Extents of the Impact of Parental

Involvement and Family Engagement

on Socio-Emotional Learning of Selected
Elementary Students
MICHAEL SAN LUIS MARTIN
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5498-5229
mikesanluismartin@gmail.com
Cagayan State University
School of Graduate Studies

Gunning Fog Index: 17.07 • Originality 99% • Grammar Check: 99%

Flesch Reading Ease: 26.49 • Plagiarism: 1%

ABSTRACT

e study aimed to determine if the extent of parental involvement and family

engagement impacted the socio-emotional learning of the selected elementary students
in Sarangani Province. Its framework was derived from the ideas for each type of
family involvement and engagement created by Epstein and her colleagues in 2002 and
Dunst’s model of family empowerment, also of the same year. Parental involvement’s
components were parenting skills, home learning, and decision making, while the
components of family engagement were information dissemination about school
programs, volunteerism, and community collaboration. e socio-emotional learning
components measured by the students were self-awareness, self-management, responsible
decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. e research design utilized in
this study was the descriptive correlational design. Based on the ndings using the XML
Analysis Toolpak through Google Sheets to analyze the collected data, the researcher
concluded that there was no signi cant relationship between parental involvement,
family engagement, and socio-emotional learning. Also, there was no signi cant
di erence in the parent-respondents’ parental involvement and family engagement
when grouped according to the parental role, gender, marital status, highest educational
attainment, employment status, and monthly income. However, there was a signi cant

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di erence in family engagement when grouped according to age (whereas there is none
from parental involvement as to age). Finally, there was no signi cant di erence in the
socio-emotional learning of students when grouped according to gender, age, and grade
level. It was recommended to promote a home environment that supports the student’s
academic, social, and emotional needs, as well as for parents to be more participative
and cooperative with school and community programs that will further address the
needs of their children.

KEYWORDS

Parental involvement, family engagement, socio-emotional learning, academic needs,

elementary, descriptive correlational design, Philippines

INTRODUCTION

Parenting can be a very happy experience, but it becomes challenging when children
are growing up. Parenthood has di erent stages, each of which encompasses happiness
and challenges. Respecting and acknowledging the viewpoints and life experiences of
families and nding those experiences to improve and further develop the classroom
curriculum and teaching strategies that will lead to better partnerships with the families
of the students served (Grant & Ray, 2010) is what responsive family involvement
is all about. e researcher aimed to discover if the parental involvement and family
engagement skills of the parents or caretakers living in Sarangani were on point.
Research has shown that family involvement heavily in uences teaching e ectively
(Henderson & Mapp, 2002). However, most schools in the US are still challenged
by how to e ectively let them participate in their respective parental involvement
programs (Bower & Gri n, 2011). is study also aims to determine the extent of the
involvement of parents in the programs implemented by the Department of Education
in Sarangani Province, which a ects their children’s social and emotional learning. It
will examine if school-family-community partnerships have positively impacted the
social and emotional learning of the students of the said province. According to e
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (n.d.), when young people
acquire the right skills, knowledge, and attitudes, they become individuals with better
identities, show greater empathy, manage their emotions, and become better decision-
makers.
From all the standpoints, including the trends, issues, and problems presented, the
researcher has come up with a study about parental involvement and family engagement
and to what extent will a ect the current socio-emotional learning of elementary students
in the province of Sarangani. e researcher seeks to determine if these elementary
students’ parents, caretakers, or guardians were really involved and engaged with their
children’s academic needs. It is clear as day that engagement and involvement of parents

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are essential to meet these needs and to prepare the children for career and college
readiness. Also, they can be helpful in further developing and enhancing the students’
way of appreciating themselves while establishing healthy relationships with themselves
and others. is study is also geared toward determining the level of social and emotional
learning of these students because the learning is essential for their readiness and how
they deal with life daily in relation to the said relationship with others themselves.
Finally, this study can amplify these skills from the people of Sarangani who are raising
children who are currently elementary students, which are relevant to their learning, as
well as nd opportunities for improving such skills.

