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“ Involved Is an Interesting Word”: An Empirical Case for Redefining School-Based Parental Involvement as Parental Efficacy

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Listed:
  • Benjamin G. Gibbs

    (Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA)

  • Miles Marsala

    (Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410, USA)

  • Ashley Gibby

    (School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA)

  • Miriam Clark

    (Prevention Science, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA)

  • Craig Alder

    (Unaffiliated, New York City, NY 10458, USA)

  • Bryce Hurst

    (Independent Researcher, Philadelphia, PA 19148, USA)

  • Dustin Steinacker

    (Utah Department of Human Services, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, USA)

  • Brent Hutchison

    (Community Action Services and Food Bank, Provo, UT 84601, USA)

Abstract

School-based parental involvement is a common practice in the United States, and yet there is an emerging view that parents’ involvement in schools may have little if any academic benefit for their children. However, such conclusions are often based on narrowly construed survey questions, such as “Did you attend PTA in the past year?”. In our study, we re-examine commonly used measurements of school-based parental involvement using 130 interviews with parents and administrators across three diverse elementary schools. We compare conventional survey measures of school-based parental involvement with our own qualitative assessments of parental efficacy. Notably, we find that highly efficacious parents employed a wide range of involvement strategies, undetected by some traditional metrics of involvement (i.e., attending PTA meetings). As expected, we also find that efficacious parents were largely advantaged themselves and concentrated in advantaged schools. However, school contexts can play a powerful role in shaping the reception of parents’ engagement with schools—the presence of a Spanish immersion program transformed how teachers and administrators interpreted the involvement activities of Latinx parents. Our results point to the importance of (1) recasting parental involvement as parental efficacy and (2) integrating school contexts to understand how efficacy can be more effectively encouraged and deployed.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin G. Gibbs & Miles Marsala & Ashley Gibby & Miriam Clark & Craig Alder & Bryce Hurst & Dustin Steinacker & Brent Hutchison, 2021. "“ Involved Is an Interesting Word”: An Empirical Case for Redefining School-Based Parental Involvement as Parental Efficacy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:5:p:156-:d:545843
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sira Park & Susan D. Holloway, 2017. "The effects of school-based parental involvement on academic achievement at the child and elementary school level: A longitudinal study," The Journal of Educational Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 110(1), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Park, Sira & Stone, Susan I. & Holloway, Susan D., 2017. "School-based parental involvement as a predictor of achievement and school learning environment: An elementary school-level analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 195-206.
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