Indicator: 34 - Parent Involvement in School

Why This Is Important

Schools have a responsibility to encourage parents to be an integral part of the educational experience of their children. Many educators believe parental involvement in school activities has a beneficial effect on children's school performance. They associate higher levels of parental involvement with greater monitoring of school and classroom activities, a closer coordination of teacher and parent efforts, greater teacher attention to the child, and earlier identification of problems that might inhibit learning. In two-parent families, parental involvement of both caregivers in their child's school is significantly associated with an increased likelihood of 1st through 12th grade children earning mostly A's, and with a reduced likelihood that these children will ever repeat a grade.

Where We Stand

In 2000 and 2001, a survey of Maine households asked parents who had children in public schools whether, in the last year, they or another adult in their household had attended a meeting or event at their child's school. In both years, virtually all respondents (96% in 2000; 97% in 2001) reported that they had done this. Of those who had gone to school activities, 54% in 2000 and 81% in 2001 said that they had done so 6 or more times.

In addition, the survey asked parents of public school children whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: "I am pleased with how much our local school reached out to involve me in my child or children's education." The vast majority (84% in 2000; 81% in 2001) either "somewhat" or "strongly" agreed with that statement.

National data on parents' involvement in schools also shows high rates of participation, though those rates are lower for children in higher grades. National data also indicates that parents with higher education levels and higher incomes tend to participate more in their children's schools. The following chart summarizes parental reports of their involvement in the 1996 and 1999 National Household Education Surveys.

Data Sources and Context

Maine data for this indicator comes from the Maine Development Foundation 2000 and 2001 Surveys of Maine Citizens. The 2000 Survey was conducted in September 2000 by Market Decisions, Inc.; the 2001 Survey was done between August 20 and September 6, 2001, by Strategic Marketing Services. In both years a randomly selected statewide sample of 601 households was interviewed by telephone. Special effort was made to include an adequate number of parents with children living primarily at home (401 in 2000, and 425 in 2001), so their responses are representative of all parents in Maine. The survey data are available on-line at http://www.mdf.org.

The national data comes from the U.S. Department of Education, National Household Education Surveys Program, 1996 (Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey) and 1999 (Parent Interview Survey). The data is available on-line at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2001/section6/tables/t54_1.html.