Parental involvement and student performance : the contributions of economic, cultural, and social capital

The purpose of this study is threefold. First, it is to clarify the construct, parental involvement, by examining its different dimensions both theoretically and empirically. The second purpose is to identify important family factors and institutional factors that affect parental involvement. Finally, this study examines how students' learning outcomes are related to different dimensions of parental involvement. A conceptual framework is proposed that indicates the relationships between school factors, family factors, parental involvement and students' learning outcomes. The construct of "capital" is used as an explanatory tool within this framework. The research was conducted in two phases. Data were collected as part of a larger project which studied the effectiveness of elementary schools in British Columbia (Willms, 1992). Phase I of the study was conducted in 1994. Questionnaires were sent to a population of fifteen hundred B.C. elementary school principals. A total of 831 school administrators returned the questionnaires. Phase II of the study was conducted in 1995. Forty-nine schools were sampled strategically according to the variability of parents' socioeconomic backgrounds. A total of 404 teachers and 1042 fifth-grade students completed questionnaires. Hierarchical Linear Modelling was then used to explore the nature and impact of parental involvement. The extent of parental involvement in grade 5 was generally low in B.C. elementary schools. Levels of parental involvement did not vary substantially among schools; therefore, it was difficult to identify schools which could induce particularly high or low levels of involvement. In exploring the barriers and facilitators of parental involvement, evidence from this study suggests that substantial decentralization of instructional activities, and positive teacher attitudes and practices enhance parental involvement. Another important school factor is the nurturing of social capital within the school. The findings indicate that a positive social climate is a major determinant of parental involvement. An important home factor is cultural capital provided by parents. The results suggest that cultural capital rather than economic capital determines the levels of parental involvement in education. The effects of different types of parental involvement on students' learning outcomes were relatively weak in this study. Home-based involvement was not generally effective for improving children's learning, and school-based involvement had a small positive effect on student's self-esteem but was negatively related to student academic achievement. It appears that parental involvement tended to be reactive rather than proactive. Parents with children at risk academically and socially were more likely to be involved. Yet the study has demonstrated that investment of educational time and monitoring of peer activities were possible intervening variables through which parents could indirectly affect students' learning outcomes. In the conceptual framework of this study, learning outcomes was viewed as a function of the availability of: economic capital, cultural capital and social capital. Among these major forms of resources, social capital nurtured by the school was the most powerful determinant of students' self-esteem. Cultural capital and economic capital had a moderate effect on both students' self-esteem and academic achievement, but their contribution varied from one cognitive characteristic to another. These results provide substantial evidence to support the integration of Coleman's social capital thesis and Bourdieu's cultural capital thesis. An inclusive model, which emphasizes the inclusion of resources from family, school, and community, appears to be the most promising avenue for improving children's learning.Education, Faculty ofGraduat

Educational leadership for parental involvement in an Asian context: Insights from Bourdieu's theory of practice. The Community Journal

Abstract This article examines how educational leadership defines parental involvement and shapes the nature of home-school collaboration in schools in an Asian context. Results show three major types of principal leadership, or habitus of parental involvement: bureaucratic, utilitarian, and communitarian, which provide a more powerful explanation for the extent and nature of homeschool collaboration than parents' capital in this context. The present article adds to the existing literature by application of Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus, and capital to understand the relationship between principals' leadership and different types of home-school relationships

Table_1_Socioeconomic inequality in the worsening of psychosocial wellbeing via disrupted social conditions during COVID-19 among adolescents in Hong Kong: self-resilience matters.DOCX

BackgroundAdolescents, especially the socioeconomically disadvantaged, are facing devastating psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during their critical developmental period. This study aims to (i) examine the socioeconomic patterning of the worsening of psychosocial wellbeing, (ii) delineate the underlying mediating factors (i.e., overall worry about COVID-19, family's financial difficulty, learning problems, and loneliness), and (iii) explore the moderating effect of resilience in the inter-relationship among adolescents under COVID-19.MethodsBased on maximum variation sampling of 12 secondary schools of diverse socioeconomic background in Hong Kong, 1018 students aged 14-16 years were recruited and completed the online survey between September and October 2021. Multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) by resilience levels was employed to delineate the pathways between socioeconomic position and the worsening of psychosocial wellbeing.ResultsSEM analysis showed a significant total effect of socioeconomic ladder with the worsening of psychosocial wellbeing during the pandemic in the overall sample (β = −0.149 [95% CI = −0.217 – −0.081], p ConclusionIn addition to facilitating self-directed learning and easing loneliness during the pandemic, evidence-based strategies to build up resilience among adolescents are critical to buffer against the adverse socioeconomic and psychosocial impacts of the pandemic or other potential catastrophic events in the future.</p