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Digest of Education Statistics
2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 207.40. Percentage of elementary and secondary school children whose parents were involved in school activities, by selected child, parent, and school characteristics: 2003, 2012, and 2016
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child, parent, or school characteristic Percent of children whose parents reported the following types of involvement in school activities
2003 2012 2016
Attended a
general
school
meeting
Attended parent-teacher conference Attended a class event Volunteered at school Attended a
school
meeting
Attended parent-teacher conference Attended a class event Volunteered at school Attended a
general
school
meeting
Attended parent-teacher conference Attended a class event Volunteered at school
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Total 87.7   (0.37) 77.1   (0.42) 69.9   (0.42) 41.8   (0.61) 87.4   (0.41) 75.8   (0.43) 74.4   (0.45) 41.7   (0.49) 88.6   (0.47) 77.7   (0.53) 79.3   (0.54) 43.4   (0.67)
Sex of child                                                                    
Male 87.4   (0.49) 77.7   (0.63) 67.4   (0.75) 41.2   (0.88) 87.1   (0.66) 76.4   (0.61) 72.3   (0.65) 40.0   (0.71) 87.5   (0.80) 78.6   (0.74) 77.2   (0.97) 41.9   (0.82)
Female 87.9   (0.56) 76.5   (0.63) 72.6   (0.62) 42.4   (0.83) 87.7   (0.50) 75.1   (0.61) 76.7   (0.68) 43.5   (0.88) 89.8   (0.56) 76.6   (0.76) 81.6   (0.60) 45.0   (0.87)
                                                                         
Race/ethnicity of child                                                                        
White 88.7   (0.50) 76.3   (0.62) 74.1   (0.65) 48.3   (0.82) 89.1   (0.50) 77.2   (0.56) 81.5   (0.54) 49.6   (0.72) 90.6   (0.52) 78.8   (0.67) 85.8   (0.63) 49.1   (0.83)
Black 88.7   (0.85) 78.7   (1.35) 63.3   (1.54) 31.9   (1.64) 85.0   (1.35) 76.1   (1.35) 68.0   (1.66) 30.3   (1.33) 87.2   (1.72) 78.9   (1.60) 72.2   (2.02) 33.9   (1.81)
Hispanic 82.6   (1.05) 78.1   (1.10) 60.9   (1.36) 27.7   (1.23) 85.7   (0.98) 72.8   (1.08) 64.0   (1.34) 31.7   (1.14) 86.7   (0.98) 74.6   (1.38) 71.3   (1.29) 35.9   (1.49)
Asian/Pacific Islander1 88.5   (2.14) 77.7   (3.03) 65.1   (3.65) 33.8   (2.69) 83.0   (1.72) 71.5   (2.01) 65.8   (2.21) 35.2   (2.22) 80.0   (3.59) 76.4   (2.25) 71.1   (2.49) 41.7   (2.96)
Asian   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 82.5   (1.80) 71.5   (2.03) 65.0   (2.30) 34.0   (2.33) 79.5   (3.71) 76.4   (2.36) 71.9   (2.57) 41.4   (3.07)
Pacific Islander   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 90.7   (3.96) 71.4   (8.97) 79.0   (6.32) 54.3   (11.37) 92.0   (5.24) 78.7   (10.09) 52.3   (11.66) 48.2   (10.95)
American Indian/Alaska Native 85.1   (5.22) 85.1   (6.68) 69.5   (7.37) 18.9   (5.57) 85.1   (4.91) 79.9   (6.85) 75.6   (6.61) 42.3   (8.61) 93.0   (3.05) 87.5   (4.36) 80.1   (7.45) 59.4   (10.56)
Two or more races 87.2   (2.45) 74.9   (3.63) 72.3   (2.84) 47.7   (3.79) 88.8   (1.30) 78.4   (2.31) 76.0   (2.52) 45.3   (2.57) 91.2   (1.37) 78.1   (2.29) 83.1   (2.07) 48.0   (3.17)
                                                                         
