Description
The author studied the relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement in language arts and math and the extent to which parental involvement helps predict language arts and math achievement among elementary school students. In a quantitative, non-experimental study using a descriptive, correlational research design with multiple linear regression analysis, she found a significant relationship between achievement in language arts and mathematics and parental efficacy. The study population was comprised of parents of 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-grade students in 3 elementary schools in a working-class urban New Jersey school district diverse in ethnicity and language and high in poverty. She found significant relationships between parenting skills and parental efficacy and student achievement in language arts and mathematics. As parenting skills and parental efficacy increased, the level of student achievement in both subject areas also increased. Social networking was also found to correlate with higher student achievement. Laurie Bandlow is the principal of Memorial Middle School in Howell Township, New Jersey. A former Elementary Principal and middle grades teacher, she excelled in school turn around and inspired the Howell Township Parent Academy. Laurie enjoys both winter and water sports with her son Christopher.
