, highlights of the open-ended responses; (2)

summary of the individual interviews; and (3) review of school documents.

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37

THE FINDINGS OF THE MAILED SURVEY

Demographic Information

The demographic infonnation includes the number of subjects who completed the

survey, the parent age groups, their educational background, family income, marital status,

and number of children in each family. Table 1 presents the number of parents who

completed the questionnaire and returned it to the researcher . Of the 121 surveys

returned, 106 (88 .3%) were from mothers, 11(9.2%) percent from fathers, and only 3

(2.5%) were from guardians/others.

Table 1
Subjects Completing Survey

Respondents Frequency Percent

Mother 106 88.3 %

Father 11 9.2
Guardians/Other 3 2.5

Total 120 100.0

Note: -Valid cases -Missing case

120 1

N. B. Missing cases represent that parents failed to report.

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38

Analysis of parent age groups found that the largest number of parents were in

the 31-40 years bracket with 84 (70%) mothers, 63 (53 .8%) fathers, and 4 (57.1%)

guardians/others. The 41-50 years of age group had the second highest number with 33

(27.5%) mothers, 46 (39.3%) fathers, and 1(14.1%) guardians/others. (See Table 2.)

Table 2
Parents' Age Groups

Age Groups Mother Father Guardians!others

..,"r1
CI>
..,"r1
CI>
..,"r1
CI>
..0 ..0 ..0
c::
CI>
c::
CI>
c::
CI>
:::l :::l :::l
(") (") (")
'< '< '<
Percent Percent Percent

Under 30 ---- % ---- % 2 28.6.%

31 - 40 84 70.0 63 53 .8 4 57.1

41 - 50 33 27.5 46 39.3 1 14.1

51 or + 3 2.5 8 6.8 114

Total 120 100.0 117 100.0 121 100.0

Note: Valid cases - Missing cases

Mother - 120 1
Father -- 117 4

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39

The educational background of parents shows that 78 (65%) college graduates

were mothers, 71(61 .7%) were fathers, and 3 (60%) were guardian!others. Of the high

school diploma holders' 26 (21 .7%) were mothers, 27 (23.5%) were fathers, and 1

(20%) were guardians/other. Of the other type of informal degree/diploma holders,

15(12.5%) were mothers, and 17 (14.8%) were fathers . Thus, the majority of the parents

were college graduates. (See Table 3.)

Table 3
Parents' Educational Background

Educational
Level Mother Fa~er Guardian!others
"T1 ""I
(l) "T1
""I ""I
(l) ,.0 (l)
,.0 s:: ,.0
s:: (l) s::
(l) ::s (l)
::s C"l ::s
C"l '< C"l
'< '<
Percent Percent Percent

UnderHS 1 .8% ---- % 1 .8%

HS Diploma 26 21.7 27 23 .5 1 20.0
College Degree 78 65 .0 71 6l.7 3 60.0
Others Diploma 15 12.5 17 14.8 116

Total 120 100.0 115 100.0 121 100.0

Note: - Valid cases - Missing cases

Mother -- J 20 J
Father -- J J5 6

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40

The analysis of the parents' annual income level shows that 87 (72.5%) of the

families have as annual income of$ 60,001 or more, 29 (24.2%) of the families have

between $40,001 - $ 60,000, and only 4 (3 .3%) of the families have between $20,000 -

$40,000. Thus, 73% of the respondents have as annual income between $60,001 or more.

(See Table 4.)

Table 4
Family Income

Income Level Frequency Percent

$ 20,000 - 40,000 4 3.3 %

$ 40,001 - 60,000 29 24.2
$ 60,001 - or more 87 72.5

Total 120 100.0

Note: - Valid cases - Missing case

120 1

I.:
41

The marital status of parents was the last but one question of the demographic

survey. Of those who responded, III (92.5%) of the parents were married, 5 (4.2%)

were divorced; and only 4 (3 .3%) of the respondents were single. Thus, the overwhelming

majority of the respondents represented two-parent families. (See Table 5.)

Table 5
Parent Marital Status

Marital Status Frequency Percent

lVIamea---- ----- - - - - --n 1 --915%

Divorced 5 4.2
Single 4 3.3

Total 120 100.0

Note: - Valid cases -Missing case

120 1
42
\

The final demographic question concerned the number of children in the family. Of

120 respondents, 17(14.2%) of the parents have only one child, 56 (46.7%) have two

children,35(29.2%) parents have three children, and only 12(10%) of the parents have

four or more children in the family. Thus, the majority of the families have two or three

children. (See Table 6.)

Table 6
Number of Children in a Family

Number of Children Frequency Percent

One 17 14.2 %

Two 56 46.7

Three 35 29.2

Four or More 12 9.9

Total 120 100.0

Note: -Valid cases Missing case

120 1

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43
,
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AT SCHOOL
Parents were asked three questions regarding their involvement in their children's

school during the academic year 1998-99. The questions inquired about their visiting the

school, attending PT AlPTO meetings, and joining in school activities. Of the 121

respondents, 99 (81.8%) of the parents had visited five or more times, 16 (13.2%) visited

three or four times, and 5 (4.1%) had visited one or two times. (See Table 7.)

The second question on parental involvement at school addressed attending

PTAIPTO meetings. Of those who responded, 77 (64.2%) of the parents had never

attended the meetings, 22 (18 .3%) attended once or twice, and only 6 (5 .0%) of the

parents attended five or more times during the school year 1998-99. There is a striking

difference among the parents in attending these meetings. (See Table 7.)

