Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 23. Percentage of elementary and secondary school children whose parents were involved in school activities, by selected child, parent, and school characteristics: 1999 and 2003
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                |                                               |                                               |           Percentage distribution of children, by
                                |        Percent of children in 1999 whose      |      Percent of children in 2003 whose        |      parental reports of number of times spent helping
                                |        parents\1\ report that they ...        |       parents\1\ report that they ...         |               with homework per week, 2003\2\
                                |_______________________________________________|_______________________________________________|___________________________________________________________
                                |   Attended|   Attended|           |           |   Attended|   Attended|           |           |           |           |           |           |
                                |  a general|    parent-|           |           |  a general|    parent-|           |           |           |       Less|           |           | 5 or more
Child, parent, and school       |     school|    teacher| Attended a|Volunteered|     school|    teacher| Attended a|Volunteered|    No help|  than once|1 to 2 days|3 to 4 days|      days
characteristic                  |    meeting| conference|class event|  at school|    meeting| conference|class event|  at school|      given|   per week|     a week|     a week|    a week
________________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
1                               |          2|          3|          4|          5|          6|          7|          8|          9|         10|         11|         12|         13|        14
________________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
   Total .......................|78.3 (0.49)|72.8 (0.45)|65.4 (0.44)|36.8 (0.40)|87.7 (0.37)|77.1 (0.42)|69.9 (0.42)|41.8 (0.60)| 4.9 (0.23)|24.6 (0.42)|33.9 (0.61)|25.2 (0.50)|11.4 (0.36)
                                |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
Sex of child                    |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Male .........................|78.0 (0.62)|74.0 (0.60)|63.4 (0.62)|36.7 (0.65)|87.4 (0.49)|77.7 (0.63)|67.4 (0.75)|41.2 (0.87)| 5.4 (0.36)|24.4 (0.58)|32.7 (0.74)|25.5 (0.69)|11.9 (0.49)
  Female .......................|78.6 (0.69)|71.5 (0.56)|67.4 (0.59)|37.0 (0.61)|87.9 (0.55)|76.5 (0.63)|72.6 (0.63)|42.4 (0.83)| 4.4 (0.31)|24.8 (0.68)|35.1 (0.87)|24.9 (0.66)|10.8 (0.55)
                                |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity of child         |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ..........|80.5 (0.54)|73.6 (0.48)|71.6 (0.53)|42.7 (0.51)|88.7 (0.51)|76.4 (0.62)|74.1 (0.65)|48.4 (0.82)| 4.8 (0.34)|29.2 (0.63)|34.0 (0.75)|23.1 (0.60)| 8.9 (0.39)
  Black, non-Hispanic ..........|74.5 (1.12)|71.1 (1.23)|53.8 (1.29)|26.2 (1.21)|88.7 (0.85)|78.7 (1.35)|63.3 (1.54)|32.0 (1.65)| 4.2 (0.59)|16.2 (1.15)|33.4 (1.48)|29.4 (1.51)|16.7 (1.14)
