PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO A CHILD’S EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS

Abstract

There were three primary purposes of this study. One purpose of the study was to increase the understanding and awareness of parental involvement with regard to their children’s education. The second purpose of the study was to analyze two schools’ poverty levels in regard to their students’ academic goals. Last, the study was to analyze and understand parental involvement in regard to the academic goals parents have for their children. Demographic data regarding two schools’ level of poverty were collected from the Indiana Department of Education. The study was to add more information to the existing data in regard to parental involvement. Evidence was provided from a literature review and the responses from 158 parental surveys. The surveys were mailed directly to the parents and returned anonymously to me. Each respondent was asked to answer five questions. The study sample included two Indiana public schools, one with a poverty rate of 65.5% and the other 16.8% poverty. The data was analyzed using Chi-square, t test, and single ANOVA to the test the null hypotheses. The data supported there was a relationship between the educational level of the parents and the educational goals for their children. In addition, the data supported a significant difference between the amount of time a female parent spent and the mean amount of time a male parent spent assisting with schoolwork.