FRAMEWORK

is study is based on the ideas for each type of family involvement and the
challenges that are created as a framework by Epstein and her colleagues (2002) and
Dunst´s (2002) family empowerment model. e large circle in their framework
represents family-centered practices that engage family members to actively identify
goals that need their time and take courses of action to reach them. e three inner
circles are the core components of their model, which are child-learning opportunities,
parental support, and family/community support and resources that can promote
e ective learning and development on the students’ academic, social, and emotional
learning.
e Epsteinś framework includes the following types: (a) Parenting; (b)
Communicating; (c) Volunteering; (d) Learning at Home; (e) Decision Making; and
(f) Collaborating with the Community. is framework is strongly related to the
framework of Carl Dunst, which demonstrates that “interventions that support and
strengthen families have a dramatic positive e ect on children’s development,” which is
the aim of this research.
Applying Epstein’s et al. (2002) and Dunst´s (2002) models of family empowerment,
it is assumed that since these types are family-centered, they provide either a positive or
negative impact not only on children’s academic achievement but also on their social
and emotional learning depending on the level of involvement and engagement parents
or guardians bestow upon their children.
e study’s paradigm has three components, categorized as either independent or
dependent variables. Parental involvement, composed of parenting skills, home learning,
and decision-making, are independent variables because, in this study, they are varied
and controlled to explore their impact on the dependent variables discussed below. e
same is true with family engagement which encompasses informational dissemination,
volunteerism, and community collaboration.
is study is based on the ideas for each type of family involvement and the
challenges that are created as a framework by Epstein and her colleagues (2002) and
Dunst´s (2002) family empowerment model. e large circle in their framework

126
represents family-centered practices that engage family members to actively identify
goals that need their time and take courses of action to reach them. e three inner
circles are the core components of their model, which are child-learning opportunities,
parental support, and family/community support and resources that can promote
e ective learning and development of the students’ academic, social, and emotional
learning.
e Epsteinś framework includes the following types: (a) Parenting; (b)
Communicating; (c) Volunteering; (d) Learning at Home; (e) Decision Making; and
(f) Collaborating with the Community. is framework is strongly related to the
framework of Carl Dunst, which demonstrates that “interventions that support and
strengthen families have a dramatic positive e ect on children’s development,” which is
the aim of this research.
Applying Epstein’s et al. (2002) and Dunst´s (2002) models of family empowerment,
it is assumed that since these types are family-centered, they provide either a positive or
negative impact not only on children’s academic achievement but also on their social
and emotional learning depending on the level of involvement and engagement parents
or guardians bestow upon their children.
e study’s paradigm has three components, categorized as either independent or
dependent variables. Parental involvement, composed of parenting skills, home learning,
and decision-making, are independent variables because, in this study, they are varied
and controlled to explore their impact on the dependent variables discussed below. e
same is true with family engagement which encompasses informational dissemination,
volunteerism, and community collaboration.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

e study’s objective was to determine if the extent of parental involvement and

family engagement impact socio-emotional learning.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design
e research design utilized in this study is the descriptive correlational design.
is design allowed the researcher to send questionnaires to respondents. e data
collected from the survey was also statistically analyzed to provide meaningful research
conclusions and recommendations.

Locale of the Study

e locale of the study was selected public elementary schools under the Department
of Education in the Sarangani Province. e research environment was challenging for
some areas because of the road improvements and the regular trekking done by students

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to school. Other areas have transportation, less challenging access to schools, and both
essential and non-essential spots.

Respondents and the Sampling Procedure

e respondents were the selected 267 elementary students from the Second to the
Fifth Grade and their respective parents (also who were residents of Sarangani at the
time the research was conducted. e sampling procedure used was a hybrid of random
and clustered sampling, selecting students according to their grade levels and schools
where they are enrolled. ey were selected randomly in each school and then formed a
cluster based on the geographical location of the school and their grade levels.