  Hispanic .....................|73.1 (1.18)|71.0 (1.05)|51.5 (1.02)|24.5 (0.90)|82.6 (1.05)|78.1 (1.10)|60.9 (1.36)|27.7 (1.23)| 5.8 (0.57)|16.0 (0.89)|35.8 (1.30)|27.5 (1.13)|14.9 (0.91)
  Other non-Hispanic ...........|76.7 (2.00)|73.2 (1.94)|62.4 (2.01)|30.7 (1.94)|87.5 (1.63)|77.6 (2.25)|68.5 (2.32)|37.2 (2.16)| 5.6 (1.06)|22.2 (1.99)|28.4 (1.99)|30.5 (2.67)|13.3 (1.56)
                                |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Highest education level         |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
   of parents                   |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Less than high school ........|57.4 (1.77)|60.0 (1.78)|37.8 (1.68)|12.9 (1.05)|69.8 (2.04)|67.8 (2.50)|42.4 (2.42)|15.6 (2.04)| 9.4 (1.30)|16.9 (1.85)|40.6 (2.86)|21.0 (1.90)|12.1 (1.66)
  High school/GED ..............|72.7 (1.00)|69.7 (0.87)|58.7 (0.93)|26.0 (0.88)|83.8 (0.91)|75.4 (0.93)|62.1 (1.28)|30.3 (1.27)| 5.8 (0.55)|21.8 (0.87)|33.8 (0.96)|26.7 (1.00)|11.9 (0.75)
  Vocational/technical or some  |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
     college ...................|78.0 (1.04)|72.8 (0.97)|66.0 (1.05)|35.7 (1.07)|88.5 (0.67)|78.0 (1.02)|69.1 (0.93)|38.8 (1.26)| 4.1 (0.41)|24.3 (0.82)|34.1 (1.12)|26.1 (0.87)|11.5 (0.62)
  Associate's degree ...........|81.7 (1.14)|75.8 (1.39)|68.7 (1.57)|41.5 (1.53)|88.6 (1.27)|76.6 (1.68)|73.0 (1.76)|39.7 (1.67)|\3\    (†) |\3\    (†) |\3\    (†) |\3\    (†) |\3\    (†)
  Bachelor's degree ............|87.0 (0.73)|79.6 (0.84)|75.8 (0.93)|49.6 (1.10)|92.0 (0.75)|79.8 (0.89)|80.1 (0.95)|53.9 (1.29)| 4.4 (0.54)|27.9 (1.15)|32.8 (1.20)|24.4 (1.03)|10.5 (0.75)
  Graduate/professional degree .|89.4 (0.70)|76.2 (1.09)|79.2 (0.98)|55.1 (1.21)|94.6 (0.74)|79.4 (0.99)|80.8 (1.09)|61.8 (1.57)| 3.9 (0.50)|28.6 (1.11)|32.1 (1.15)|24.1 (1.08)|11.3 (0.91)
                                |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Family income                   |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Less than $5,000 .............|67.0 (2.83)|66.7 (3.14)|47.4 (2.87)|17.6 (2.09)|77.7 (2.84)|72.4 (4.15)|55.6 (3.91)|27.3 (4.09)| 3.7 (1.23)|17.0 (3.35)|38.1 (4.10)|25.9 (3.27)|15.2 (2.72)
  $5,001 to $10,000 ............|66.8 (2.13)|67.6 (2.25)|50.7 (2.23)|23.3 (1.91)|79.3 (3.26)|75.7 (3.28)|59.9 (3.60)|30.4 (3.35)| 5.3 (1.56)|19.2 (2.98)|32.9 (3.14)|29.9 (2.54)|12.8 (1.82)
  $10,001 to 15,000 ............|67.1 (1.64)|70.0 (1.62)|49.9 (2.15)|20.4 (1.40)|80.0 (2.41)|75.6 (2.35)|53.4 (2.99)|22.5 (2.44)| 5.5 (1.03)|16.5 (2.21)|35.9 (2.63)|27.1 (2.30)|15.1 (1.99)
  $15,001 to 20,000 ............|71.1 (1.76)|70.4 (1.52)|55.1 (1.89)|25.3 (1.70)|81.1 (2.60)|74.2 (2.23)|57.5 (2.28)|25.6 (2.84)| 5.5 (1.10)|19.2 (1.74)|37.4 (2.63)|22.6 (2.00)|15.4 (2.04)
  $20,001 to 25,000 ............|70.6 (1.90)|67.0 (1.62)|53.4 (1.76)|26.2 (1.63)|83.5 (1.64)|79.1 (1.89)|62.4 (1.99)|27.0 (2.39)| 7.7 (1.31)|17.0 (1.80)|32.1 (2.26)|30.4 (2.26)|12.8 (1.26)
  $25,001 to 30,000 ............|74.3 (1.35)|71.6 (1.31)|59.1 (1.71)|30.9 (1.69)|85.7 (1.46)|75.9 (2.41)|64.2 (2.23)|33.8 (2.86)| 4.1 (0.91)|19.1 (1.78)|38.2 (2.95)|25.9 (2.36)|12.8 (1.45)
  $30,001 to 35,000 ............|79.0 (1.60)|73.8 (1.72)|67.6 (1.69)|37.9 (1.84)|84.5 (1.59)|76.3 (1.94)|64.7 (2.32)|33.5 (2.51)| 6.4 (1.20)|19.9 (1.85)|34.9 (2.14)|27.5 (2.12)|11.2 (1.46)
