1. Parental Involvement: A Path to Achievement Christa L. Green, Kathleen V. Hoover-Dempsey, Howard M. Sandler; Vanderbilt University Joan M. T. Walker; Long Island University INTRODUCTION This study tested a theoretical model of the parental involvement process. The model was designed to enhance understanding of mechanisms through which parental involvement influences student learning and related outcomes. The model suggests that: (a) Involvement at home and school will increase parents’ use of specific involvement mechanisms (Level 2); (b) Parents’ use of mechanisms during involvement (as mediated by Level 3) will influence proximal achievement outcomes (Level 4); (c) Increases in student proximal achievement outcomes will lead to an increase in summary measures of achievement (Level 5). HYPOTHESES: 1. Regression analyses will support the model constructs as predictors of achievement. 2. There will be small but significant positive correlations between parental involvement and achievement. METHOD Data were collected at the final stage of a large, 3-year study that created measures to assess the predictive validity of model constructs (see Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005; Walker et al., 2005). PARTICIPANTS 4th - 6th grade students (n = 358) from a large ethnically and socioeconomically diverse public school system in a metropolitan area of the mid-South, and their parents. MEASURES Survey questionnaires were used to collect parent and student data. All measures achieved satisfactory alpha reliabilities (see Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005). Parent data: self -reported involvement (home-based and school-based); mechanisms engaged during involvement. Student data: self-reported perceptions of parents’ use of mechanisms during involvement; reports of proximal outcomes. Student scores on state achievement tests were provided by the school district. RESULTS cont. DISCUSSION REFERENCES Findings suggest that model constructs may be used to differentially predict student achievement outcomes. Care should be taken in defining involvement as well as proximal and distal measures of student achievement. Causal claims about how involvement affects student achievement outcomes require longitudinal studies examining these relationships. Future work should explore the student proximal outcomes most important for supporting distal achievement measures, such as standardized achievement tests. Future work should also explore the development of relationships between parental involvement and student achievement across the elementary, middle, and secondary school years. For more information about this and related projects, please see our website: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peab ody/family-school/index.htmlhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peab ody/family-school/index.html. Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (1995). Parental involvement in children’s education: Why does it make a difference? Teachers College Record, 97(2), 310-331. Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (2005). Final Performance Report for OERI Grant # R305T010673: The Social Context of Parental Involvement: A Path to Enhanced Achievement. Presented to Project Monitor, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, March 22, 2005. Walker, J. M., Wilkins, A. S., Dallaire, J., Sandler, H. M., & Hoover-Dempsey, K. V. (2005). Parental involvement: Model revision through scale development. Elementary School Journal, 106(2), 85-104. RESULTS HYPOTHESIS 1: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that a small but significant portion of the variance in student achievement (16%) was predicted by parental school-based involvement (β =.17), parent-reported use of mechanisms (β =.26), and student academic self-efficacy (β =.24). Home- based involvement and student intrinsic motivation were negative predictors in the equation (see Table 2).