The Quality of Parental Involvement in Children’s Schooling: Considering Measures and Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The degree to which parents are involved in children’s schooling is widely shown to predict children’s academic motivation, achievement, and adjustment. However, it is important that researchers also consider how parents are involved. The four presentations examine various aspects of parental involvement quality (e.g., praise, homework) and consider their relations with children’s academics across different countries and age groups. The first analyzed similarities and differences between child and parent reports of the quality of parental homework involvement. Parents had more positive perceptions of parent involvement than children and their perceptions were only moderately correlated. In the second, validation data was provided for a self-report measure of parents’ reports of their person and process responses to children’s math performance. Parents’ person responses predicted children’s math adjustment over time. The third study 1) examined associations between parental and child need frustration, homework stress, and parental need-thwarting practices and 2) evaluated the effectiveness of a brief parent training intervention. Need frustration and need-thwarting practices played a role in predicting child stress and the parent intervention reduced homework stress. The fourth study examined relations among parents’ motivation to be involved, parents’ autonomy supportive involvement, and children’s academics. Greater parental controlled motivation for involvement related to lower parental autonomy supportive personal and home involvement, which in turn, related to greater child school worry and lower academic motivation. Presenting these studies together will spark discussion on the quality of parental involvement, including how it can be conceptualized and measured and how it relates to children’s academics.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chair

• Rachel Lerner, Clark University

Individual Presentations

• Child and Parent Perspectives on the Quality of Parental Homework Involvement - Non-Presenting Author: Sandra Moroni, University of Teacher Education Bern; Presenting Author: Hanna Dumont, University of Potsdam

• Validation of a Self-Report Scale on Parents' Process and Person Response to Children's Math Learning - Presenting Author: Yu Xiong, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Non-Presenting Author: Michael Barger, University of Georgia; Non-Presenting Author: Dajung Oh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Non-Presenting Author: Andrei Cimpian, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Eva Pomerantz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Reducing Homework Stress by Increasing Adoption of Need-Supportive Practices: Effects of an Intervention with Parents - Presenting Author: Idit Katz, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Angelica Moè, University of Padova; Non-Presenting Author: Rinat Cohen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Marianna Alesi, University of Palermo

• Parental Involvement and Children’s Academics: The Roles of Autonomy Support and Parents’ Motivation for Involvement - Presenting Author: Rachel Lerner, Clark University; Non-Presenting Author: Wendy S Grolnick, Clark University