The relation of school structure and social environment to parent involvement in elementary schools

Employing a sample of 122 public elementary schools, the present study used results of parent and student surveys to examine relations among school structure, school population composition, parent involvement, and parent perceptions of school safety, school climate, the school facility, the helpfulness of school staff, the academic instruction, teacher-student relationships, and student recognition. At the individual parent level, characteristics associated with higher participation in school activities included having a child enrolled in the gifted and talented program, a child in the second grade, multiple children enrolled in the public schools, and perceptions of a safe, empowering, and positive school climate. In contrast, characteristics associated with lower parent participation in school activities included being Hispanic, African American, or Asian American; being of lower-socioeconomic status; having a child enrolled in either special education or the English-as a-second-language program. At the school level, higher parent participation was reported in schools having larger classes and larger student-teacher ratios, and in schools where parents said they were less informed about their children's education and perceived a lower quality of academic instruction and not enough student recognition. Lower parent participation was reported in schools with more student newcomers and with greater percentages of students enrolled in the free and reduced meals program. Results are summarized in relation to past research on parent involvement, with an emphasis on how results reveal possible underlying social-psychological processes of parent involvement, both at the individual and school levels, and their implications for improving parent involvement in public education.