Blackwell Reference Online

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Scholarly interest in parental involvement was sparked in the late 1960s, when the seminal Coleman report ( Coleman et al. 1966 ) found family social background to be the most important predictor of children's academic success in the United States. Educational inequalities by social class are found in most countries and such findings prompted researchers’ efforts to identify what aspects of family background are responsible for children's educational success ( Gonzalez 2004 ). Some focus on economic resources, family structure, or parental education, while others investigate parental involvement in children's education. Despite a significant amount of research on parental involvement, there are considerable differences in its conceptualization and measurement. Early researchers conceived of parental involvement as participation in school activities, while contemporary scholars recognize that it consists of a multitude of family activities (Ho 1995; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler 1997 ; Epstein 2001 ). Epstein (2001) developed a widely used classification of parental involvement that defines six distinct types: (1) establishing a positive learning environment at home; (2) communicating with school about educational programs and student progress; (3) participating and volunteering at school; (4) participating in students’ learning at home; (5) being involved in school decision-making; ... log in or subscribe to read full text