The final question on parental involvement at school related to attending school

events. Of those who responded, 89 (73.6%) parents had always attended, 24 (19.8%)

had frequently attended, and only 8 (6.6%) had attended sometimes. Thus, almost three-

fourths of the parents had always attended the school events, such as sports, drama, field

trips, and so forth. (See Table 7 Next page)

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44

Table 7
Parental Involvement at School

School visit

School visit Frequency Percent

Never-- I 0.8%
1 - 2 Times 5 4.1
3 - 4 Times 16 13 .2
5 or More 99 81 .8

Total 121 100.0

Attend PTAIPTO meetings

Attend PTAlPTO meetings Frequency Percent

Never 77 64.2%
1 - 2 Times 22 18.3
3 - 4 Times 15 12.5
5 or More 6 5.0

Total 120 100.0

Note: Attend PTA/PTO: - Va/idCases 120 -Missing 1

Attend school events

Attend school events Frequency Percent

Never --- %
Sometimes 8 6.6
Frequently 24 19.8
Always 89 73 .6

Total 121 100.0

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45
,
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AT HOME

Parents were asked three questions regarding their involvement at home in the

learning activities of their children. Of those who responded, 64 (52.9%) of the parents

claimed they always helped their children with homework, 42 (34.7%) of the parents

frequently did so, and 15 (12.4%) only sometimes helped their children. (See Table 8.)

The second question in this category was on talking at home with children about

school work. Eighty-one (66.9%) of the parents had always talked with their children, and

40 (33 .1%) had frequently talked with their children about the school work . Thus, a

majority of parents talked with their children about their school work. (See Table 8.)

The final question in this category was listening to child (ren) reading at home.

Fifty-four (45%) of the parents had always listened to their child (ren) reading, 48 (40%)

had frequently listened, 15 (12.5%) had sometimes listened to their child (ren) reading, and

only 3 (2.5%) parents had never listened to their child (ren) reading. This presentation

indicates that most of the parents have listened to their children's reading at home. ( See

Table 8 Next Page)

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46

Table 8
Parental Involvement at Home

Help with homework

Help with homework Frequency Percent

Never ----%
Sometimes 15 12.4
Frequently 42 34.7
always 64 52.9
Total 121 . . . - -IU~O

Talk about school

TtlIkaoout school - ._--- -ITequency· . ---- - Percent
Ne v e r - - ~:.:::'7o

Sometimes
Frequently 40 33.1
Always 81 66.9
Total --121 ---TO~

Listened to child's reading

Listened to child' s reading Frequency Percent

Never 3 2.5%
Sometimes 15 12.5
Frequently 48 40.0
Always 54 45.0
T b t a l - - 120 100:U

Note: Listing to child's reading - Valid Cases Missing case

120 1

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PARENTS' PERCEPTION OF THEIR OWN INVOLVEMENT

Having been asked about their involvement at school and at horne, the parents were

also questioned about their perception of the importance of their own involvement in their

children' s education. The overwhelming majority 110

(90.9%) considered parental involvement to be very important, 10 (8.3%) replied that it is

important, and only one respondent 1 (0.8% ) conceded parental involvement has

somewhat importance. (See Table 9)

Table 9

Parents' Perception of their Own Involvement

Perception Frequency Percent

Somewhat important 1 0.8%

Important 10 8.3

Very important 110 90.9

Total 121 100.0

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GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA)

OF CHILD ON THE LAST REPORT CARD

In the entire survey there was only one question that was asked regarding

children's performance in the school. The analysis of GP A on the most recent report card

of the school children showed that 60 (78 .9%) of the children gained test scores between

3.0 and 3.9 grade point average, 8 (10.5%) children gained 4.0 or more, and 8 (10.5%)

gained between 2 and 2.9 grade point average. The GP A test scores indicate that more

than three fourths of the children of the participants achieved grade points well above

average. The missing 45 cases represent either children of grade one where the GPA does

not apply, or parents' failure to report. (See Table 10)

Table 10
Child's GPA on Last Report Card

GPA Frequency Percent

4.0 or + 8 10.5 %
3.0 - 3.9 60 78.9
2.0 - 2.9 8 10.5

Total 76 100.0

Note: -Valid cases Missing cases

76 45

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE OPEN -ENDED RESPONSES

The open-ended questions of the survey (Appendix A. section B. 9 -12) were

designed to get responses from the subjects in their own words. The questions were asked

on the importance of parental involvement, parent perception of their own impact in their

children's education, barriers to parental involvement, and suggestions to increase parental

involvement in their children's education.

All the parents who responded to the survey were of the opinion that parental

involvement has a direct bearing on their child's performance. They argued, despite its

inconvenience, firsthand knowledge of the learning activities of their children was of grave

importance. Some of the parents insisted that when parents emphasized education at

home, the children usually performed better. Some argued that the more involved parents

got in their children's education, the more children valued their studies and made an effort

to improve their learning. Underlining the importance of parental involvement, these

parents insisted that parental involvement should be made mandatory.

As far as homework was concerned, the majority of the parents' opinions were that

children should be left free. They do agree that parents' assistance is sometimes necessary;

however, this group of parents did not agree that parents should sit and do the children's

homework for them. They insisted that parents must foster independence and n~rture a

healthy sense of personal responsibility.

Some parents felt strongly that parental involvement was not only essential for

children's educational development, but it is crucial to their emotional, social and spiritual

well-being as well. The same group of parents further stated that parental involvement at
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home was essential for the individual attention that the teacher cannot provide in a

classroom. One parent reported that parental involvement is important because it

complements the teachers' work as well as the students' efforts, and reenforces what is

actually being done in the classroom. One of the parents maintained that parental

involvement is the one aspect that determined the quality of the school. Many parents

expressed that parental involvement in their children's education helped keep lines of

communication open between home and school as well as parent-to-parent.

