Indicator: 35 - 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
parentalinvolvement 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 12 th grade children earning mostly A's, and with a reduced likelihood that these
children will ever repeat a grade.
Where We Stand
The percentage of Maine parents who reported attending at least one school event stayed
constant between 2000 and 2004 at about 95%, but the proportion of these attending at least
1-5 events grew in Fall 2004. The average (median) number of times the parent reported going
to an event in the Fall of 2004 was six. Approximately 56% of parents have attended six or
more events at their school.
Analysis of national level data (1999) indicates the following:
- Parental involvement in school decreases as children grow older.
- Parents of White, nonHispanic children were more likely than parents of Black, non-
Hispanic or Hispanic children to be highly involved in their child’s school at each grade
level.
- Children living in nonpoor households were much morelikely to have highly involved
parents than children living in poor households, at all gradelevels. Children whose mothers
had higher levels of education had more highly involvedparents than children whose
mothers had lower education levels, at all grades.
- Children in twoparent families were more likely than children in singleparent families to
have parents who were highly involved in school activities.Furthermore, among children in
two parent families,mothers were more likely to be highly involved than fathers.
- Children in grades 3 through 12 whosemothers worked parttime had more highly involved
parents than students whose motherseither worked fulltime or who were not in the labor
force.
Data Sources and Context
Data on this indicator comes from a statewide telephone survey of Maine households with
children present who are age 18 or younger. The respondents to this survey were adults in the
household who self-identified as a parent. The indicator is similar to either indicators used by
the Maine Development Foundation in their previous surveys of Maine citizens, or other national
surveys of families, so that the data could be used to monitor trends over time and to compare
Maine to the nation. This 2004/5 survey was conducted by Critical Insights, a strategic marketing
research firm in Portland, Maine. During the months of December 2004 and January 2005, 400
Maine adults responded to the survey. The adults were asked the following: “Since the beginning
of this school year, have you or the other adults in your household:
- Gone to a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference with your child’s teacher?
- Attended a school or class event, such as a play, sports event, or science fair, because
of your child?
- Acted as a volunteer at the school or served on a committee?”
The national data is available 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.
