Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2014, Educational Psychology

Recent research has indicated that parental involvement can increase a student's academic achievement, but the literature still has not determined which specific aspects of parental involvement help to increase academic achievement for economically at-risk students. This study examined the impact of parental homework involvement and parental school involvement on the academic achievement for a sample of 219 economically disadvantaged students attending 36 schools in a Midwestern state. Parental involvement was measured using factors derived from a parent survey and academic achievement was measured using results from an individually-administered norm-referenced achievement test. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between a set of two parental involvement variables (i.e., parental homework involvement and parental school involvement) and an academic achievement outcome variable. Regression analyses revealed that parental homework involvement significantly predicted academic achievement, but parental school involvement did not. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Committee: Amity Noltemeyer PhD (Committee Chair); Kevin Bush PhD (Committee Member); Doris Bergen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Psychology