Parent Attendance by School Characteristics

Parent attendance at school-sponsored events also showed significant variations across certain school characteristics (Table 2). One unexpected finding was that schools in the Southeast had considerably lower rates of parent attendance at teacher conferences, open houses, and arts events than schools in other geographic regions. Significantly fewer schools in this region reported that "most or all" parents typically attended these events. Regional differences in parent presence at sports events and academic demonstrations were less notable, with relatively few schools reporting high levels of attendance at such events. One of the most striking differences in parent attendance at school-sponsored events was linked to the poverty status of the school. Poverty status was determined using the school reports of the percentage of enrolled students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, using the following categories: less than 25 percent (low), 25-49 percent (moderate), and 50 percent or more (high). In general, as the poverty status of the school increased, reports of high parent attendance decreased significantly. For example, while 72 percent of low-poverty schools reported that most or all parents attended the school open house, only 48 percent of schools with moderate poverty and 28 percent of high-poverty schools reported these high rates. Attendance at sports events was less markedly related to poverty status, where significant differences were found between low-and high-poverty schools (19 percent versus 5 percent), but not when either of these groups was compared with schools of moderate poverty.

Similar relationships were found when the percentage of minority students enrolled in the school was taken into account. Schools with low minority enrollments (less than 5 percent) reported significantly higher levels of parent attendance at all events when compared to schools with high minority enrollments (50 percent or more). However, minority composition of the school and its poverty status were highly related, with 87 percent of schools with high minority enrollments also categorized as high poverty schools (not shown in tables). Poverty status has also been shown to be related to the metropolitan status of the school, with urban children much more likely to be living in poverty than those in suburban locations (U. S. Department of Education 1996).

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