Instruments of the Study

e students and their parents or guardians were provided with their respective
questionnaires in Google Forms (translated in Tagalog) that were sent to their respective
email addresses, as assisted by the District Supervisor and her subordinates, which the
Schools Division Superintendent approved. e questionnaire for students encompasses
their pro le, speci cally their age, gender, and grade level. e next part was about
their perceptions of their socio-emotional learning as indicated by the scale used in the
questionnaire. For the parents or guardians, their questionnaire has three parts. e
rst part was about the pro le of those involved in parental involvement and family
engagement, the second and third parts were the involvement and engagement results,
respectively, and the last part was the socio-emotional learning results.

Data Gathering Procedure

All participants were sent a link to the questionnaire to their active email addresses
as distributed by the researcher and the contact individuals from the said province,
subject to the approval of the Schools Superintendent Division. e data collected
were automatically retrieved through a spreadsheet that provided all the participants’
responses if they participated in the survey using the Google Forms that were sent to
their respective email addresses.

Statistical Treatments
e XLMiner Analysis Toolpak (Statistical analysis for Google Sheets) was used to
determine the level of parental involvement, family engagement, and socio-emotional
learning as to their components. e same tool was used to determine if there are
signi cant relationships between parental involvement and socio-emotional learning
and family engagement and socio-emotional learning. It was also used to determine the
internal consistency of the questionnaire or Cronbach’s alpha. e Cronbach’s alpha
was computed using the XML Miner Analysis toolpak. e internal consistency for all
the questionnaires has been manifested with the parental involvement questionnaire
with 0.84, which indicates a good internal consistency. e family engagement and

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the socio-emotional learning questionnaires both had Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.97
which means that there was an excellent internal consistency with these questionnaires.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1. Respondents’ extent of parental involvement

Table 1. Respondents’ extent of parental involvement
Indicator Mean value Verbal interpretation Transposed value
1. Parenting skills 3.41 Agree High involvement
2. Home learning 3.3 Agree High involvement
3. Decision making 3.21 Agree High involvement

Table 1 shows the average mean value of 3.41 signi es that overall, the parental
involvement of the respondents concerning parenting skills was on point since its
transposed value is “HIGH INVOLVEMENT.” e results further support the
de nition of “Parenting” by Epstein in 2001 as well as Waterford’s (2018) and Niehaus
and Adelson (2014), where these studies mentioned that students enjoy becoming
lifelong learners because of the in uence and the skills parents have over them.
Home learning, as one of the components of parental involvement, has an overall
average of 3.30 (“High Involvement”) which means that the respondents were willing
to pursue learning and generate pertinent information from relevant sources like schools
to become more involved with their children’s academic, social, and emotional needs
whenever they are available and when they have the chance. e results support the
studies by Dempsey et al. (2005) and Abel (2012), where home learning is one of the
main factors in ensuring that students will get what they need because parents utilize
their respective homes as an avenue for learning and nurturing.
e respondents’ decision-making was on point with their involvement in their
children’s needs, with an average mean value of 3.21 (“AGREE”). e study of Dempsey
et al. (2005) aligns with parental involvement in decision-making and Harris and
Robertson’s (2016) since sound decision-making is considered a part of the parent’s
lifestyle.

Table 2. Respondents’ extent of family engagement

Mean Verbal
Indicator Transposed value
value interpretation
1. Volunteerism 3.04 Agree High engagement

2. Information dissemination about school programs 3.18 Agree High engagement

3. Community collaboration 3.21 Agree High engagement

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 Table 2 shows an average mean value of 3.04. e table shows that the respondents
have a sense of volunteerism and are willing to participate in school programs and all
related endeavors provided by the school district to harness their family engagement
skills further. e table also provides information about how these respondents were
willing to aspire even to become school representatives and active community leaders
or members to ensure that they keep an eye on their engagement skills. e results
for volunteerism as a component of family engagement traces back to the study of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) since volunteerism is a way of
showing that families are willing to work hand-in-hand with the school to ensure that
the academic, social, and emotional needs.
e respondents showed that they are updated with the latest information about
school programs through acknowledgment that they receive such information regarding
school activities, parent-teacher conferences, report card distributions, and other relevant
information they may need to know (3.13, “High engagement”). e studies made by
Schoolmint (n.d.) and Stitt and Brooks (2014) showed alignment with the results since
they are all about programs on how to support awareness of parents, guardians, and
caretakers in ensuring that these schools can o er what they need to meet the essential
needs of their children in relation to schooling.
As for community collaboration, which is also a component of family engagement,
the respondents have a high level of cooperation in community activities and alumni
participation in school programs. ese are based on the weighted mean values for all
indicators (¨Agree¨ and ¨High engagement¨ for verbal interpretation and transposed
values, respectively), arriving at an average mean value of 3.18 or ¨High engagement.¨
e studies of Hayes (2011) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(2018) strongly mention the community as a helpful avenue for parents to collaborate
by getting related resources and appropriate support to address further their children’s
academic, social, and emotional needs.

