REVIEW OF LITERATURE FOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
by David A. Gualin
Local Literature
“Parents are the chief educators of children since children's acquisition of knowledge lies on how well his parents make every opportunity to learn available for them” (Gabriel, 2012). The big responsibility of parents begins in the home. But other than preparing nutritious food for kids and sending them to school, parents can do more to support their children's schooling through parental involvement. The following are practical means that Filipinos have involved themselves with their children’s schools:
- Parents can join the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and other organizations that will lead them to actively participate on the decision-making of the educational services for their children.
- Parents can also participate in school-based activities, such as parent-teacher conferences or small-group meetings.
- Parents can simply receive and respond to written communications from the teacher or coming to school for a private meeting with an adviser, or at least being available at times parental attention or presence is called for school authorities.
In the Philippines, school participation is a problem due to the decision of most parents and children ridden down in poverty to work rather than go to school. However, there is evidence to show that what will make students stay in school, according to Paez (2011), are parent involvement and extracurricular activities. This will add the “will of students to stay in school.” Paez, Patrimonio and Manacap (2011) noted that parent involvement is tied with better school attendance records regardless of gender, however its effects on academic performance is greater in females.
In the Filipino culture the social factor in parent influence includes buying special equipment, paying school tuition fees and miscellaneous fees on time, budgeting for doctor’s and dentist’s fee regularly and the family opening a savings bank account for each member of the family. Such practices are hard to imagine as feasible for a family who earns below the minimum wage which comprises most of the parents which is the case with most Filipino families in public schools. Hence, economic factors have the least arsenal used by parents to help pupils increase their academic performance. But despite this scenario, the Filipino is still one of the happiest since they look at income and financial security and rate it at the bottom tier of determinants of happiness according to the Philippine Gross National Happiness Index (Encarnacion, 2007).
Foreign Literature
Books and other conceptual literature sources are all synonymous that parental involvement results positively to student outcome. Students with parents who are involved in their school tend to have fewer behavioural problems and better academic performance, and are more likely to complete high school than students whose parents are not involved in their school (Child Trends, 2013). Child Trends (2013) explains that “Positive effects of parental involvement have been demonstrated at both the elementary and secondary levels across several studies, with the largest effects often occurring at the elementary level. Child Trends (2013) elaborated that the positive turn out is due to involvement which allows parents to monitor school and classroom activities, and to coordinate their efforts with teachers to encourage acceptable classroom behavior and ensure that the child completes schoolwork. Likewise “Teachers of students with highly involved parents tend to give greater attention to those students, and they are more likely to identify at earlier stages problems that might inhibit student learning” (Child Trends, 2013). Parent involvement is a win win situation both for the parents and the teacher for the student’s academic benefit.
Similarly, Judson (2012) reaffirms that family and community “partnerships result in sharing and maximizing resources. And they help children and youth develop healthy behaviors and promote healthy families.” Research shows that students whose communities are involved in their education are more likely to have positive outcomes such as (Judson, 2012): improved school-related behaviors, positive academic achievement and reduced school suspension rates.
Education is the responsibility, not only of the teacher, but all stakeholders – the school head, administration, the community and the parents. Through positive collaboration, the child’s school work would be brimming with resources and positive feedback. Parent involvement is a positive influence both for the child, the parent themselves and the teacher.
Local Studies
The study of Gura (2014) determined the relationship of parental factors and academic performance of grade one pupils in Burol Elementary School, Dasmariñas City, Cavite. This study utilized a Descriptive-Correlational Research Design involving 120 pupils in the Grade 1 level. Some of the salient findings of the said research are as follows:
• Majority of the respondents are in the ages 20-40 years old, it is obvious that not more thn 30% of them have become parents at a much younger ages This finding is in line with the report of the National Statistics Office (NSO as mentioned by Morales, 2013) that from 2000 to 2010, the number of live births by teenage mothers in the Philippines rose by more than 60 percent.
• Majority of the respondents are mothers (72.5%), and far second are fathers and grandfathers (each having 7.5% or 14% of the sample in total). And there are only a few aunts and grandmothers (5% each or 10% in total). The fewest are uncles (only 2.5%).
• A large majority of parent respondents have reached only until secondary level of education or high school (65%). This is followed by those who were able to find vocational courses (17.5%) and those who were able to reach college (10%).
• 77.5% of the parent respondents earn less than the daily wage prescribed for CALABARZON which is pegged at 349 pesos per day (Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research as mentioned by Maningat, 2014) or around 7,000 pesos per month (considering only five days of work in four weeks per month) or 91,000 pesos per year (including the law requirement of 13th month pay).
• The lowest mean score among the parental factors outlined in this study is on economic factor.
• There is no significan relationship between the different factors of parental factors except social factor and academic achievement.
Foreign Studies
A study made by Hara and Burke (2012) on the role of parent involvement in student achievement is a classic example of positive parenting. Hara and Burke (2012) reviewed literature as far back as 1955 until 1995. All study points to the positive contributions of parent involvement to student achievement. Their study also shows the importance of teacher-parent relationships and the structured manner of parent involvement to assure success of the students. The study recommended that parent involvement be implemented as early as possible since the benefits of parent involvement are tremendous. It “impacts both cognitive and affective learning.” The parents become the extensions of the teacher (Hara and Burke, 1998).
