How Do Family-School Partnerships Contribute to Student Outcomes? Mediated by the Quality of Homework Involvement

• In Event: 45.067 - Family-School Partnerships: The Conditions and Benefits for the Teachers, Students, and Parents

Abstract

Objectives: We addressed two main research questions. First, we examined family-school partnerships (FSP) as a predictor of parental homework involvement and its consequential relations with three student outcomes (mathematics performance, school reluctance, and well-being in the family). Second, the mediating role of parental homework involvement was addressed.

Framework: Results from previous studies have provided strong evidence that parental involvement positively contributes to a variety of students’ desired outcomes, for instance, performance, motivation, and well-being (e.g. Hill & Tyson, 2009; Ma, Shen, Krenn, Hu, & Yuan, 2016). At the same time, however, recent studies demonstrated that parental homework involvement—as one aspect of parental involvement—may not always foster students’ desired outcomes. These studies concluded that it is the quality of parental homework involvement rather than the quantity that matters (e. g., Moroni, Dumont, Trautwein, Niggli, & Baeriswyl, 2015). Given the importance of improving parental involvement, scholars have attempted to identify variables that increase beneficial parental involvement. Besides parental characteristics, several studies demonstrated that FSP, especially an effective communication between schools and families, may help to enhance parental involvement at home (see Hoover-Dempsey & Walker, 2002). However, it remains unclear whether FSP would also predict different qualities of parental homework involvement. The aim of the present study was to examine the link between FSP and the quality of parental homework involvement in the German context.

Methods: In Germany, the concept of FSP has not been systematically investigated yet. Building upon the U.S. National Standards for FSP proposed by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA, Parent-Teacher Association, 2009), the Vodafone Foundation, in a collaboration with a scientific expert committee (see Sacher, Sliwka, Tschöpe-Scheffler, Walper, & Wild, 2013), recently proposed four standards for strong FSP in German schools: Standard A “Welcoming and Meeting Culture”; Standard B “Various and Respectful Communication”; Standard C “Educational Cooperation”; and Standard D “Parent Participation”. To operationally characterize FSP, we relied on two indicators of Standard B “Various and Respectful Communication” and developed two scales (11 items) assessing FSP. Taking a self-determination perspective on parental need support, the quality of parental homework involvement was differentiated into two dimensions of parental supportive behavior: Autonomy support and competence support. We analyzed the data of 189 parents (82% mothers) of school students (52% girls) who participated in an online survey. Parents reported on their perceptions of FSP, their homework involvement, and their children’s school-related outcomes.

Results: As expected, the structural equation model—while controlling for parental SES (CASMIN Educational Index)—revealed a positive relation between FSP and the quality of parental homework involvement that was, in turn, positively associated with mathematics performance and well-being in the family and negatively associated with school reluctance. As for the mediation issue, it was found that the quality of parental homework involvement mediated the relations of FSP to well-being in the family and to school reluctance.

Significance: Our results highlight the role of FSP as a key performance factor that helps to improve the quality of parental homework involvement, thereby promoting student outcomes.

Authors

• Swantje Dettmers, Fernuniversität in Hagen

• Sittipan Yotyodying, TU Dortmund University

• Kathrin Jonkmann, Fernuniversität in Hagen