Parent involvement in school: Conceptualizing multiple dimensions and their relations with family and demographic risk factors.

Kohl, G. O., Lengua, L. J., McMahon, R. J., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2000). Parent involvement in school: Conceptualizing multiple dimensions and their relations with family and demographic risk factors. Journal of School Psychology, 38(6), 501-523.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(00)00050-9 

Abstract: Parent involvement (PI) in school is associated with more positive academic performance and social competence in children. However, there are inadequacies in current measures of PI and a need for a better understanding of predictors of PI. In this study, measures were obtained from a normative sample of 387 children in kindergarten and first grade from high-risk neighborhoods in four different sites. First, a confirmatory factor analysis of a theoretical factor model of PI identified six reliable multiple-reporter PI factors: Parent-Teacher Contact, Parent Involvement at School, Quality of Parent-Teacher Relationship, Teacher's Perception of the Parent, Parent Involvement at Home, and Parent Endorsement of School. Next, the relations among three specific family and demographic risk factors-parental education level, maternal depression, and single-parent status-and these six PI factors were examined using path analyses in structural equation modeling. Results indicated that the three risk factors were differentially associated with the six PI factors: Parental education was significantly associated with four PI outcomes, maternal depression was significantly associated with five PI outcomes, and single-parent status was significantly associated with three PI outcomes. No significant ethnic group differences between African American and Caucasian families were found in these relations.