This paper will provide information that proves White parents are more involved in their child’s education as opposed to minority families. With proving this, as the author of this paper I will also prove that involvement in education creates positive impacts on education in terms of grades and achievements as well as increases motivation to succeed in school.
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that parental involvement regarding their child’s education equates to the success the child will have throughout their school life. If a parent pays little attention to what their child is doing or learning in school, then the child is going to start to think their education is not important. Education in general is something that is regarded highly all around the world. Children who succeed in school and become successful in their adult lives, many times can be seen to attribute it to their parent’s support and push throughout their academic life. While this paper will address the clear differences of minority and White parents, I will also address the importance of having parents who are involved.
In what follows, this paper will review literature that shows White parents are more involved in their child’s education in comparison to minority parents. The literature review will also shed insight on issues that may hold minority parents back from being as involved in their child’s education. After the literature review, the methodology section of this paper will discuss the ways data was collected and how the formulated hypotheses. Following that, the paper will bring together all of the sources to support the two hypotheses being explored. This paper will end with a summary of everything that was mentioned, in addition to possible solutions in getting minority families more involved.
Literature review
With education being an important aspect of an individual’s success in life, it is imperative that we look at how parents play an important role an aiding in their child’s success. It can be difficult sometimes for a parent who must work to actively be involved in their child’s education. Being involved can mean an array of things from talking every night at dinner about their day, to being an active member in the PTA. Several sources show that Hispanic and Black students were less likely to have parents who were as involved as White parents. “31% of Black students had a parent who volunteered their time compared to 50% of White students” (Parental Involvement in Schools, n.d.). In addition to minority parents not being as involved, parents who did not speak English were less likely to be involved in their child’s education as well.
What holds parents back from being active with their children in their schooling can be many different reasons. Language barriers can keep parents back from being able to support their child when they need the help. In addition to language, economic issues can also cause strain because a family who is living in poverty, most of the times minorities, is constantly working to be able to provide. Because they are always working the parents might not be able to always attend general school meetings, or parent-teacher conferences. In addition to not being able to attend functions, families might be able to afford tutors if their child happens to be struggling in school. Lastly, parents who have achieved higher education are more likely to become involved in the education of their children.
In addition to implications regarding the ability for a parent to be involved in their child’s education, there is also a positive impact that involvement holds in regard to education. Research has shown that parents who have a positive attitude towards their child’s education will influence their child in a helpful way (Topor, Keane, Shelton & Calkins, 2010). When parents are actively involved in their child’s education, the child’s perceived cognitive competence my increase as well. A child with an active parent believe they hold the necessary cognitive skills to be successful in different areas; “writing, reading, and math” (Topor et al., 2010). Research also linked beliefs to high competence with a higher level of academic achievement.
Methodology
To collect primary data, I will put together a survey and collect an array of answers from a small sample group. In order to carry out my research I put together questions in a survey that would allow me to get the best information to support my two hypotheses I mentioned above. After creating the survey, I distributed it to a diverse group of students at Seton Hall University, as well as a diverse group of parents that my mother was friendly with from the local American Legion. By choosing these two populations to survey, I was able to get ample information from both sides. Students were able to reflect back on their early years of schooling and come to a conclusion if parental involvement impacted them in anyway. Parents on the other hand were also able to come to the conclusion if they were involved in their child’s education while they were in school and if they think their involvement played any part in any type of achievement or success.
Hypotheses
I formulated two hypotheses that revolve around the fact parental involvement equates to the child’s success in school.
Hypothesis 1: White parents are more involved in their child’s education as opposed to minority families
Hypothesis 2: Involvement in education creates positive impacts on education in terms of grades and achievements and leads to higher success rates and increased motivation.
Interpretation and Discussion
So far in this research paper, I have been discussing the different problems that may be associated with lack of parental involvement in child education, as well as what the positive impacts are for parents being involved. This research has led me to form two hypotheses. Hypothesis one that I formed is that White parents are more involved in their child’s education as opposed to minorities. Hypothesis two is that involvement in education creates positive impacts in regard to grades and achievements.
The first hypothesis deals with the involvement gap between White and minority families. A journal article written by Nancy Hill and Lorraine Taylor state that one of the biggest obstacles schools face with parental involvement is the increasing diversity among students (Hill & Taylor 2004). This article goes on to discuss that the higher socioeconomic status of parents correlates to a higher involvement in student academic affairs. Another study was conducted, and the percentage of minority parents was much less than White parents regarding involvement in the schooling of their child. Another study was conducted that showed European-American parents were more involved at school, whereas Black-American parents were more involved at home (Eeeles & Harlold, 1996). Parents are more often involved at home with their child’s education if the primary language is something other than English. In 2012, for White parents the volunteer rate was 50% as opposed to 31 and 32 % for Black and Hispanic parents respectively (Parental Involvement in Schools n.d.). After conducting my own survey, the answers that I collected support this hypothesis. Looking at the parent questionnaire, about 5 respondents were of a minority background. With that being said, those 5 surveys all stated that the reason they were unable to be active in their child’s education was either due to a language barrier or their work schedule. The answers for other questions from White parents who had answered, showed that they were active in their child’s education, either by attending school functions or being in contact with the teacher.
The second hypothesis deals with the positive impacts regarding student grades and achievements. Fan and Chen conducted a study that looked at the average correlation between parental involvement and students’ academic achievement. From the results that I was able to study, there was a positive correlation with parental involvement and students’ academic achievement. Looking at the survey I conducted with students, the answers to their question supported my hypothesis. Of the 10 students I handed this survey to, 8 students answered “yes” that parental involvement positively impacted their education. Topor et al. conducted a study also measured academic performance. The basis of the study looked at the way children were preforming on tests in addition to the amount of parental involvement that the parents were partaking in. The results of the study showed positives with the test scores of these students and in comparison, with other students whose parents weren’t as involved, their scores weren’t as high (Topor et al., 2010). Additionally, parents who are actively involved in their child’s education are able to form relationships with school personnel. By forming these relationships, parents are then able to better understand how to help the child at home to the best of their ability (Lareau, 1996). Lastly, parents who were more involved with the education of their child were able to come up with solutions that would allow them to promote higher levels of achievements (Baker and Stevenson, 1986).
Conclusion
In this research paper, I have made an effort in proving that White parents are more active in their child’s education as opposed to people of color. After reviewing literature surround this topic and conducting a survey with parents and students, my two hypotheses were supported. My first hypothesis stated that White families are more active in their child’s schooling and that was in fact supported by the resources I have cited as well as the survey questions that were asked and answered. The second hypothesis stated that parental involvement creates positive impacts in terms of grades and achievements and leads to higher success rates and increased motivation in the children. This hypothesis was supported because of the research I have come across for this paper, as well as the survey questions.
Since both of these hypotheses were proven true, one way to reduce the gap between minority parents and the lack of involvement starts within the school. As mentioned throughout my paper an important barrier that parents face deal with English not being the spoken language of the household. If language is the issue than school officials can do their part and send school information home in their native language. By doing so parents are able to fully understand what is going on instead of having to rely on their young children to try and explain everything to them. In addition to the language barrier, economic issues hold parents back as well. To fix this barrier schools can elect student mentors to help tutor children for free if they happen to be struggling in school. Regarding the lack of time for parents to come to school events due to work, perhaps meetings can be held over the phone if the parent(s) are unable to physically make it into the school to speak to the teacher. By providing the option for these meetings to be held over the phone, parents are given that opportunity to be involved and actually know what is going on with their child- if there is an issue. These strategies can improve parental involvement and in doing so increase achievements and grades for students.