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Citation:

Trivette, P., & Anderson, E. (1995). The effects of four components of parental involvement on eighth grade student achievement. School Psychology Review, 24(2), 299-317.

Annotation:
This study assesses the effects of different kinds of parental involvement on the academic achievement of eighth graders. The study analyzed student and parent data from the NELS:88 data set and analyzed four components of parental involvement--parent aspirations for childrenÕs education, parent-child communication about school, home structure, and parental participation in school-related activities. Of the four parent involvement components, only parent aspirations had a significant positive effect on student achievement, as measured by standardized tests. Home structure had a slight negative effect on student achievement, suggesting that a highly structured environment might not be appropriate at this stage of adolescent development. Parent-child communication and participation in school events did not show a significant influence on student achievement. In an analysis of how the four components affected each other, the researchers found that higher aspirations did not necessarily result in a more structured home environment or greater participation in school activities. Aspirations did have a significant positive effect on family communication about school. Data were analyzed using a structural equation model. The researchers controlled for background variables such as previous student achievement and socioeconomic status. Cause-effect relationships between the variables should be interpreted with some caution, due to the nonexperimental nature of the data and design. Also, results should not be generalized to elementary or high school students.