Table 3. Respondents’ levels of socio-emotional learning

Indicator Mean value Verbal interpretation Transposed value
1. Self-awareness 3.35 Agree High level
2. Self-management 3.19 Agree High level
3. Social awareness 3.19 Agree High level
4. Relationship skills 3.22 Agree High level

5. Responsible decision making 3.31 Agree High level

Table 3 shows the average mean value for this component is 3.35, which means
their self-awareness is high. e study of Schonert-Reichl (2017) a rms the results of
the respondents’ level of self-awareness as a component of socio-emotional learning.

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 Based on their self-management as a component of socio-emotional learning, the
respondents indicated have indicated that they were capable of managing their emotions,
behavior, and even attitudes to go on with life-based on the average mean value of 3.19
(“AGREE”), which as a transposed value of ¨High level.¨ Again, the study of Schonert-
Reichl (2017) stated that socio-emotional learning could be achieved with the school’s
support and the results show that the support has been provided to these students.
e researcher also found out that these respondents at a young age also have a
high level of social awareness (3.19, “Agree,” “High level”) when it comes to the use of
tools to manage their anxiety and achieve their daily goals as students and individuals.
As perceived through their own, they were able to recognize emotions and promote
empathy, perform con ict resolution, have con dence with support from people around
them, and know how to look inward and outward about things in life. Use for this
component is 3.35, which means that their self-awareness is at a high level. e study of
Schonert-Reichl (2017) a rms the results of the respondents’ level of social awareness
as a component of socio-emotional learning.
e table below also shows that the student respondents possessed good
relationship skills based on the mean values of this table’s indicators. Furthermore,
their demonstration of honesty, integrity, and fairness (Indicator 5) took the highest
mean value, with 3.42. Overall (based only on the Relationship skills component), the
respondents can resolve con icts without violence, make good choices, interact with
others, accordingly, be aware of their wants versus other peoples´, and display honesty,
integrity, and fairness. e results can be traced back from the studies of Schonert-
Reichl (2017) and Nokali, Bachman, and Votruba Drzal (2010), where positive socio-
emotional learning encompasses having good to great relationship skills, which the
respondents have shown.
As gleaned from the table below, the respondents were able to take responsibility
for their decisions, such as making healthy relationships, working with others, asking
for help, appreciating diversity, etc. is is in accordance with the average mean value of
3.32 (“AGREE”), which has a transposed value of ¨High level.” Based on these speci c
ndings, the respondents also knew how to maintain rewarding relationships with
diverse individuals and groups. All the indicators of this socio-emotional component
have ¨Agree¨ as a verbal interpretation. e results can also be traced back from the
studies of Schonert-Reichl (2017) and Nokali, Bachman, and Votruba Drzal (2010),
where positive socio-emotional learning includes having responsible decision making
which is also an essential activity for life as they grow and develop.

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Table 4. Correlation between parental involvement and socio-emotional learning
Parental involvement Socio-emotional learning
Parental involvement 1
Socio-emotional learning 0.16 1

Table 4 shows a weak correlation between parental involvement and socio-

emotional learning because the Pearson-r value is 0.16, which indicates such. e
result further explains that when the respondents, such as the parents, guardians, and
other caretakers of children, portrayed their parenting, home learning, and decision-
making roles as parental involvement tasks and duties accordingly, the socio-emotional
learning of their children was not signi cantly impacted. erefore, the null hypothesis
stated as “ ere is no signi cant relationship between parental involvement and socio-
emotional learning.” is accepted. e results are geared back towards the studies of
Nokali, Bachman, and Votruba-Drzal (2010) and Niehaus and Adelson (2014), with
the latter having tested the relationships among the support of the school, involvement
of families, and the socio-emotional and academic standing of selected students.