In a more recent study by Topor and others (2015), they used statistics to see if parent involvement does significantly associate with a child’s academic performance. Their study involved 158 seven-year old participants, their mothers and their teachers. The results show that regardless of the intelligence level of the child, parent involvement does help increase the child’s academic performance. Topor and others (2015) explains that the mediating factor between parent involvement and child’s academic performance is the child's perception of cognitive competence. The study implies that the child’s increase on academic performance is directly affected by the child’s perception of his or her own cognitive competence which the parent positively reinforces by involving herself in the academic requirements of the child. “Perceived cognitive competence is defined as the extent to which children believe that they possess the necessary cognitive skills to be successful when completing academic tasks, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic…Previous research found evidence that higher parent involvement contributes to an increase in a child's perceived level of competence” (Topor and others, 2010). This study is far more sophisticated than the previous ones mentioned because this study used statistics and they were able to identify what it is in parent involvement that really affects academic performance. The contribution of this study on this action research is that this study showed that the low self-esteem of the participant-students can also be resolved by parent involvement. Hence the student-participants’ avoidance of writing activities as a whole (due in part to their low perception of their own skills and the desire to get away from the feeling that one’s work is inferior compared to that of their classmates) can be overcome.
Walker and others (2014), on the other hand, outlined what parents can do to help their child finish their assignments. Walker and others (2014) intention was to offer suggestions that support schools’ efforts to invite parents’ homework involvement across a variety of school communities. The suggestions are as follows (adapted from Hoover-Dempsey and others as mentioned by Walker and others, 2004):
- Interact with the student’s school or teacher about homework
Communicate with the teacher about student performance, progress, homework
Meet school requests and suggestions related to homework (e.g., sign completed tasks, offer requested help, participate in homework intervention program)
2. Establish physical and psychological structures for the child’s homework performance
• Specify regular times for homework, establish structures for time use
• Articulate and enforce expectations, rules, and standards for homework behavior
• Help student structure time, space, and materials for homework
• Structure homework within the flow of family life; ensure parental “availability on demand”
3. Provide general oversight of the homework process
• Monitor, supervise, and oversee the homework process
• Attend to signs of student success or difficulty related to task or motivation
4. Respond to the student’s homework performance
• Reinforce and reward student’s homework efforts, completion, and correctness
• Recognize and offer emotional support for student performance, ability, effort
• Review, check, correct homework
5. Engage in homework processes and tasks with the student
• Assist, help, tutor, “work with” student or “do” homework with student
• Teach student in direct, structured, convergent ways (e.g., learn facts, derive answers, drill, practice, memorize)
• Teach student using indirect, more informal methods (e.g., respond to questions, follow student lead)
6. Engage in meta-strategies designed to create a fit between the task and student knowledge, skills, and abilities
• Break learning tasks into discrete, manageable parts
• Observe, understand, and “teach to” student’s developmental level
7. Engage in interactive processes supporting student’s understanding of homework
• Model or demonstrate appropriate learning processes and strategies
• Discuss problem-solving strategies
• Help student understand concepts, check for understanding
8. Engage in meta-strategies helping the student learn processes conducive to achievement
• Support student’s self-regulation skills, strategies, personal responsibility for homework processes and outcomes
• Help student organize personal thinking about assignments
• Encourage student to self-monitor, focus attention
• Teach and encourage the student to regulate emotional responses to homework
These suggestions mentioned by Walker and others (2014) were taken from research and these were proven helpful in student learning. The guidelines can be of help in the development of the Parent-Teacher Implementation Plan.
Finally, Brashears (2013) study identified major obstacles in lack of parent involvement in writing assignments of students. Brashears (2013) outlined that these causes are (1) Parents do not see the connection between school and real world writing; (2) parents lack understanding on writing purposes, (3) parents’ perceptions of writing are based on their own school experiences, and (4) some parents are illiterate. Not only are these elements identified, but suggestions as to how to address each” were discussed by this study. These reasons were arrived after an interview with 30 parents/guardians in a local rural elementary school. Some of the suggested interventions to overcome lack of parent involvement are as follows: (1) teachers need to display their students’ output so as to set the stage for the interest among parents and community members; (2) invite community members (like police, doctors, lawyers to discuss with the students the importance of their writing – including legibility, style, speed and how these affect their day to day work); (3) invite parents to observe and see how their children produce their written outputs so as for them to appreciate the process that the student has to go through; (4) teachers can ask parents to share their own writing capability so as to inspire the class; and (5) parents can just help each other by talking rather than in written to help parents who lack education to assist these children at home. Brashears (2013) reminds her readers that teachers should not accept that their students do not write well because of lack of parental involvement. To do so would be to give them permission to give up on their students. Brashears (2013) puts it very well:
“As teachers, we must acknowledge that such an attitude is unacceptable and that, for some of us, teaching others to write and read is not just our responsibility, but our life’s work.”
Synthesis
The review has shown the positive outcomes of parent involvement in school activities of the child, which runs from academic achievement to better overall wellbeing. Filipinos, in majority are in a disadvantage when it comes to providing reinforcement and modelling to pupils due to their need to work and skip on parent involvement activities in school. This then brings the challenge for the proposal of this study to develop a Parent-Teacher Partnership Implementation Plan.
There are many challenges in parenting but the inclusion of helpful roles of teachers, school personnel and other health workers can provide support for the Filipino to attend parent involvement activities. The study shows that there is a gap in the practice of parents when it comes to parent involvement. Though parent involvement is seen as a positive way to influence positive child behaviors, Filipino parents as well as some teachers hesitate to tap to its utmost potentials.