Highest education level of
    parents/guardians in the
    household2
                                                                       
Less than high school 69.8   (2.04) 67.8   (2.50) 42.4   (2.42) 15.6   (2.04) 77.0   (1.79) 63.3   (1.88) 48.0   (2.04) 18.3   (1.72) 76.4   (2.98) 69.8   (2.74) 54.3   (2.75) 25.0   (2.70)
High school/GED 83.8   (0.91) 75.4   (0.94) 62.1   (1.28) 30.3   (1.27) 82.1   (1.42) 72.2   (1.23) 62.3   (1.45) 27.6   (1.38) 82.2   (1.34) 73.1   (1.55) 69.5   (1.70) 26.5   (1.99)
Vocational/technical or some
    college
88.5   (0.67) 78.0   (1.02) 69.1   (0.94) 38.8   (1.25) 87.5   (0.62) 75.4   (1.02) 76.1   (0.99) 39.0   (1.14) 89.2   (0.75) 75.7   (1.08) 78.2   (1.21) 34.7   (1.20)
Associate's degree 88.6   (1.27) 76.6   (1.68) 73.0   (1.76) 39.7   (1.67) 88.9   (0.91) 79.5   (1.13) 80.5   (1.37) 44.9   (1.77) 90.2   (1.08) 77.6   (1.30) 83.4   (1.45) 44.8   (1.70)
Bachelor's degree/some graduate
    school
92.0   (0.73) 79.8   (0.89) 80.1   (0.94) 53.9   (1.30) 92.1   (0.53) 79.9   (0.62) 85.0   (0.63) 55.0   (1.11) 92.9   (0.57) 81.5   (0.96) 87.3   (0.71) 54.0   (1.18)
Graduate/professional degree 94.6   (0.74) 79.5   (1.00) 80.8   (1.10) 61.7   (1.57) 95.1   (0.47) 83.0   (0.68) 90.1   (0.59) 61.8   (1.30) 95.3   (0.47) 83.8   (0.75) 92.7   (0.60) 64.9   (1.05)
                                                                         
Family income (in current
    dollars)
                                                                       
$20,000 or less 79.8   (1.43) 74.6   (1.33) 56.6   (1.42) 26.1   (1.45) 79.9   (1.15) 69.4   (1.36) 57.2   (1.31) 24.1   (1.18) 79.5   (2.18) 73.7   (1.89) 61.4   (1.98) 24.2   (1.78)
$20,001 to $50,000 85.1   (0.67) 77.3   (0.85) 66.2   (0.94) 34.6   (1.14) 84.3   (0.73) 74.5   (1.04) 67.2   (1.28) 31.1   (1.22) 85.0   (1.12) 76.0   (1.18) 70.2   (1.47) 31.9   (1.63)
$50,001 to $75,000 89.9   (0.79) 76.8   (0.96) 74.5   (1.03) 46.0   (1.26) 88.7   (0.97) 77.3   (1.23) 77.3   (1.19) 43.7   (1.40) 88.7   (1.02) 78.3   (1.13) 81.2   (1.35) 39.7   (1.65)
$75,001 to $100,000 94.0   (0.80) 79.4   (1.28) 77.6   (1.34) 51.5   (1.71) 89.9   (0.88) 77.3   (1.15) 81.9   (1.13) 47.8   (1.24) 91.4   (0.87) 75.9   (1.23) 83.5   (1.32) 49.2   (1.53)
Over $100,000 93.9   (0.71) 77.9   (1.21) 80.7   (1.03) 61.1   (1.19) 92.5   (0.92) 79.0   (0.80) 85.5   (0.96) 57.6   (1.05) 93.6   (0.62) 80.8   (0.95) 90.5   (0.70) 59.1   (0.99)
                                                                         
