Parental Involvement and Students' Academic Achievement Paper Example

Introduction

It is important that parents are involved in a child's education. It is true that if there is a positive involvement of the parent in the academics of their children, there will be an association with excellent outcomes. However, at times, circumstances and factors may force a parent to give little or no attention to the academics of a student. At the same time, it is the intention of every parent to offer maximum support for their child even with the various barriers that may prohibit the kind of support they should give.

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The focus of this literature review is on highlighting the significant correlations which exist between self-efficacy, burnout, academic performance of students and finally the level of relationship between the pupil and the parent. The different researchers will be analyzed according to how they think that children should relate to their care providers and how parent involvement needs to be figured (Ule et al. 2015). From the preliminary analysis, it was revealed that the mutual influence between the level of self-efficacy of the parents and grade of burnout, conflict is the only dimension which seems to exist at a significant level (Edwards, & Redfern, 2017).

Parental involvement is the cornerstone of a student's education as it tends to make a considerable difference to the school life of the child in the ways that they succeed academically and the general enjoyment while at school. Research also shows that the concern of teachers in involving the parents is a major contributor to the overall success. These parents tend to be helpful to their children while at home if the teachers show them how to be so.

History of Parental Involvement in the US Education

Parental involvement in the performance of their children in school is not a new issue and has existed before. There have been major advances made until the current ways of making sure that the parents are involved (Singer, 2017). During the beginning of the 20th century, parents had already begun to get involved in child's nursery schools in the United States. These cooperative nursery schools then continued to grow between the year 1920 and 1960 (Spring, 2016).

The location of the education centers was in the college or suburban towns and they welcomed the mothers who stayed at home to give their service in the schools as paraprofessionals where they would assist the teachers and also take physical care of the facility (Spring, 2016). This was a good way of making the students had the presence of a teacher and that of a parent at the same time.

In the case of these mothers, the idea of parent involvement is that they have some knowledge of what they want for their children and therefore need to be involved in the school (Singer, 2017). Their participation in the school helped the settings of education to have a decrease in the cost of budget and also build ties between the parent and school. However, it was only limited to the parents in middle-class families.

It was during the depression that the schools started to involve the parents who were from low socioeconomic classes, culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds where all students could feel the importance of these parents (Spring, 2016). The involvement continued to grow during the Second World War through the use of programs that were able to support parents to participate in activities such as learning and self-development training.

In the present day, parental involvement in the U.S has become more valued by the citizens and also other stakeholders who include the policy makers, teachers and also the administrators at school (Demircan, & Erden, 2015).

Perceptions Regarding Parental Involvement and Student Success

There has been slow evolvement of family-school relationships because of the different perceptions that people have about parent participation in the academic performance of their children (Povey et al. 2016).

There is a need to prepare students so that they become the future leaders of society and the type of involvement needs to be effective when implemented (Altintas, 2016). It is right to say that the successful students are those who receive support from their families and on the other hand, students who do not get such support tend to struggle to cope up with positive results of academics at the end of the day.

Some perceptions of parent involvement involve the fact that their children are their responsibilities. The parents have the knowledge that these kids are solely dependent on them for every basic need and thus should offer their maximum support. These parents also need to make sure that they create a conducive environment for children at home where they can do their homework in peace without disturbance hence uphold the behavior goals of the school (Altintas, 2016). The parents' support guaranteed for the child helps them to improve academically.

There is also the perception of basic school obligations. This is where the parents believe that the schools need to be held accountable for providing basic communication to them concerning the grades of their children, their progress and any other information that the parents feel that they need to know. Parents, in this case, require constant communication with the school to know that the progress of the child.

Parents also have their perception of interacting positively with the school which creates a perception of supportive parents for academic growth. Parents believe that they should have a more in-depth interaction with the school. The school challenges the families to volunteer to assist the teachers or children and that they also need to attend some of the school performances such as the sporting events and meetings (McNeal, 2015).

This interaction ensures that the students are aware of what they need to do and the school at large is guaranteed support from the parents on its operations in making sure that the school aligns the children properly.

There is also the perception that parents should be involved in the school activities of their children when they are at school. These activities include providing help in terms of their homework, projects and even making school decisions that are necessary for decision-making.

The main way that parents achieve this role is by being involved in the curriculum committees. Parents having this concept also feel that there is a need to collaborate with the community organizations which includes connecting the school with other agencies that could be a form of assets for the students to benefit.

Other parents also perceive that they need not be involved in the educational development of their children. This conception comes from the fact that they have paid school fees for these children hence it is the sole duty of the school to monitor the child's growth and provide for them accordingly (Daniel et al. 2015).

These parents give little to no support for their children when they are at home for excuses that they are busy or that they need not be involved at all. In this case, the parents delegate all the responsibilities of educating children to the school and hence ritualize any involvement such as signing the report cards.

Parental Involvement and Student's Academic Achievement

It is the duty of parents to be in charge of their children as they should maintain personal attention with them. It is the case of parents taking their time to sit down and participate in the everyday activities of their children by helping them to do well. On the other hand, schools have the duty of being involved in a child's educational development together with the teachers who need to maintain professional attention to their students.

Parents and teachers offer a significant contribution to the education of their children at critical stages in their life. Both of their participation helps to ensure that they work better to meet the overall goal of educational development for the student.

Parents are required to support their children in preparing them for school, supporting the child during the early years when they are developing their attitudes towards learning and also teaching their children skills which include paying necessary attention or following directions where they need to.

The school then takes up the responsibility of teaching the child. In this case, parents and teachers are significant contributors to the education and development of the child. The benefits are mutual for both the families and schools.

The students are helped to know that their teachers and parents are working together to help them set and reach the important goals in life (Daniel, 2016). These overlapping spheres influence the perspective of dynamic patterns between homes and school which do the main places to constitute the life of a student.

Importance of Parental Involvement

There is a link between parental involvement and improved behavior for their children. Similarly, it has an association with the child's regular attendance and positive attitudes both at school and at home (Hirano, & Rowe, 2016). When parents take their time to involve themselves in the education of these children, it is a show that they actually care for them and how they are schooling. This way, children will be able to appreciate the importance of education and will get to understand that what they are doing has a purpose later in life.

The decision of parents to take their children to school is that they are investing in their future such that the child will reap something out of education and acquire skills that they can use in another aspect of their life to propel them in making money (Hirano, & Rowe, 2016).

There is a kind of support network that parental involvement creates for children which are important in circumstances where they face academic hurdles or any other challenges that come with friendships of extra-curricular activities (Topping, & Wolfendale, 2017). It is also to mean that parents know the education journey of the child hence their support during the highs and lows.

There are numerous benefits for the parent. They will be boosting motivation for their children and also enhancing discipline. Throughout the education journey, parents' involvement shows that they are sensitive to the emotional and social needs of their children (Hirano, & Rowe, 2016). Children thus feel that they need not suffer on their own while they have the support of their parents for the needs they would like fulfilled.

When parents take part in education for their children, it tends to create ties as well as strengthen the existing bond with them. This way, it is able to boost their confidence in issues of parenting and making rational decisions about education alignment of their children (Topping, & Wolfendale, 2017). There is also the building of stronger relationships with the institution hence clearer communication between the three parties, parent, teacher and children.

The concern from teachers and parents guarantees a good environment for the child to survive. The school gains more confidence in the approach it needs to give to education and learning. Where the schools engage effectively with the parents, the institution experiences better support and there is also a better reputation. It transfers to the children such that when they see a unified approach to education from the perspective of the school and that of their parents, they will most likely be able to understand the importance of studies.

The child also acquires many benefits from a positive relationship between parent involvement. There is a better performance of children at school when parents are involved. It is because these children are better motivated by this involveme...