In response to the question on "parent perceived impact," virtually all the parents,

irrespective of their own educational background, family income, or social status, stated

that their children looked up to them as models; therefore, whatever they did had a direct

impact on every aspect of their children's lives. For instance, one mother stated that she

made special efforts to know what was going on in the school, and, as a result, her children

also made extra effort to maintain their grades. The parents' respect for school teachers

influenced the children's respect for teachers. These parents' experience was that their

attitude had fostered a comparably favorable attitude in their children.

Most of the parents agreed that their involvement had a deep impact on their

children's co-curricular involvements. These parents realized that there is a positive relation

between the co-curricular activities and the academic performance. For instance, a parent's

presence at school plays and school exhibitions made a difference in the children's

performance. The parents believe that children get encouraged by their parents' interest

which in turn boosted their self-confidence. Two parents' personal experiences were that,

when they took their children's I;lcademic concerns seriously, their children also took their

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studies seriously. One mother stated "My child would not have valued education this much

without my involvement." The reason behind the deep impact of parental involvement she

gave was that whatever she did for the child she did it with great love and with personal

care.

Some of the parents were convinced that their involvement in their children's

learning activities had made their children realize that they sincerely loved and cared for

them. Parents strongly believed that their involvement created an environment of trust, in

which children had the confidence to articulate what they felt and the courage to ask for

help. Parental involvement had taught their children to choose the right priorities with

responsibility.

Parents who held full time jobs expressed that the 'shortage of time' and their

'other commitments' were the biggest barriers in being involved in their children's

education. Parents were aware of the need for parental involvement and were more than

willing to participate in at least a few of the school activiti~s, but their job commitments

prevented them. Another factor was that when they came back from their work they were

tired and had their own household work to attend to. However, there were parents who

belittled this excuse and said that time was never a constraint for the genuinely interested.

For those who deemed that their children's education was the first priority, though busy,

they found time and energy to participate in school activities.

Three of the parents expressed that modem technology used in the educational

institutions was a barrier to parental involvement. For instance, computers, electronics,

audiovisual aids, power-point, and so forth, are new to the parents. Therefore, they felt

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they were not adequately equipped to help their children. However, four of the young

parents were familiar with the modem technology used in the school, but they had small

children at home needing full time parental attention.

There were other parents who noted that modem education emphasized

professionalism which for many becomes a barrier for participation in school activities.

These parents argued that school administrators do invite all the parents to sign up for

volunteer jobs, yet they insist on special qualifications which most parents do not have.

A lack of communication and proper organization was another barrier cited. "

Today parents," the chair person argued, "are much more involved in the school than in the

past." He noticed that many parents who have come forward to volunteer in recent years

were not accommodated, and once they are not given a chance, they tend to stay out.

The parents made four major suggestions to help increase parental involvement:

};> children must be their first priority.

};> parent-child activities must be promoted .

};> there should be open communication between home and school,

};> there should be more opportunities for parents volunteering.

The parents suggested that the overwhelming priority of parents must be their

children. They must take care of all the needs of their children, spend time with them, and

get involved in their learning activities. At least one of the parents must be at home when

their children come back from school. The parents need to discuss the school activities with

the children. The best way to start discussion, some suggested, was to ask what lesson or

activity they liked most that day, and then move on to other topics.

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The second suggestion to increase parental involvement was to promote parent-

child activities in the home. These parents felt that the school must adopt textbooks that

encourage projects with family involvement. Parents could be provided handbooks so as

to follow what was being taught. School teachers must make sure to give homework that

requires parental assistance. Teachers must also send a homework checklist to the parents

and ask them to sign their names to homework and test papers to make sure that parents

know their children's academic perfonnance. On weekends, parents could take up activities

or field trips proper to their children's education. One of the parents suggested that parents

should also be held responsible for their children's progress. In case of discipline problems,

parents should be called in immediately to solve the problem.

The third suggestion was to have cooperation and communication between home

and school. The school must, therefore, adopt an open-door policy so that parents may feel

that they are welcome on the school campus, even in the classroom. The parents suggested

that more open-house programs, and more infonnal parent-teacher conferences would help

create a proper atmosphere.

The fourth suggestion to increase parental involvement in the school was to provide

many more opportunities for volunteering and

, inviting parents to sign up for school

programs. The faculty must explain to the parents the value and benefits of parental

involvement with regard to their children's education and keep reminding parents of the

available opportunities continually all through the year. The parents suggested that the

faculty must consider ways of including full-time working parents by organizing programs

at convenient timings such as evening hours, weekends and holidays. Some of the parents

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also came up with a very strong suggestion that parental involvement be re-emphasized

and some involvement be made mandatory for either one of the parents to participate.

SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW DATA

INTRODUCTION

Individual interviews were conducted to investigate more thoroughly the

infonnation on this research study. Guide questions (Appendix C) for the interview were

the same as the survey. The guide questions, however, were restructured to suit the

interview situation. Along with the demographic infonnation, five other major questions

were asked; namely, satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their own involvement in their

children's education, the importance of parental involvement, their perception of their own

impact on their children's achievement, barriers to parental involvement, and suggestion to

increase parental involvement in their children's education. They were also given the

opportunity to respond to the question 'whether there was anything else the researcher

should have infonnation about parental involvement.' All interview sessions were audio-

taped and transcribed for later analysis. Three of the inter-coders, a journalist, a

sociologist, and a school teacher, reviewed the interpretation of the researcher.

