Improving Educational Equity: Investigating the Relationship Between Parent Volunteering, Socioeconomic Status, and Kindergarten Math Achievement

• In Event: Parents and Communities

Abstract

Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development as a theoretical framework, this study examines a subset of the ECLS-K data to investigate whether the proportion of parent volunteers in public schools has a direct impact on kindergarten math achievement, as well as whether the level of parental volunteering within a school reduces the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and spring math achievement. What was found is that although parental involvement does not directly impact kindergarten math achievement, it does moderate the relationship between SES and math achievement. These results indicate that schools with high levels of parental involvement are significantly more equitable with regard to the impact of SES on math achievement than schools with low levels of parental involvement.

Authors

• Adam Hengen, University of Michigan

• Rebecca Dora Christensen, University of Michigan