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Running head: PARENT SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT

Relationships Between Parent Beliefs About Teachers, Parent School Involvement,

and Child Attitudes About Teachers

Rachael Dowd & Nikki Facendini

California State University Chico

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PARENT SCHOOL INVOLVMENT

Relationships Between Parent Beliefs About Teachers, Parent School Involvement, and Child

Attitudes About Teachers

Parental involvement and also parents' beliefs of education can boost children’s academic

experience, but limited research has examined how these together may influence children’s

attitudes about school and their teachers (e.g., Reed, Jones, Walker, & Hoover-Dempsey, 2000;

McGrath, C. 2019). Numerous studies have investigated parent involvement and parental beliefs

on education separately, however not much research has studied them together. It is important to

understand how parent’s involvement and beliefs about teachers influences children’s school

involvement and attitudes toward teachers. This study will examine parent’s beliefs about

teachers and parent involvement effects on children’s attitudes about education.

Reed, et al. (2000) explain factors that influence parental involvement and children’s

academic outcomes. In their model, the first level explains how parent’s decision to become

involved is influenced by how they construct their own parental role. Including how they believe

parenting should include involvement in their children’s school experiences and their own self

efficacy, which refers to how confident they feel in being able to help their children succeed.

Examples of parental demands and opportunities demands to decrease involvement might

include needing to help other children in the family and opportunities might include getting notes

home explaining their student’s progress in class. The second level of this model describes the

parents’ choice to get involve. One of the factors that influences choice of involvement would be

parent’s demands on their time and energy which can come from, other family demands (i.e.

other children or employment). Specific invitations for involvement from their children and/or

the school/teachers may include a note home suggesting a parent-teacher conference, and

parents’ skills and knowledge. Level 3 refers to mechanisms of how the parent becomes involved.
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Through modeling the parent shows their child the importance of school by being interested in

their grades and how they are doing academically. Reinforcement can be shown by keeping up

with the child’s homework which reinforces that it is important. Instruction can be shown in two

ways; close-ended occurs when parent tells directly instruct their child about the topic whereas

open-ended instruction refers to more collaborative learning approaches and conversations about

school topics or assignments. The fourth level refers to mediating influences such as parents use

of age appropriate strategies when talking to their children about homework or school topics and

also includes recognizing the fit between parental involvement and school expectations.

Examples of these may include the parent being under involved by not meeting the teacher’s

expectations of reading 20 minutes every night or where the parent is too involved, and they take

over doing a project for their child in hopes of helping him/her succeed or earn a better grade.

Each level contributes to student outcomes specifically, their development of skills and

knowledge and their feelings like they can do well in school.

Hoover Dempsey’s model explains factors of parent involvement including the fit between

parental involvement and school expectations, sometimes parents can be over involved. When

parents become too involved in their children’s school work it can negatively affect their

learning (Child Trends, 2019). A study done by Duke University and the University of Texas in

Austin examined the impact of 63 measures of parent involvement on children’s academic

success from first grade to twelfth grade. Some examples of parent involvement that were

measured included helping with homework, talking about college, and meeting with teachers.

Around middle school parents begin to have a harder time helping their children with school

work because the curriculum is more challenging. Researchers found that parent’s involvement

helped their child only 15% of the time and decreased the child’s achievement 30-35% of the
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time. Among all racial group’s researchers reported that 50% of the time parent involvement in

homework decreased in child’s achievement in reading and math made no difference. In contrast,

math and reading skills increased when parents discussed the importance of school, read out loud

to children when they were young, and talked with their older children about college plans. The

results of this study also showed that placing a child in a classroom where the teacher has a good

reputation could increase a child’s academic performance in reading and math by eight points,

but white parents were twice as likely to request a certain teacher compared with black or Latino

parents. In conclusion research shows that not all parent involvement helps children be

successful, benefits of parent involvement start to decrease around middle school.

Shiffman (2011) examined the relationship between parents’ additional schooling and parent

involvement beliefs and practices and subsequent impacts on children’s educational outcomes.

Six women were the focus of this study. Among these participants half were current or former

adult students, enrolled in a GED course at some point, and the remaining woman was a high

school graduate and in her first semester at junior college. The main findings revealed 5 main

themes showed that the parents who participated in formal education were able to help their

children with their educational needs (e.g., homework), gave parents access to resources and

information on their children’s education, and these parents felt more effective in fulfilling their

involvement roles in their children’s education. Parents’ involvement affects student education,

but student perceptions of their teacher’s also has a major impact on their educational

experiences and performance.