Table 5. Correlation between family engagement and socio-emotional learning

Family engagement Socio-emotional learning
Family engagement 1
Socio-emotional learning 0.05 1

Table 5 shows, using the Pearson-r formula from Google Sheets’ XlMiner Analysis
Toolpak, that there is a negligible or very weak correlation between family engagement
and socio-emotional learning (0.05). It further explains that family engagement does
not impact the socio-emotional learning of the students. erefore, the null hypothesis,
“ ere is no signi cant relationship between family engagement and socio-emotional
learning,” is accepted. e results are again traced back to the studies of Nokali, Bachman,
and Votruba-Drzal (2010) and Niehaus and Adelson (2014)) where moderated negative
impact was found when the relationship was tested.

CONCLUSION

Based on the ndings, despite having high engagement and high involvement of
the parent respondents and high levels of socio-emotional learning among the selected
student-respondents, the researcher concluded that there was no signi cant relationship
between parental involvement, family engagement, and socio-emotional learning. is
was based on the Pearson r values computed using the XML Analysis Toolpak through
Google Sheets.

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

e following are the recommendations for parents, guardians, and other caretakers
who were meeting the needs of their children:
1. Continue to promote a home environment that supports students’ academic,
social, and emotional needs. Ensure that the home is always supportive of learning
by giving them time to guide and support them with their academic requirements
pertaining to their enrolled subjects for the academic year. Attendance at workshops,
taking relevant and aligned courses when there are chances, and other programs can
also enhance parental involvement. Welcoming visitors from the school and those who
are community helpers involved in the school programs can also be helpful to get more
updates about the said programs and insights on how they can become fully involved
since they have knowledge and awareness about how their children are doing in school.
2. Continually utilize the information and ideas acquired from the school. Taking
care of children’s academic needs can be further ful lled by understanding how to
interact with their needs through their availability, care, and guidance. Families may
always consider using calendar activities to systematically plan activities that enhance
their children’s achievement based on the subjects o ered.
3. Active participation and involvement in parent-teacher conferences remain a
must because it has something to do with how the child is doing. Any programs related
to school reforms and improvements must be participated in, especially if the concepts
concern children’s academic needs. Working on becoming a parent leader in your
school will allow parents, guardians, and caretakers to become more aware of the school
programs. It will grant them greater access to communicating with administrators,
licensed professionals, and sta .
4. Attendance at parent-teacher conferences and becoming aware of the calendar of
school activities must be constantly and continually pursued. Being both mindful and
grateful for receiving information from the school and the school district can further
promote sensitivity among parents, guardians, and caretakers to become fully engaged
with their children’s academic needs.
5. Further cooperation on programs that promote community, cultural, recreational,
and social support, partnerships involving school and school districts, and collaboration
on community programs that promote academic enhancements and enrichments must
be ensured for greater information acquisition and awareness on how to get engaged
with their academic, social, and emotional needs.
6. Schools in the Sarangani Province must be fully aware of how they can further
address the needs of the elementary students by conducting a survey to parents, guardians,
and/or caretakers on what actions must be done for them to be more knowledgeable on
performing their parental involvement and family engagement skills. is is also one
way for these schools to stay collaborative with them.

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 7. Above all, parents, guardians, and/or caretakers must regularly have self-
awareness and self-re ection as to their overall parenting skills by assessing themselves
if they possess the right amount of socio-emotional learning to understand how their
children behave and act in relation to their socio-emotional learning. Otherwise,
they may consider bringing themselves for guidance, help, and support from various
community service providers and even professionals when they have the chance and the
willingness, who are willing to help them harness their parenting skills.

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