Poverty status3                                                                        
Poor 79.4   (1.55) 74.5   (1.37) 56.7   (1.57) 26.8   (1.55) 82.5   (1.08) 71.3   (1.29) 60.0   (1.52) 26.8   (1.28) 81.1   (1.68) 74.8   (1.90) 62.3   (1.78) 26.6   (1.77)
Near-poor 85.1   (0.89) 77.9   (1.05) 64.8   (0.98) 32.5   (1.31) 83.7   (0.78) 75.2   (0.97) 66.5   (1.22) 31.2   (1.35) 85.8   (1.14) 76.4   (1.24) 71.4   (1.42) 33.0   (1.86)
Nonpoor 91.0   (0.46) 77.6   (0.58) 75.7   (0.51) 49.5   (0.76) 90.4   (0.51) 77.5   (0.55) 82.2   (0.61) 50.6   (0.71) 91.7   (0.48) 78.9   (0.66) 86.9   (0.57) 51.7   (0.78)
                                                                         
Control of school and enrollment                                                                        
level of child                                                                        
Public school 86.7   (0.40) 75.9   (0.45) 68.0   (0.47) 38.5   (0.64) 86.5   (0.43) 74.8   (0.45) 72.9   (0.50) 39.0   (0.52) 88.2   (0.50) 76.7   (0.56) 77.8   (0.60) 40.3   (0.69)
Elementary (kindergarten
     to grade 8)
90.9   (0.40) 85.1   (0.42) 71.7   (0.57) 42.8   (0.75) 90.0   (0.42) 82.4   (0.47) 76.0   (0.64) 44.1   (0.69) 91.0   (0.59) 84.8   (0.62) 80.5   (0.70) 44.6   (0.89)
Secondary (grades 9 to 12) 76.9   (1.06) 54.8   (1.03) 59.4   (1.06) 28.5   (0.98) 77.8   (0.92) 55.5   (1.04) 65.1   (0.90) 26.2   (0.71) 81.2   (0.88) 56.1   (1.21) 71.0   (1.01) 29.4   (0.95)
Private school 95.8   (0.61) 86.6   (1.02) 85.8   (1.20) 68.6   (1.57) 96.2   (0.58) 86.9   (1.13) 90.1   (1.18) 69.5   (1.63) 92.2   (1.39) 87.3   (1.21) 93.5   (1.14) 72.6   (1.91)
Elementary (kindergarten
     to grade 8)
96.6   (0.70) 91.6   (0.93) 88.4   (1.23) 73.3   (1.91) 97.4   (0.63) 91.2   (1.47) 91.8   (1.39) 74.4   (1.87) 92.1   (1.76) 90.5   (1.51) 94.2   (1.41) 78.2   (2.27)
Secondary (grades 9 to 12) 93.3   (1.55) 72.3   (2.49) 78.3   (2.77) 54.8   (2.82) 92.5   (1.20) 73.6   (2.19) 84.9   (2.08) 54.6   (2.44) 92.5   (2.36) 78.7   (1.89) 91.5   (1.30) 57.5   (2.80)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 The 2003 questionnaire included a single item for "Asian or Pacific Islander," whereas questionnaires for later years included one item for Asian and a separate item for Pacific Islander.
2 In 2003, education level was not collected for the second parent in a same sex couple.
3 Poor children are those whose family incomes were below the Census Bureau's poverty threshold in the year prior to data collection; near-poor children are those whose family incomes ranged from the poverty threshold to 199 percent of the poverty threshold; and nonpoor children are those whose family incomes were at or above 200 percent of the poverty threshold. The poverty threshold is a dollar amount that varies depending on a family's size and composition and is updated annually to account for inflation. In 2015, for example, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $24,257. Survey respondents are asked to select the range within which their income falls, rather than giving the exact amount of their income; therefore, the measure of poverty status is an approximation.
NOTE: While National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) administrations prior to 2012 were administered via telephone with an interviewer, NHES:2012 and NHES:2016 used self-administered paper-and-pencil questionnaires that were mailed to respondents. Measurable differences between estimates for years prior to 2012 and estimates for later years could reflect actual changes in the population, or the changes could be due to the mode change from telephone to mail. Includes children enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 and ungraded students. Excludes homeschooled children. The respondent was the parent most knowledgeable about the child's education. Responding parents reported on their own activities and the activities of their spouse/other adults in the household. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (PFI-NHES:2003, 2012, and 2016). (This table was prepared May 2018.)

2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest