Parental involvement and students' performance and self-esteem in suburban and city parochial elementary (K-6) schools.

摘要

This study was an exploratory and descriptive investigation of a parochial elementary school program in Westchester County and the Bronx, New York City, and sought to examine the relationship of parental involvement in school-related activities at home, school-home communication, and parental attitude toward school to students' academic performance, attendance, and self-esteem.;This study is based primarily on the research on social capital by Coleman and Hoffer (1987). The theoretical formulation and evidence examined suggested a relationship among parental involvement in school-related activities at home, school-home communication, and parental attitude toward school, and students' academic performance, attendance, and self-esteem. Multiple correlation and Pearson correlation analyses were used to test the hypotheses of this study.;The Hopkins Survey of School and Family Connections (HSSFC), developed by Epstein and Salinas (1993), was used to determine the level of parental involvement and the type of involvement.;The Parent Involvement Questionnaire (PIQ), developed by the investigator, measured the degree of parental involvement in the elementary school program.;The Personal Information Questionnaire was developed by the researcher to obtain pertinent socioeconomic and demographic data of the parents in this study.;The participants of this study included 317 elementary school children from three Catholic schools in Westchester County and three from the Bronx in New York City.;The major findings indicated that parent involvement in school-related activities at home, school-home communication, and parental attitude toward school had a significant correlation with children's performance, attendance, and self-esteem. Parental involvement in school-related activities was the most important predictor of children's performance, attendance, and self-esteem. The study also found that students from Westchester County Catholic schools had significantly higher self-esteem and attendance than those from the Bronx.;The conclusion drawn from the results of the study suggest that future researchers continue to examine parental involvement in school-related activities at home, school-home communication, and parental attitude toward school as they relate to student achievement.