ABSTRACT
Family involvement in children’s educational experiences is recognized as a vital component of their achievement (Zigler & Muenchow, 1992). The apparent importance of family involvement across the school years has been supported by numerous correlational studies and, to a far lesser extent, experimental studies, which demonstrate relationships between parent involvement and children’s school-related outcomes. Much of this research has emphasized the relationship between specific parent involvement behaviors and children’s achievement. For example, parental involvement at school (e.g., with school activities, direct communication with teachers and administrators) has been associated with greater achievement in reading and mathematics (Griffith, 1996; Reynolds, Weissberg, & Kasprow, 1992; Sui-Chu & Willms, 1996). Higher levels of parent involvement in their children’s educational experiences at home (e.g., supervision and monitoring, daily conversations about school) have been associated with children’s higher achievement scores in reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as higher report card grades (Epstein, 1991; Griffith, 1996; Sui-Chu & Willms, 1996; Keith et al., 1998; Prelow & Loukas, 2003; Steinberg, Lamborn, Dornbusch, & Darling, 1992). Still other research has shown that parental beliefs and expectations about their children’s learning are strongly related to children’s beliefs about their own competencies, as well as their achievement (Galper, Wigfield, & Seefeldt, 1997; Goldenberg, Gallimore, Reese, & Garnier, 2001).
