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Research-Based Practice: Applying the
Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Model of the Parental Involvement Process
We are currently assisting an urban elementary school in applying the
Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model of the parental involvement process
and
related measures to develop and test interventions designed to increase
the incidence and effectiveness of parental involvement. This project
is
of particular interest to us, as it serves as an example of how school
districts can use theory- and research-based information to guide
parental involvement policies and practice. We presented our first
thoughts on the project at AERA 2007, and continue to assess the 4th
and
5th grade students and their parents at this elementary school, along
with students and parents at a comparable control school, in order to
assess intervention effectiveness. The date for our last round of data
collection has not been determined.
“I think the research is absolutely vital to what we’re doing because
(it tells us that)…you can correlate parent involvement with student
achievement….If you don’t have the (parental involvement) piece, it has
a direct impact on test scores, and test scores have an effect on
everything.” –School Principal
“You have to have a model…for guiding your behavior….When you have a
theoretical framework, it helps you understand specifically what factors
you have to work on. You’re not out there just fishing in the
dark….Plus, you have a way to do the research because your variables
are
identified and it’s much clearer what it is you’re doing.”
–Intervention Program Director
This research project is currently on-going. If you would like more
information, please check back throughout the upcoming year.
Recently Completed Research
Deepening Understanding of Parents' Role Construction
for Involvement in Their Children's Education.
This was done by Manya Whitaker in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Vanderbilt University.
The purpose of this study was to better understand parental role
construction for involvement by identifying the experiences and personal
perspectives supporting the development of varied patterns of role
activity beliefs and behaviors. I interviewed parents about their
experiences in and with schools in order to identify their beliefs about
involving themselves in their children’s schooling. In addition, I asked
parents to respond to
questionnaires regarding self-construal, to ascertain if and how the
ways
in which a parent interacts with his or her social environment influences
his or her decisions about becoming involved in their child's education.
I
expected that parents who experienced supportive school environments
(in childhood, adolescence, and in relation to their own children’s
education) would have generally positive educational attitudes and
interdependent self-construals. These parents would exhibit partnership-
focused role constructions and possibly display high self-efficacy for
helping their children learn. Parents who are characterized by more
negative educational attitudes and independent self-construals were expected
to possess either parent-focused or school-focused role constructions.
Linking Parental Involvement Beliefs and Achievement
in Different Educational Settings.
This study was conducted by Christa Green as a dissertation project
in partial fulfillment of Ph.D. requirements at Vanderbilt University.
This study tested the predictive power of a theoretical model explaining
home-based parental involvement and its connection to student proximal
achievement outcomes in two different school settings. Predictor
variables included parents’ motivational beliefs about involvement (role
activity and efficacy beliefs), perceptions of invitations to
involvement from students, and perceived social context. Outcome
variables included parents’ home-based involvement, as well as student
proximal achievement measures (including self-regulatory strategy use,
intrinsic motivation and academic self-efficacy). Approximately 50
parents and their 4th through 7th grade students, enrolled in a
metropolitan public school system in the mid-South of the United States
and home-schooled students from the same area, responded to a survey
assessing study constructs at two time points. I expected results to
demonstrate that model constructs and social networks can successfully
predict involvement for parents using both types of schooling
arrangements, and that parental involvement in both groups would be
moderately correlated with proximal achievement outcomes after
controlling for prior achievement.
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.
The Social Context of Parental Involvement:
A Path to Enhanced Achievement
Theoretical & Conceptual Background of Study
We conducted a 3-year study based in two major areas of theory
and research. The first is the body of research suggesting that parents’
involvement in students’ education is associated with improved achievement
and the development of student attributes that lead to higher achievement
(e.g., self-efficacy for school learning, academic self-concept, work
orientation, self-regulatory abilities). The second is social-cognitive
theory and research suggesting that a) parents’ decisions about involvement
in their children’s education are influenced by social-contextual factors,
some of which are subject to influence by schools and b) parents’ involvement
activities (some of which are also subject to influence by schools) influence
student achievement outcomes through specific psychological processes (e.g.,
modeling, reinforcement, instruction). Drawing on these theoretical and
research bases, the 3-year study strove to answer three major questions:
Why do parents become involved in their children’s education? What student
achievement-related outcomes are influenced by parental involvement? What
causes parental involvement activities to influence these student achievement
outcomes?