Jellesma, Zee, and Koomen (2015) investigated the impact of negative teacher-child

relationships on the risk of internalizing problems through children’s negative appraisals, and

how positive teacher-child relationships may decrease internalizing problems because of

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children’s more optimistic appraisals of their relationships with the teacher. The participants

were 500 third -to– sixth graders, ages ranged from 8- 13, 47% were male and 27 teachers (22

female and 7 male) living in the Netherlands. The researchers tested a model of direct and

mediated effects of children’s negative expectations, perceptions of closeness and conflict, and

teacher gender influenced negative teacher appraisal, situation specific appraisals and positive

interaction appraisal and internalizing problems. The results of this study showed that children

with more conflict had more negative thoughts about the teacher-child relationship and appraised

the interaction with the teacher was more negatively. In contrast, children who had warm and

caring relationships with the teacher, and less conflictual interactions, had more positive

interaction appraisals. Also, children with uncertain teacher relationships struggled with more

depression because of negative appraisals and had more anxiety and somatic complaints. It is

important to notice that how children perceive the relationship with the teacher influences the

quality of the child’s appraisals about that relationship and is linked to internalizing problems.

Interventions should be directed to improving child-teacher relationships and children’s positive

attributions of those relationships.

The current study has two goals. One is to examine gender differences in the parent and child

variables. This study will examine potential gender differences in mother and father school

involvement and in mother and father beliefs about teachers. This study will also examine

potential gender differences in girls’ and boys’ attitudes towards teachers. It’s likely that parents

are differentially involved in their children’s school experience and this study will test for gender

differences. The second goal of this study is to test the associations between the parent and child

variables. This study hypothesizes that there will be a negative relationship between mother’s

and father’s school involvement and children’s attitudes towards teachers. This study
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hypothesizes that there will be a negative relationship between parent’s beliefs about teachers

and children’s attitudes towards teachers.

Method

Overview

The first research design is quasi-experimental. This design was selected in order to test for

gender differences. For the quasi-experimental design, the independent variables are parent

gender and child gender. The dependent variables are home school involvement and teacher

beliefs and attitudes about teachers. The second research design is correlational. This design was

selected in order to test the associations between the parent and child variables. For the

correlational analysis, the predictor variables are father’s positive beliefs about teachers and

mother home school involvement. The outcome variable is child negative attitudes towards

teachers. The child and parent variables were measured at the ordinal level.

Procedures

The Institutional Review Board approval, will be obtained before the data collection begins.

Trained Research Assistants went to local elementary schools to recruit families with school-

aged children using an informational letter about the study that will be sent home with the child

to the parents. Parents that agree to participate will be contacted by the trained RAs to set up an

appointment to complete the surveys. Before collection parents’ consent will be obtained

through signing a consent form which will explain that their participation is voluntary and that

their information will be kept confidential. In developmentally appropriate language the trained

RAs will explain to the children the purpose of the study, what they are asking them to do, and
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that their participation will be voluntary and their information will be confidential. Children

will be asked to sign their agreement to participate. Parents will be given the survey to complete

and the trained RAs will provide help to the child while they complete the survey. For example,

the trained RAs will answer question and read items allowed if needed (Coyl-Shepherd &

Hanlon, 2014).

Participants

The sampling technique that will be used to recruit participants is cluster probability. This

technique will allow for the collection of data about randomly selecting individuals from groups

within the population. The total proposed number of participating families is 100 single-parent

families. The target numbers will be 100 male and 100 female school-age children and 100

mothers and 100 fathers. The families will include 25% Latino/Hispanic, 25% Asian/Asian

American, 25% Black/African American, 25% Native American. These ethnicities were chosen

because not much research has been done on these groups. For this study, the following family

structures will be recruited 50% single father households and 50% single mother households.

These family structures were selected because there is little research conducted on these groups.

Parent education levels will include 25% high school graduates, 25% some college or vocational

training, and 50% bachelor’s degree. These education levels were selected because we can

compare parent’s education levels to their beliefs about teacher and involvement in their child’s

school. Target children’s ages ranged from 6 – 12 (min- max) with a mean age of 8. Fathers’

ages ranged from 30 – 40 (min – max) with a mean age of 36.8. Mothers’ ages ranged from 29 –

36 (min – max) with a mean age of 34.4.

Measures
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This study will include a parent home school involvement measure that contains 5 items that

assess parental school related involvement at home (Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, &

Sandler, 2007). Sample items include, “I help this child study for tests” and “I read with this

child”. Items were answered with a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) Likert response

scale. Responses to each item are summed to provide a total activity involvement score for each

parent (mothers’ alpha = .85; fathers’ alpha = .76). This measure provides quantitative data about

parent home-school involvement. Demographics will be measured in the parent survey that

would include items such as age, education level and ethnicity.

This study will also include a parent-teacher beliefs measure that contains 9 items that assess

parents’ beliefs about their children’s teachers (Walker, Wilkins, Dallaire, Sandler, & Hoover-

Dempsey, 2005). Sample items include, “For teachers and parents to work as partners in

educating children” and “For teachers to be responsive to children’s needs”. Items were

answered with a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) Likert response scale. Responses to

each item are summed to provide a total activity involvement score for each parent (mothers’

alpha = .82; fathers’ alpha = .83). This measure provides quantitative data about parent-teacher

beliefs.

The children’s subscale of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) (Reynolds

& Kamphaus, 2004) will be used to measure children’s attitudes towards teachers. This 7-item

subscale includes the following items, “Teachers make me feel stupid” and “My teacher is proud

of me”. Items are answered using a True / False response and with a Likert-type response scale,

N (never) to A (always). Responses are summed to provide a total for attitudes towards teachers

score for each child (boys’ and girls’ combined alpha = .88). This measure provides quantitative

data about child attitudes towards teachers.

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Data Analysis Plan

The first study purpose will be to examine gender differences in the parent and child

variables. This study is designed to examine potential gender differences in parent school

involvement and beliefs about teachers as well as potential gender differences in children’s

attitudes towards teachers. To test for gender differences in the parent variables a paired sample

t-test will be used because the parents are married couples who influence each other on these

parenting variables. To test for gender differences in child attitudes towards teachers an

independent samples t-test will be used. This type of test will be used because there is no relation

between the children. The second study purpose will be to examine the relationships between

the parent and child variables. This study will test the correlations between mother and father

home school involvement and beliefs about teachers and child attitudes towards teachers. We

hypothesize there will be a negative relationship between mother and father school involvement

and children’s attitudes towards teachers will be tested. We hypothesize there will be a negative

relationship between mother and father beliefs about teachers and children’s attitudes towards

teachers will also be tested. The appropriate statistic to test these hypotheses is Pearson Product

Moment correlational coefficient. This is used because it measures the systematic influence on

one variable to another.

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References

Coyl-Shepherd, D. D., & Hanlon, C. (2014). Family play and leisure activities: Correlates of

parents’ and children’s socio-emotional wellbeing. International Journal of Play, 2(3),

254-272.

Green, C. L., Walker, J. M. T., Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. (2007). Parents’

motivations for involvement in children’s education: An empirical test of a

theoretical model of parental involvement. Journal of Educational Psychology,

99(3), 532-544.

Jellesma, F., Zee, M., & Koomen, H. (2015). Children's perceptions of the relationship with the

teacher: Associations with appraisals and internalizing problems in middle childhood.

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 36(2015), 30–38.

McGrath, C.(2019). Parent involvement how much is too much? Retrieved from Child Trends

website: https://www.childtrends.org/videos/parental-involvement-how-much-is-

too- much.

Reed, R. P., Jones, K. P., Walker, J. M., & Hoover-Dempsey, K. V. (2000). Parents’

motivations for involvement in children’s education: testing a theoretical model.

Retrieved from http://mantis.csuchico.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/

login.aspx?direct=true&db=ericAN=ED444109&site=ehost-live.

Reynolds, C. R. & Kamphaus, R. W. (2004). BASC-2, Behavioral Assessment System for

Children (2nd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: AGS.

Shiffman, C. D. (2011). Making it visible: An exploration of how adult education

participation informs parent involvement in education for school-age children. Adult

Basic Education & Literacy Journal, 5(3), 161–170.

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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, 85-104.

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Appendix

Student Names Self Rating Self Rating Partner Rating Partner Rating
Preparation Contribution Preparation Contribution
Nikki Facendini 5 5 5 5
Rachael Dowd 5 5 5 5