Determinants of parental involvement in primary school: evidence from Chile

Abstract

This article examines the impact of educational expectations, perceived self-efficacy, and the information transmitted by the school on parental involvement at home and at school. A survey was administered to a representative sample of 672 parents and guardians of students attending primary schools located in Santiago, Chile. The analyses conducted, based on OLS regression models with municipality-level fixed effects, reveal that parents’ educational expectations and perceived self-efficacy behave as relevant predictors of their degree of involvement at home and at school respectively, even attenuating the importance of socioeconomic status (SES). However, results stress the importance of the information provided by the school, especially due to its impact on parents’ involvement at home and on their participation in curricular school activities. Last, the article discusses the implications of these findings for initiatives aimed at increasing educational equality.