The full 3-year study was grounded in a theoretical model of
the parental involvement process (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995,
1997), developed on the basis of theory and research in the two areas
above. The full study includes four sequential sub-studies, whose
research questions and designs are described separately below.
Study 1
· Question: Do the hypothesized predictors of
parental involvement (level 1 of the model)-parents’ role construction
for involvement (do parents think they’re supposed to be involved?),
sense of efficacy for helping children learn (how well do parents believe
they can help the child learn?), and perceptions of general invitations
to involvement from children and schools (do parents think their children
and schools want their involvement?)-predict parents’ decisions to become
involved?
· Sample: 877 parents of public school students in grades
1-6 (mixed SES, ethnicity, cultural background), 105 teachers of the
students.
· Method: Survey questionnaires (parents and teachers),
brief structured interview with teachers.
· Principal dependent variable(s): Parent’s decision
to become involved in student’s education.
· Principal independent variables: Parental role construction,
parental sense of efficacy for helping the child succeed in school,
parent’s perception of general invitations to involvement from the school,
parent’s perceptions of general invitations to involvement from the child.
· Data analysis: Standard scale development strategies;
hierarchical regression analyses; frequency data and chi-square analyses.
Study 2
· Question: Do hypothesized influences on the
forms of involvement that parents choose-parents’ skills and knowledge,
demands on time, perceptions of specific invitations from children and
teachers, parents’ enjoyment of involvement-predict their specific involvement
choices (e.g., child specific vs. school general involvement)?
· Sample: 495 parents of public school students in grades
1-6 (mixed SES, ethnicity, cultural background), 24 teachers of the
students.
· Method: Survey questionnaires (parents and teachers).
· Principal dependent variable(s): Parent’s choice of
specific involvement forms.
· Principal independent variables: Parent’s skills and
knowledge, demands on parent’s time from work and family obligations,
specific invitations from schools and teacher(s) for involvement, specific
invitations from the child for involvement. The study 1 scales will also
be replicated.
· Data analysis: Standard scale development strategies;
factor analyses; regression analyses.
Study 3
· Question: How do parents’ involvement behaviors
create improved student school outcomes? Do the hypothesized mechanisms
of influence-parental modeling, reinforcement, and instruction-predict
student outcomes (e.g. self-regulation, academic self-concept, increased
self-efficacy for school success, increased social self-efficacy, achievement)?
· Sample: 421 parents of public school students in grades
4-6 (mixed SES, ethnicity, cultural background), 62 teachers of the
students; 421 4th - 6th grade students.
· Method: Survey questionnaires (parent, teacher, student)
· Principal dependent variable(s): Gains in student
attributes related to achievement (see above).
· Principal independent variables: Parental behaviors
during involvement activities, including modeling, reinforcement, and
instruction and other psychological processes as observed during parental
involvement. The study 1 and 2 measures will be replicated.
· Data analysis: Standard scale development strategies;
factor analyses; content analyses of interview data; regression analyses;
mediation analyses.
Study 4
· Question: Based on findings from studies 1,
2, and 3, this final stage of the full study asked the question: How
well does the full theoretical model of the parental involvement process
(Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995, 1997) predict students’ school outcomes,
including achievement and student attributes (e.g. self-regulation, academic
self-concept, increased self-efficacy for school success, increased social
self-efficacy, achievement) that lead to improved achievement?
· Sample: 358 parents of public school students in grades
4-6 (mixed SES, ethnicity, cultural background), 80 teachers
of the students, 358 4th - 6th grade student.
· Method: Survey questionnaires (parent, teacher, student
[4th - 6th grades only]).
· Principal dependent variable(s): Student achievement
and gains in student attributes associated with achievement (e.g. self-regulation,
academic self-concept, increased self-efficacy for school success, increased
social self-efficacy, achievement).
· Principal independent variables: Parent’s involvement
decision; parent’s choice of involvement activities; parent’s use
of modeling, reinforcement, instruction (and other psychological processes)
during involvement activities.
· Data analysis: Regression analyses; mediation analyses.
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