A brief summary of the article
The research article written by Andrew Houtenville and Karen Conway (2007) is aimed at examining the effects of parental involvement on student achievement.
Secondly, the authors attempt to examine the connection between parental involvement and other factors such as school resources, family structure, or educational background of parents (2007, p 438).
The scholars single out several elements of parental involvement, such as discussion of activities or particular interests of the child, discussion of those things which children studied during classes, attendance at school meetings, or participation in the selection of courses and programs (2007, p 441).
These are the main independent variable of this study. Secondly, Andrew Houtenville and Karen Conway take into account those factors, related to school environment, namely per-pupil expenditures, the number or percentage of students with a doctoral degree.
The study relies on National Education Longitudinal Study which is the key source of data. This research has indicated that increased parental effort is positively students’ academic performance.
Furthermore, educational background of both parents and their income level also tend to affect their child’s achievement since parents, who set higher educational expectations for their children, may be more willing and able to participate in their school life.
Apart from that, the researchers argue that school resources can change parents’ attitude toward involvement. According to them, parents’ effort can decline if the school resources decrease (2007, p 448).
For example, if the size of the class grows, parents decide not to attend the meetings because they believe that teachers will be less available to them (2007, p 449). However, the authors admit that this hypothesis still needs to be tested. These are the key findings of this study.
Reaction statement
Overall, the results of this study prove the argument that parents should not be excluded from educational process. More importantly, this research provides accurate empirical evidence showing that increased parental involvement is directly related with students’ achievements and progress.
Additionally, this study can have important practical applications. On its basis, educators can better develop methods of involving parents into academic lives of their children. However, some of the questions remain to be answered.
In particular, one should identify those factors which affect parents’ willingness to participate in the education of their children. It is possible to say that these factors include income level, the size and structure of family, job, or expectations which parents set for students.
Yet, this is just an assumption that has to be verified. The given study does not provide definitive answers to this question, though the authors refer to them. Another important issue is the extent of parental participation.
Andrew Houtenville and Karen Conway show that there are different forms or elements of parental involvement such as attendance of class meetings or selection of courses and programs. The scholars believe that the exact contribution of each individual component needs to be measured.
Hence, this article can give rise to further research that would examine the origins and peculiarities of parental involvement. Finally, one should bear in mind that the sample size of this research was significantly reduced because in many cases the researches lacked accurate information about children or family households (2007, p 444).
Theoretically this change could have altered the major findings. Nonetheless, despite these limitations, the study can be of great importance for teachers and, most importantly, parents who need to know how they can help their children make academic achievements.
Reference List
Houtenville A. & Conway K. (2007). Parental Effort, School Resources, and Student Achievement. The Journal of Human Resources, 43, (2), 437-453.