School Programs and Teacher Practices of Parent Involvement in Inner-City Elementary and Middle Schools

TLDR

Each of these variables has important implications for the types and strengths of school programs and teachers' practices of parent involvement. This study examines how school programs of parent involvement, teachers' attitudes, and teachers' practices of involving parents interrelate among 171 teachers in eight inner‑city elementary and middle schools. The authors analyzed data from 171 teachers across eight inner‑city schools, examining patterns at elementary and middle levels, across subjects and classroom structures, and varying levels of shared support for parent involvement, as part of a 3‑year action research process. The study confirms Epstein’s typology of five school‑family connection types and provides a practical process that schools can adopt to enhance parent‑involvement programs and practices.

Abstract

This study uses data from 171 teachers in 8 inner-city elementary and middle schools to examine the connections between school programs of parent involvement, teachers' attitudes, and the practices that teachers use to involve parents of their own students. Patterns are examined at 2 levels of schooling (elementary and middle), in different academic subjects, under various classroom organizations (self-contained, semi-departmentalized, departmentalized), and under different levels of shared support for parent involvement by the teachers and significant other groups. Each of these variables has important implications for the types and strengths of school programs and teachers' practices of parent involvement. The results add to the validation of Epstein's typology of 5 types of school and family connections. The data used in this study were collected as the first step in a 3-year action research process in which the sampled schools are engaged. The process is outlined in terms that any school can follow to improve programs and practices of parent involvement.