Parental Perceptions of General Invitations
for Involvement from the School
Last Updated: May, 2005
The scale, reported in Walker, Wilkins, Dallaire, Sandler & Hoover-Dempsey
(2005; see also
Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 2005),
was adapted from Griffith’s (1996) measure of parent satisfaction, which
includes several subscales (i.e., school climate, school empowerment, school
peer social environment, student recognition, school-parent communication,
academic instruction, overall parent satisfaction). From these, we selected
three scales: school climate, school empowerment of parents, and school-parent
communication.
Pilot work (n = 889 children in grades K-6, 11 items, alpha = .88) suggested
that the number of items in the scale could be reduced. Factor analyses confirmed
that the items tapped one factor: parent perceptions of general invitations
for involvement from the school. Thus, the scale as adapted assesses parents’
perceptions of general invitations from the school for their involvement in
their children’s education.
The measure employs a six-point Likert-type response scale: disagree very
strongly = 1, disagree = 2, disagree just a little = 3, agree just a little
= 4, agree =5, agree very strongly = 6.
Alpha reliability for the scale as reported by Walker et al. (2005; Hoover-Dempsey
& Sandler, 2005) was .83.
Participants were asked to respond to the following statement:
“Please indicate how much you AGREE or DISAGREE with each of the following
statements. Please think about the current school year as you consider each
statement.”
1.
|
Teachers at this school
are interested and cooperative when they discuss my child with me.
|
2.
|
I feel welcome at this
school.
|
3.
|
Parent activities are
scheduled at this school so that I can attend.
|
4.
|
This school lets me
know about meetings and special school events.
|
5.
|
This school’s staff
contacts me promptly about any problems involving my child.
|
6.
|
The teachers at this
school keep me informed about my child’s progress in school.
|
References:
Griffith, J. (1996).
Parent & student
satisfaction with elementary schools in Montgomery County. Montgomery
County Public Schools, MD: Department of Educational Accountability.
Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (2005).
Final Performance
Report for
OERI Grant # R305T010673: The Social Context of Parental Involvement:
A
Path to Enhanced Achievement. Presented to Project Monitor,
Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, March 22,
2005.
Walker, J. M. T., Wilkins, A. S., Dallaire, J. P., Sandler,
H. M., &
Hoover-Dempsey, K. V. (2005). Parental involvement: Model
revision through scale development.
Elementary School Journal, 106(2);
85-104.
