Issue Brief:

Factors Associated With Fathers' and Mothers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools

April 1998

Parent involvement in children's education is important for children's school success (U.S. Department of Education, 1994; Henderson and Berla, 1994). Not all children, however, have parents who are involved in their schools. This issue brief examines factors that are associated with fathers' and mothers' involvement in their children's schools among children in kindergarten through 12th grade living in two-parent and in single-parent families. The data for this analysis come from the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES:96), sponsored by the (NCES).

The NHES:96 asked about four types of school activities that parents could participate in during the school year: attending a general school meeting, attending a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference, attending a school or class event, and serving as a volunteer at the school. Parents who participated in none or only one activity are said to have low involvement. Parents who participated in two activities are described as having moderate involvement. Parents who participated in three or four activities are said to be highly involved in their children's schools./1/

Children in elementary school are more likely than children in middle or high school to have parents who are highly involved in their schools.

Mothers and fathers in two-parent and in single-parent families tend to decrease their involvement in their children's schools as their children move from elementary to middle to high school (table 1). Among children in kindergarten through 5th grade, 69 percent of children living in two-parent families and 60 percent living in mother-only families have mothers who are highly involved in their schools. Among children in grades 9 through 12, however, only 39 percent of children living in two-parent families and 32 percent living in mother-only families have mothers who are highly involved in their schools. Similarly, the proportion of children living in two-parent families with fathers who are highly involved in their schools decreases from 30 percent in elementary school to 23 percent in high school. Part of the decrease in parental involvement is due to schools offering parents fewer opportunities for involvement as children grow older (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

Table 1

Children with more family resources as measured by parents' education and household income are more likely than children with fewer resources to have parents who are highly involved in their schools.

Regardless of whether children live in two-parent or in single-parent families, the proportion of children whose mothers or fathers are highly involved in their schools increases as their parents' education level increases. Among children living in two-parent families, 31 percent have mothers who are highly involved in their schools if their mothers have less than a high school education, while 70 percent have highly involved mothers if their mothers have graduate or professional school experience. Similarly, 10 percent of children in two-parent families whose fathers have less than a high school education have highly involved fathers, while 41 percent whose fathers have graduate or professional school experience have highly involved fathers.

Children are also more likely to have mothers' and fathers' who are highly involved in their schools as household income increases. Sixty-eight percent of children living in two-parent families with household incomes over $75,000 have highly involved mothers compared to 42 percent in households earning less than $25,000 (table 1).

Children whose mothers and fathers are highly involved in their schools are more likely to have greater levels of "social capital" as measured by activities shared with parents and high parental educational expectations.

It is not only measures of socioeconomic status that are linked to mothers' and fathers' involvement in school. Children whose mothers and fathers are highly involved in their schools are more apt to have families that share activities with them such as reading stories or visiting the library with them or who expect that they will graduate from a 4-year college (table 2).

Discussion

Most children in elementary school have parents who are involved in their schools, but by the time children reach high school a much smaller proportion have parents who remain highly involved in their schools. Although part of the decrease is attributable to schools offering parents fewer opportunities for involvement, parents too are stepping back as their children grow older. Research suggests, however, that adolescents benefit when their parents are involved (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

Children who are advantaged in terms of parental education and household income are more likely than other children to have parents who are highly involved in their schools. Furthermore, children who have highly involved parents are also generally more likely to share activities with them and to have parents who have high educational aspirations for them.

References and Related Publications

Henderson, A.T., and Berla, N. (1994). A New Generation of Evidence: The Family is Critical to Student Achievement. Washington, DC: National Committee for Citizens in Action.

U.S. Department of Education, . (1997). Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools. NCES 98-091, by Christine Winquist Nord, DeeAnn Brimhall, and Jerry West. Washington, DC.

U.S. Department of Education. (1994). Strong Families, Strong Schools: Building Community Partnerships for Learning. Washington, DC.

Footnotes:

[1] Not all schools offer parents the opportunity to be involved in each of these activities. Low involvement can result because parents do not take advantage of available opportunities for involvement or because schools do not offer them opportunities for involvement.

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For more information about the content of this report, contact Jerry West at Jerry_West@ed.gov.