,..
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FINDINGS OF THE INTERVIEW

Demographic Information

In the individual interviews, 10 parents having children in the selected school

participated, seven of whom were females and three were males . Of those who appeared

for the interview 5 (50%) were between 31- 40 years of age and the rest were in 41- 50

year age category (see Table 11 , Appendix G). All the interviewees were married and

thus, were part of two-parent families . The education levels of the interviewees were

1(10%) were high school graduates, 6 (60%) college graduates, and 3 (30%) with other

diplomas (see Table 11). Of those participating, 8 (80%) had two children and 70% of

these children were in school, and their most recent GP A test score was between 3 -3.9

grade point average (see Tablell). The frequency distribution showed that 6 (60%) of the

interviewees have an annual income of $40,001-$60,000, and 4 (40%) have $60,001 or

more (See Table 11). Of those who appeared for the interview, 80-90% help their

children with homework, reading, and writing (see Table 12, Appendix H). The children' s

participation in sports, drama, and field trips is rated between 7-9 (70-90%) (see Table 13,

Appendix I). Similarly, parents' participation in similar activities were between 5-9 (50-

90%); (see Table 14, Appendix J). Of the ten interviewed, three were PTAIPTO

committee members and one was a chairperson of the school committee (see Table 15,

Appendix K) . The overwhelming majority (90%) said that their involvement in their

children's achievement is very important (see Table 16, Appendix L). The overall

impression is that the interviewees age group, level of education, social and economic

status, and their perceptions are similar to those of survey respondents.

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SUMMARY OF OPEN-ENDED RESPONSES

Parental Satisfaction in Involvement

Nine (90%) of the interviewees were satisfied with their involvement in their

children's education. They expressed that,they were lucky to have had a number of

opportunities available to participate in the school's activities. Two of the mothers said"

We love to contribute something constructive to our children' s education in the school."

The satisfaction of those parents was due to the teachers' openness and the welcoming

atmosphere of the school campus. The only one among the interviewed who was not

satisfied gave the reasons for her dissatisfaction and said "I live quite far from the school

campus, and the opportunities available in the school for parental involvement are not of

interest to me."

Impact on Children

All the parents who were interviewed are of the opinion that their involvement had

a tremendous impact on their children' s educational achievement. One among them added

that parental involvement had an impact not only on the children's academics but also on

every aspect of their life. Three of the interviewees' personal experience was that their

children looked up to them as role models. Those three parents believed that parents'

example had the greatest impact on their children. One of the parents confided, "Since

both of us have goqd reading habits, our children also enjoy reading at home.

Consequently, our children' s reading and language skills are excellent." Another parent

stated that her child was only in first grade, yet, seeing that her mother was so involved in

her schooling she thought that her education must be important. Again, another parent

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57

said, "Whatever I care for, 'my child cares for." Two of the interviewees expressed that

their mail and phone communication with the faculty had generated in their children a trust

and respect for their teachers. Quite a few interviewees believed that the direct impact of

their involvement in their children's education was the "good grade" their children got.

This group of parents believed that the more they were involved, the better their children

performed whether it was in academics or any other activity.

Barriers in Involvement

The majority (seven of ten) of the parents interviewed were working

p·arents. Those working parents said that time and their job commitments were the biggest

barriers to getting involved in their children's school. Three of those full-time working

parents conceded that after coming back from work either they were too tired to engage

themselves in any other task or they were busy with their other household work. Two of

the interviewees did not agree that the shortage of time and job were barriers . .They argued

that, if children were a priority, parents in spite of their busy schedule would find time to

involve themselves. They pointed out that there were numerous opportunities in the school

to be involved in if they really wanted to. Besides that, some of the school meetings were

held in the evenings, and sometimes even over the weekends just to accommodate working

parents. Those two parents concluded that those were parents who just did not want to be

involved. One of the parents interviewed mentioned that a clique among the committee

members was one of the major barriers for parental i.nvolvement. The members of the
clique, he said, manipulated meetings. They told other parents what to do and what not to

do. The recently arrived parents felt uncomfortable working with the clique. The only

chairperson interviewed was of the opinion that a lack of organization and leadership was

another barrier to parental involvement. "I know," he said, "there are no lack of volunteers

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in our school, but hardly anyone comes forward to organize and lead the group of

volunteers." He attributes this to a lack of organizational training and fear of failure.The

emphasis on professionalism was also mentioned as a barrier. It was said that the school

invited everyone to come forward to volunteer, but at the same time it gave preference to

certain degree and diploma holders, such as music, nursing, parenting and so forth. which

lessened the good will of the parents. According to one parent the attitude was a barrier for

some parents. She said that some parents thought that because their children were in a

Catholic school, they did not have to bother about good education or discipline problems.

She argued that even Catholic schools could do nothing without parental

involvement.Three of the mothers said that their little children at home needed full time

attention and that had become a barrier.

Suggestion to Improve Parental Involvement:

A number of suggestions came forth from the ten parents interviewed by the

resea'rcher, such as:

}oo- the school and the committee must be more accessible

}oo- the introduction of mandatory parental involvement

}oo- the proper organization of activities

}oo- the proper distribution of work

}oo- a small group of parents be invited to discuss common concerns

> call for frequent informal meetings

}oo- gathering should be organized at the year end for volunteers

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REVIEW OF THE SCHOOL DOCUMENTS

The major school documents of the entire academic year 1998-99 were

reviewed including the monthly school newsletters, the principal's letter to parents, weekly

memos, budget-reports, and minutes of different school committees, such as home-school

association, sports and athletic association, parent advising committee, and school

development committee. The purpose ofa review of the school's documents was to

search for the articles, ideas, and recurring themes indicating parental involvement.

Through these documents the selected school constantly kept in touch with the parents.

The school informed the parents about the upcoming curricular and co-curricular activities,

and invited them to participate in the school activities as well as offered suggestions to

the parents so that they could assist their children in learning activities in the home.

According to the documents reviewed the school had organized some informal

gatherings; for instance, such as back-to-school night, open house, family nights, annual fun

fair, Halloween hound evening, etc. Parents, relatives, friends, and the local community

were invited to come to the school with their children and attend dinners, play games, as

well as have an informal interaction with faculty members. Such informal gatherings were

also an opportunity for interaction among parents themselves regarding the school and

their children's education. The purpose of such informal gathering was to create a school

community.

This school also had organized some formal meetings. For example, parent-teacher

conferences, home-school association meetings, school development committee meetings,

sports and athletics committee meetings, parent advisory committee meetings, and so

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forth. These formal meetings were usually attended by the committee members; however,

interested parents were always welcomed. Among the formal meetings, the parent-teacher

conference seemed to be the most important one because in this forum parents were

directly asked or told about their more direct and more active roles in their children's

learning activities. Most of these meetings were organized for the evening so that the

maximum number of working parents could participate.

The school documents clearly indicated that there were numerous opportunities

provided for the parents to volunteer in school activities. For instance, through the weekly

memos the school asked parents to sign up as volunteers for supervision in class, at lunch

hour, on the playground, in the library, in the health room, on field trips, for the walk-a-

thon, for school-family gatherings, for the annual fun fair, for fund raising, for Christmas

programs, and so on . It was noted in one of the school's documents that without the

consent of the parent no child was taken for any school activities, such as sports, athletics,

fine arts, school plays, music and dance lessons, and so on. The idea was to directly involve

parents in their children's activities. On the day of the performance the school invited

families, friends, and neighbors to come as audience and encourage, support, and

appreciate their children' s efforts as well as the efforts of the school and its faculty.

.
The school principal' s letters to the parents were one of the most important set of

documents of the school. Most of these letters to parents were invitations to participate

in different activities of the school, an expression of appreciation for parents' co-operation,

and the expressions of gratitude for the parents' generosity of time, money, and energy.

The principal also welcomed parents' valuable suggestions and invited them to share their

perceptions regarding the achievement of their children. The principal then took up parents'
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ideas, suggestions, and perceptions and with their help and cooperation worked to

implement them. The principal also took up parents' questions and concerns, and

responded through the school's several publications.

The school circulated to parents a letter titled "The Community Creed" (a letter of

faith fonnation) requesting them to participate in the teaching of the Christian principles to

their children. Parents were invited to share their unique approach to prayer and faith-life

with their children. The parents were also urged to send prayer intentions for any

particular theme, concern, person, occasion, and event, which could be included in the

weekly school liturgy .

The school liturgies with the help of the teachers were usually planned and

conducted by the students. The other occasions for liturgies were school feasts, parish

feasts, parents and grandparents' day, when the school invited the school community to

participate in the liturgy. Through "The Community Creed" parents were urged to

demonstrate good examples to their children and thereby become role models'" In one

document the selected school had presented a "theme for each month," such as respect,

kindness, generosity, mercy, obedience, discipline, and so forth, and had requested parents

to ask their children how and to what extent they had practiced the particular theme.

Thus, the selected Catholic elementary school involved parents not only for the intellectual

formation but also was deeply concerned for the spiritual and emotional formation of their

school children.

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62

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, DISCUSSION,

CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY

The purpose of this study was to investigate parental involvement in the educational

process and what did those parents perceive as their impact on their children' s

achievement. The subjects of this study were parents of children in a Catholic elementary

school. A request for permission to conduct the survey was submitted to the principal of

the selected school and to the Graduate School Office at Marquette University for "Human

Subject's Protection." Upon approval, three modes of investigation were adopted: a

survey, face-to-face interviews, and a review of the school documents. Of the .200 surveys

that were mailed, 121 returned. Of the 15 parents requested for individual interviews, 10

parents participated. The major school documents of the year 1989-99 were reviewed to

search for phrases, ideas, and recurring themes indicating evidence of the purpose of the

study mentioned above. The survey data were coded and computed using procedures in the

Statistical Package of the Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics provided

information on frequency and percent of the multiple-choice question answers. Open-ended

responses were analyzed and summarized .

The majority of the respondents were between 31-40 years of age, and sixty percent

of those were college graduates. Of those who responded, almost ninety-three percent of

the parents represented two-parent families, and each of these families had two or three

children. Seventy percent of the respondents had an annual income of $60,000 or more.
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Almost all the representatives considered parental involvement in their children's education

to be very important. They also perceived that parental involvement had direct bearing on

their children's academic performance. Quite a few parents perceived that their children

looked up to them as role models.

The significant findings of this study were that the overwhelming majority of the

respondents were directly involved in their children's learning activities at home as well as

at school. Among those involved, two-thirds were mothers and were well satisfied with

their involvement. According to the findings, 70 to 80% of the parents as individuals were

highly involved. However, as a school community, parental involvement differed

significantly in degree. For instance, as members of PTNPTO, almost sixty-five percent

had never attended a meeting that year.

The subjects who participated in this study cited time and job commitments as the

biggest barriers to being involved in their children's education; however, a group of parents

argued that for those who were genuinely interested time and job commitments need not

hinder involvement. Another barrier to parental involvement perceived by the parents was

the issues of cliques within parent groups. While some participants expressed that modem

technology used in the educational institutions was a barrier, the others considered

emphasis on professional skills, and still others expressed that lack of leadership and

organization from the school were the barriers.

For the improvement of parental involvement it was suggested that children must

be the first priority. The need for the promotion of parent-child activity was deeply felt.

Open communication between home and school was desired. It was insisted that the school

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and the committees must be more accessible to the parents even to the point of being

partners in the decision making process. It was argued that without parental involvement

even a very good private school could do very little to meet the needs and efforts of the

children. Frequent informal meetings were encouraged. As an expression of appreciation

for volunteer workers, it was recommended that an appreciation dinner party or such

gatherings be held. Since the selected school was a Catholic school parents were not only

concerned for the intellectual formation of their children but also deeply concerned for their

spiritual formation. They felt that parental involvement was not only essential for children

but was crucial to their academic, social, emotional, and spiritual well being. Therefore, the

respondents of this study not only recommended, but insisted that parental involvement in

at least one or two activities be mandatory.

DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

According to the survey as well as the individual interviews, the overwhelming

majority of the respondents were mothers. Therefore, the researcher is inclined to conclude

that mothers, as they were active in the past, are still directly involved in their children's

education. The highest number of parents were between 31 and 40 years of age, and 60-

65% of those parents were college graduates. This could be one of the reasons that the

overwhelming majority (80-90%, Table 12) of the parents were able to help their children

with homework, reading, and writing. As a result of parental involvement, almost 79%

(Table 10) of the children's GPA was above 60-70%. Since the majority of subject parents

are college-educated, it could be interpreted that they have greater access to good jobs,

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which again could be the explanation for almost 73% of the participants reporting

$60,000 or greater as their annual income (Table 4). Again, almost 91% of the

respondents were married couples. The above demographic information and interpretations

of the researcher find support in Epstein (1982) and Walberg (1984) which maintain that

most parents' groups and educators agree that children's learning is supported when

parents fulfill their basic obligations to provide food, health care, and safety in addition to

maintaining a loving and trusting atmosphere at home.

In previously completed research (Epstein 1987), as well as in the present study, it

has been established that there are two types of parental involvement. One type is that of

audience, or visitor, or volunteer; the other is member of PTNPTO, or in policy-making

governance. In the first category the present study shows that 75-80% of the parents have

participated in this form of school activity. However, as members of PT NPTO, almost

65% (Table7) of the respondents have never attended meetings in the year 1998-99. The

main reasons for not attending PT NPTO meetings were cited as lack of its organization,

poor leadership, and the presence of cliques.

Prior researchers (Kellaghan et ai., 1993) and (Marjoribanks, 1976) found that

parents perception, their interests, and beliefs are strongly related to their children's

academic performance. The findings of this study have been consistent with cited findings

of the earlier studies. That is according to the findings of this survey as well as interviews

almost 91 % (Table 9 and Table 16) of the parents perceived that their involvement was

very important. One set of parents commented, "since we have good reading habits, our

children also enjoy reading at home." Another parent stated "Whatever I care for, my

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child cares for." These and similar others were an indication of parents' perception of

their impact on their children's achievement.

CONCLUSION

The ultimate purpose of this study was to investigate the parental involvement and

parent-perceived impact on their children's achievement. The researcher believes that the

purpose of the study has been accomplished because the importance of parental

involvement and parent perception is highly acknowledged throughout the findings of this

study. The present study confirms that parents do playa vital role in providing their

children with the values and skills essential to success in school and in later life. Again, the

results of this study indicate that it is not just parent involvement that is important, but the

perception of parents on the impact of their involvement which matters. Thus, it is

important to educate parents to understand the important role they play in the lives of their

children and devise a plan for providing parents an opportunity to perceive the effect of

their own involvement, which in turn will enhance parental involvement. Otherwise, the

danger could be that as long as parents do not understand the importance of their

involvement and do not perceive the effect of their involvement, they may not be likely to

be enthusiastic about their involvement in their children's education.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The results of this study indicate several other areas within the topics of parental

involvement and parent perceived impact on their children's achievement that should be

explored. However, future study in this area should take the limitations of this study into

consideration. Therefore, the following recommendations for future studies are indicated.

1. Based upon the survey, interviews, and review of the school documentary data,

educators should devise a plan for providing parents a direct and intense involvement in

their children's learning activities at school as well as at home.

2. According to the findings of this study, parents requested assistance from the

school in order to improve parental involvement in the following area: (a) helping

organizational and leadership skills, (b) offering more access to participation, even as

partners in decision-making processes, (c) developing more opportunities for volunteering,

(d) organizing more frequently informal meetings, and so forth. A recommendation for

educators and parents is to devise and implement a plan that would answer such requests.

4. One of the limitations of this study was its small number (121 for the survey and

only 10 for individual interviews) of participants. A recommendation, therefore, is to

survey a larger population of parents using similar socioeconomic backgrounds as a

primary focus.

5. The subjects of this study were comprised entirely of Catholics and white

parents of a suburban elementary Catholic school. A recommendation for further research

is to replicate this study using different participants with other demographic, ethnic, and

religious denominations than were examined in this study which may provide valuable

information regarding parental involvement and parent perceived impact on their children's

achievement.
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REFERENCE LIST

Ames, Caroe, et al. (1995). Teachers' home-ta-school communication and parent

involvement: The role ofparent perceptions and beliefs. Report no. 281. Center on
Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning, Michigan State University.

Applebee, A N., Langer, 1. A, & Mullis, I. V. S. (1989). Crossroads in American

education: A summary offindings. Princeton, NJ: National Assessment of Educational
Progress.

Aronson, J. Z. (1996). How schools can recruit hard-to-reach parents.

Educational Leadership, 53(7), 58-60

Becher, R. (1984). Parent involvement: A review of research and the principles of

successful practice. In A Henderson (Ed.), The evidence continues to grow: Parent
involvement improves achievement, (pp. 17-18). Columbia, MD : National Committee for
Citizens in Education.

Bempechant, J. (1990). The role ofparent involvement in children's academic

achievement: A review of the literature, trends, and issues No, 14. New York, NY:
Columbia University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 322 285).

Berger, E. H. (1991). Parent involvement: Yesterday and today. The Elementary

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with parents andfamilies. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

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with parents. 2nd ed. NY: Delmar.

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73

APPENDIX A
Survey (Questionnaire) Sent to Parents
PARENT SURVEY

A/- PLEASE CIRCLE ONE CHOICE FOR EACH ITEM THAT ANSWERS BEST
EACH STATEMENT.

1. The person who is completing this survey:

{1] Mother [2] Father [3] Guardian [4] Other (please specify) _ _ __

2. Mother's age: [1] Under 30 [3] 31-40 [3] 41-50 [4] 51 over

3. Mother's Education
[l] Under [2] HS [3] College [4] Other (please specify) _ _ __
H S diploma degree

4. Father's age : [1] Under 30 [2] 31-40 [3] 41-50 [4] 51 over

5. Father's education:
[1] Under [2] HS [3] College [4] Other (please specify) '-
' _ _ __
HS diploma degree

6. Guardian's age: [l] Under 30 [2] 31-40 [3] 41-50 [4] 51 over

7. Guardian's education:
[l] Under [2] H S [3] College [4] Other (please specify) _ _ __
H S diploma degree

8. Income level of your family unit:

[l] 20,000 [2] 20,001- [3] 40,001- [4] 60,001-

Or less 40,000 60,000 over

9. Marital status:
[1] Married [2] Divorced [3] Single [4] Other (please specify) _ _ __

10. Number of children at home:

[1] One [2] Two [3] Three [4]Four or more

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1
B/- Parents get involved in different ways at home and at school. Which of the
following have you done this year for your child? Please CIRCLE ONE
CHOICE for each item.

1. How often did you visit your child's school in this academic year( 1998-99)?

[i] Never [2]i-2 Times [3] 3- 4 Times [4] 5 & more

2. How often did you attend PT A1PTO meeting in this academic year 1998-99?

[i] Never [2]i-2 Times [3] 3- 4 Times [4] 5 & More

3. How often did you attend the activities such as school-play/concert, athletic events,
open house, etc.?

[i] Never [2] Sometimes [3] Frequently [4] Always

4. How often did you help your child with homework?

[l] Never [2] Sometimes [3] Frequently [4] Always

5. How often did you talk with your child about his/her school work?

[l] Never [2]Sometimes [3] Frequently [4] Always

6. How often did you listen to your child's (ren's) reading?

[i] Never [2] sometimes [3] Frequently [4] Always

7. What was your child's (ren's) GPA on the last report card?

[i] 4.0 & above [2]3.0-3.9 [3] 2.0-2.9 [4]i .O-i.9 [5]Less than i .O

8. How important do you think was your involvement to your child's education?

[i] Not [2] Somewhat [3] Important [4] Very

important important 'important

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9. What is your opinion ab~ut parental involvement in their children's education?

[1 ]

[2]

10.What impact do you believe you have on your child's (ren's) achievement in
school?
Or
How do you perceive your involvement has had an impact on your child's (ren's)
achievement in school?

[l]

[2]

11 .What are the barriers to parent involvement in the school?

[l] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

P]-----------------------

12.What would you suggest to increase parent involvement in their child's (ren's)
education?

[1]

P]------------------------

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APPENDIX B

A Cover Letter Sent Along With the Survey (Questionnaire)

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I am Rev. Alexius Minj, a graduate student at Marquette University, Milwaukee. I

am doing a research project to determine how parents' involvement in school activities can

increase their children's academic achievement. By this letter, I am inviting you to be a part

of this project.

I would like one of the parents/guardians to fill out the survey. All information

gained will remain strictly confidential. No persons will be named or identified in any way

in the text of the thesis. If you have any questions regarding the details of this study, feel

free to call me at any time. My phone number is (414) 288-5000.

In order to have the most useful study possible, please complete the attached survey

and return by placing it in the self-addressed envelope by June 2nd, 1999. Please keep in

mind that your participation in this survey is purely voluntary.

Thank you very much for your cooperation in this research project. Your timely

response is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Alexius Minj, S.l

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APPENDIX C

INTERVIEW GUIDE QUESTIONS

Interview Guide Questions

A. DEMOGRAPIDC INFORMATION:

1. Name of the interviewee

------------------------------
2. Are you a biological parent or adopted parent?
Yes No
{JJ Father [2J Mother [3J Guardian [4J Other (please specifyJ ___________

3. What is your age group?

[lJ Under 30 [2J 3 1- 40 [3J 41- 50 [4J 51 Over

4. What is your highest level of education?

[lJ Under [2JHS [3J College [4J other (please specify) _ _ _ _ _ _ __

HS Degree Degree

5. What is your marital status?

[lJ Married [2J Divorced [3J Single [4J other (please specify) _ _ _ _ _ _ __

6. How many children are in your family?

[lJ One [2J Two [3J Three [4J more

7. How many of your children are in school?

[lJ One [2J Two [3J Three [4J more

8. What do you do for your living?

Or
What is the approximate income level of your family unit?

[lJ 20,000 [2J 20,001 [3J 40,001 [4J 60,001

Or less 40,000 60,000 & over

,..
78

B. OTHER INFORMATIbN:

1. In which of the following activities do you help your child (ren)?

[1] Homework [2] Reading [3] Writing [4] Other (specify) _ __ _

2.a) In which of the following school activities does your child (ren) participate

[l] Sports [2]Plays/drama [3]-Field trip [4] Other (specify) _ _ __

b) In which of the following school activities do you participate or attend?

[1] Sport [2] plays/drama [3] Field trip [4] Other (specify) _ _ __

3.In what capacity have you been involved in the PTAlPTO, or other parent
organization?

[1] Officer [2] Committee [3] Chair [4]Other (specify) _ _ __

Member person

4.What was your child's (ren's) GPA on the last report card?

[l]4.0 & above [2] 3.0-3.9 [3]2.0-2.9 [4] 1.0-1.9 [5] Less than
1.0

5.How important do you think your involvement is in your child's (re~'s)

education? __ and why?

[l] Not [2]Somewhat [3]Important [4] Very

Important Important Important

6. Are you satisfied with your involvement in school activities?

[1] Yes - why? [2] No - why? [3] Indifferent - why

7. What impact do you believe you have on your child's (ren's) achievement in school?
Or .
How do you perceive your involvement has had an impact on your child's (ren's)
achievement in school?
8. In general, what are the barriers you perceive to parental involvement in the school?

9. What would you suggest to increase parental involvement in education?

10.ls there anything else I should know about parent involvement in their children's
education that I have not asked?
t·
79

APPENDIX D

CONSENT FORM FOR HUMAN SUBJECT'S PROTECTION

Consent Form for Human Subject's Protection

When I sign this statement, I am giving my infonned consent to the following

considerations.
1. I understand that Rev. Alexius Minj is conducting research on parental
involvement and its perceived impact on student's academic achievement, and this research
is for his thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts in
Education.
2. I am being asked to be interviewed and have my response taped - regarding the
effect of parental involvement on students' academic achievement.
3. I understand that Rev. Alexius Minj will make provisions to protect my privacy
and will respect my wishes regarding anonymity.
4. Rev. Alexius Minj may be contacted for infonnation about this research project
and he will answer my questions about it at any time (phone: 414- 288-5000).
5. I understand that participation in this research project is voluntary.
6. I understand that I may withdraw at any time from this project without penalty or
loss of benefits to which I am otherwise entitled.
7. I am not involved in any agreement of this project, whether written or oral,
which includes language that clears the institution from alleged fault or guilt. I have not
waived or released the institution or its representatives from liability for negligence, if any,
which may arise in the conduct of this research project.

I the person signing below, understand the above explanations. On this basis I
consent to participate voluntarily in Rev. Alexius Minj's research project.

_ _ _ _ _ _ Date_ _ __ Date- - - - -
-------~
Signature of respondent Signature of investigator/
giving consent Project administrator
!.
80

APPENDIXE

INTRODUCTORY LETTER FOR CONSENT

Dear parent,
I am Rev. Alexius Minj, SJ., a graduate student at Marquette University
Milwaukee. I am doing a research project to determine how parents' involvement in school
activities can increase their children's academic achievement. My thesis topic is entitled,
"Parental Involvement and Its Perceived Impact on Student Achievement." By this letter, I
am requesting you to be a part of this project.

What I am asking of you is this: I need you to agree to spend approximately 20 to

30 minutes with me in an interview session. The interview will be limited to the enclosed
,
interview guide questions (attached on the pages 17- 19). Your answer will be taped for
purposes of later analysis. All information or responses used in the analysis aI1d
documentation will be completely anonymous. No person will be named or identified in any
way in the text of the thesis. The interview session will be arranged at your convenience.

If you agree to assist me in this project, please complete the enclosed form
(attached on page 22) and, in the stamped envelope provided, return your reply. Upon
receipt of your acceptance, I will contact you to set up an appointment. If you have any
questions about my project, please do not hesitate to call me at any time. My phone number
is (414) 288-5000. I will be happy to answer any of your questions prior to our interview.

I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Rev. Alexius Minj, SJ

t·
81

APPENDIX F

Consent Response Form

_____ I agree to be interviewed as part of the Master's thesis research.

Name
-------------------------
Address
--------------~---------

Homephone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

Business phone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Best time of day to be contacted _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Preference for day and time of interview _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

_____ I do not wish to be interviewed as part of the Master's thesis research.

Signature Date

N .B. please return to Rev. Alexius Minj, SJ. in the enclosed envelope.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

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82

APPENDIX G

Table 11
Demographic information of interviewees

Age Group

Age group Frequency Percent

31 -40 yrs 5 50%

41 - 50 5 50

Total 10 100

Educational Level

Educational Level Frequency Percent

H.S. Grad 1 10%

College Grad 6 60
Other Degrees 3 30

Total 10 100

Number of Children in a Family

No. children Frequency Percent

2 8 80%
4 or more 2 20

Total 10 100

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83

Children in School

Children in School Frequency Percent

1- - 10%

2 7 70
4 or more 2 20

Total 10 100

Children's GPA

Value Frequency Percent

4.0 or more 3 30%

3 - 3.9 7 70

Total 10 100

Income Level

Income L. Frequency Percent

$ 40,001-60,000 6 60%

$ 60,001 or more 4 40

Total 10 100

!.
84

APPENDIX H

Table 12
Parent's Help in Academics

In reading

Reading . --rrequertci .. . - Percent

No 2 20%
Yes 8 80

Total 10 100

In writing

Wntuig .- t~teqijency -_. -Perceftl

No 1 10%
Yes 9 90

Total 10 100

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85

APPENDIX I

Table 13
Children in Activity
In sports

Sports Frequency Percenf

No 3 30%
Yes 7 70

Total 10 100

In drama

Drama Frequency Percent

No 1 10%
Yes 9 90

Total 10 100

In Field Trips

Value Frequency Percent

1 1 10%
9 9 90

Total 10 100

J"
86

APPENDIX J

Table 14
Parents in activities
In sports

Sports Frequency Percent

No 5 50%
Yes 5 50

Total 10 100

In drama

Value - Frequency . Percent

No 1 10%
Yes 9 90

Total 10 100

In field trips

Value Frequency Percent

1 1 10%
9 9 90

Total 10 100

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87

APPENDIX K

Table 15
Capacity of Involvement in PTA1PTO

Capacity in PT AlPTO Frequency Percent

Committee members 3 30%

Chairperson 1 10
Others 6 60

Total 10 100

APPENDIX L

Table 16
Importance of Involvement

Value Frequency Percent

Important 1 10%
Very Important 9 90

Total 10 100

t"