| Positive parental involvement is a component of student achievement; however, there is a lack of parental involvement in a Title I elementary school located in Southeast Georgia. Guided by Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres of influence and Vygotsky's social cognition learning model, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine parental perceptions regarding involvement with their child's school and learning. Age, gender, education, race, and socioeconomic status were also explored to discover if demographic factors had an impact on how parents perceived the school's attempts to involve them and how much the parents reported they were involved with the school and their child's academics. Survey data from prekindergarten to Grade 5 parents were analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, Pearson Correlation, and chi square analysis to discover any relationships between the demographic variables and parental perceptions and self-reported involvement. Overall, the parents perceived that the school's attempts to communicate and involve them were effective, even though parental self-reported involvement was low. There were no statistically significant relationships found between demographics and how the parents perceived the school's attempts to involve them and how much the parents reported that they were involved with the school and their child's academics. Additional research needs to be done into the actual barriers faced by parents in their desire to participate and become involved with their child's school. The findings from this study could impact social change by serving as a source of ideas for school administrators as they create more effective parental involvement programs to help children become successful students and productive citizens. |
