Abstract
The purpose of this study will be to address the question of whether poverty and the involvement of parents in the education of their children will affect their overall performance.
The discussion will look at the various ways in which parents are involved in the academic performance of children and also whether poverty affects the involvement of parents in the academic performance of their children. The various types of parental involvement will be examined as well how the measurement of children’s performance is based on this involvement.
Introduction
Various researchers have concluded that the involvement of parents in the education of children usually has a positive influence on their academic performance. Epstein et al (1997) for example noted that the consistent effort of parents in the various stages of their children’s education had a positive effect on their overall performance.
The researchers developed a model that would be used to explain the overlapping spheres of influence in a child’s education which included the family, the school and the society at large. Epstein et al (1997) noted that all these spheres had to have a relationship for them to meet the educational needs of the child.
With regards to the types of involvement needed from the parents, Epstein et al identified six types of involvement that were based on the partnerships that the parents had with the school and the community.
The six types of involvement included parenting where the skills used to raise children were used to enhance their learning abilities, communication where well maintained communication channels within the home improved the child’s performance in school, volunteering where parents who voluntarily participated in their children’s education improved their performance, learning from home where children were homeschooled by their parents, decision making and collaboration with the community where the society’s members were involved in the education of the child like for example neighbours participating in the tutoring of the child during school breaks while the parents are at work.
Epstein et al (1997) noted that all of these types of involvement needed to be included in the education of the child so that there could be successful partnerships between the various stakeholders involved in the child’s education.
Coleman (1993) noted in his study that parental involvement acted as an intervening variable between the family background of the child and their academic performance in school.
Other researchers that conducted studies on parental involvement in children’s education were Hong and Ho (2005), Baker and Wiseman (2006) and Englund et al (2004) who all agreed that the involvement of parents in the education of the children had a positive influence on their overall academic performance.
Children who experienced parent involvement in the school work and homework recorded higher grades than those who had little or no involvement from their parents. Jeynes (2005: 2011) in his meta-analysis of the topic concluded that parental involvement in the education of children had a positive influence on their academic performance and other educational outcomes.
In terms of poverty, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) noted that most low-income parents were reluctant to be involved in the education of their children as they were more concerned with providing food, clothing and shelter for their children.
They identified three psychological factors which contributed to their lack of involvement in their children’s education and these were the family perceptions of the role of parents in their children’s education where low-income families viewed the school to have the primary role and responsibility when it came to their children’s education.
The second psychological factor was that parents who were low-income earners had lower feelings of efficacy when compared to high or middle income earners and this translated into their belief of whether they had any impact on their children’s education.
The third psychological factor according to Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1997) was that schools which served low-income families lacked the necessary efforts to involve parents in the education of their children.
This lead to lower parental involvement as most parents felt like they were being excluded from school and educational activities.
Apart from these psychological factors, other reasons that were given as to why low-income parents were not involved in the education of their children included the communication styles used by school teachers and instructors, the amount of respect that teachers offered low-income parents and the recognition of diversity in the school setting where children from low-income families are treated the same as children from middle and high income societies (McDermott and Rothenberg 2000).
Much of the research that has been conducted on whether parental involvement and poverty affects children’s education has examined various aspects such as the number of parents that volunteer in their children’s tutoring, the income-levels of the parents, the perceptions of low-income parents on educational involvement, the number of parents that attend school meetings and the characteristics of parents who are low-income earners and how these characteristics affect the educational achievement of their children (Baker and Soden 1997: Senechal and LeFevre 2002).
Other researchers such as Cooper (2006) noted that the development of human beings within the family context acted as a mediation in the association that existed between poverty, the involvement of parents and the academic achievement of children.
References
Baker, A.J.L., & Soden, L.M. (1997). Parent involvement in children’s education: A critical assessment of the knowledge base Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Illinois: ERICDocument Reproduction Service
Baker, D., and Wiseman, A.W., (2006) The impact of comparative educational research on institutional theory. Oxford, UK: Elsevier
Coleman, J.S., (1993) Parents, their children and schools. Boulder: Westview Press
Cooper, C.E., (2006) Family poverty, parental involvement in education and the transition to elementary school. Austin, Texas: University of Texas
Englund, M., Luckner, A., Whaley, G., and Egeland, B., (2004) Children’s achievement in early elementary school. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 94, No. 4, pp 723-730
Epstein, J.L., Coates, L., Salinas, K.C., Sanders, M.G., & Simon, B.S. (1997). School, family and community partnerships: Your handbook for action. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Hong, S., and Ho, H., (2005) Direct and indirect longitudinal effects of parental involvement on student achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 97, No.1, pp 32- 42
Jeynes, W., (2005) The effects of parental involvement on the academic achievement of African American Youth. The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 74, No.3, pp 260- 274
Jeynes, W.H., (2011) Parental involvement and academic success. Oxford, UK: Routledge
McDermott, P., and Rothenberg, J., (2000). Why urban parents resist involvement in their children’s elementary education. The Qualitative Report, Vol.5, No.3
Senechal, M., and LeFevre, J., (2002) Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skills: a five-year longitudinal study. Child Development, Vol. 73, No. 2, pp 445-460