  $35,001 to 40,000 ............|79.4 (1.38)|73.7 (1.38)|68.4 (1.64)|36.1 (1.84)|83.4 (2.50)|74.7 (2.10)|70.9 (2.41)|37.3 (3.50)| 3.6 (0.89)|22.8 (2.21)|32.5 (2.32)|27.6 (2.32)|13.4 (1.67)
  $40,001 to 50,000 ............|81.6 (1.07)|75.1 (1.13)|72.8 (1.25)|40.1 (1.26)|87.5 (1.18)|79.3 (1.42)|68.5 (2.11)|40.0 (1.89)| 4.3 (0.79)|24.7 (1.62)|31.5 (1.75)|28.1 (1.85)|11.4 (1.15)
  $50,001 to 75,000 ............|84.6 (0.78)|74.8 (0.91)|72.6 (0.90)|43.8 (1.05)|89.9 (0.79)|76.9 (0.96)|74.5 (1.04)|46.0 (1.27)| 5.0 (0.49)|27.2 (1.07)|34.3 (1.11)|23.5 (1.04)|10.0 (0.64)
  Over $75,000 .................|88.5 (0.68)|77.3 (0.74)|79.3 (0.80)|54.9 (1.02)|93.9 (0.57)|78.6 (0.89)|79.3 (0.73)|56.8 (1.01)| 4.4 (0.41)|30.8 (0.96)|32.4 (0.96)|23.0 (0.80)| 9.5 (0.57)
                                |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Child attending public          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
   schools .....................|76.8 (0.54)|71.4 (0.50)|63.5 (0.48)|33.8 (0.41)|86.7 (0.40)|75.9 (0.45)|68.0 (0.47)|38.5 (0.64)| 4.9 (0.24)|24.7 (0.46)|34.2 (0.64)|25.1 (0.51)|11.1 (0.37)
  Elementary (kindergarten      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
     to grade 8) ...............|81.7 (0.57)|80.9 (0.45)|66.9 (0.55)|38.1 (0.48)|90.9 (0.40)|85.1 (0.42)|71.7 (0.57)|42.8 (0.74)| 1.6 (0.17)|16.5 (0.55)|34.7 (0.75)|32.4 (0.67)|14.8 (0.51)
  Secondary (grades 9 to 12) ...|65.8 (0.99)|50.1 (1.10)|55.9 (0.97)|24.0 (0.77)|76.9 (1.06)|54.8 (1.02)|59.4 (1.06)|28.5 (0.98)|12.7 (0.64)|44.2 (0.92)|32.9 (0.97)| 7.9 (0.51)| 2.4 (0.34)
                                |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Child attending private         |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
   schools .....................|91.4 (0.80)|85.0 (0.95)|81.7 (1.09)|63.8 (1.35)|95.7 (0.61)|86.6 (1.03)|85.6 (1.23)|68.7 (1.57)| 4.6 (0.89)|23.7 (1.58)|31.4 (1.54)|26.4 (1.78)|13.9 (1.05)
  Elementary (kindergarten      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
     to grade 8) ...............|93.0 (0.73)|90.2 (0.81)|84.2 (1.11)|68.8 (1.37)|96.6 (0.69)|91.6 (0.92)|88.4 (1.22)|73.4 (1.90)| 1.5 (0.47)|17.5 (1.64)|29.9 (1.68)|33.0 (2.23)|18.1 (1.45)
  Secondary (grades 9 to 12) ...|85.9 (2.09)|66.9 (2.74)|73.0 (2.62)|46.3 (3.23)|93.0 (1.56)|72.2 (2.54)|77.6 (2.93)|55.2 (2.78)|13.4 (2.66)|41.0 (3.23)|35.7 (3.41)| 7.8 (1.68)| 2.1 (0.78)
________________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
\1\The respondent was the parent most knowledgeable about the child's education. The responding parent reported on their own and their spouse's, or other household adult's, activities.
\2\Excludes children who do not have homework and children who never do homework.
\3\Included under vocational/technical or some college.
NOTE: Includes children enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12. Excludes homeschooled children. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education: 2002-03; and The Parent Survey (Parent:1999) and The Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI:2003) of the National Household Education Surveys Program, unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared January 2006.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest