Making a child's education a priority: A case study of factors influencing the lack of parental involvement in a Georgia public high school

Parental involvement in public schools is a much debated topic in the United States. Many school systems face the difficulty of encouraging parents to participate in their children's education. Educators are aware of what it takes for students to be academically successful; yet, parents must embrace a similar notion so they may be able to assist in their children's academic endeavors. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of teachers and parents regarding the lack of parental involvement in a suburban high school. The study attempted to determine the differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers across all four-grade levels ninth through twelfth, as it related to parental involvement in the school's setting as well as differences between the perceptions of actively involved parents compared to parents who are not actively involved in their child's education. The researcher collected information from a population of 95 teachers and 130 parents. This was a case study that utilized mixed methodology to investigate the research questions. The following two modified surveys were used to conduct the study: High School and Family Partnerships: Parent Survey and High School and Family Partnerships: Teacher Survey. The first survey was designed to gather data regarding parents' perceptions regarding parental involvement in the school, parental involvement practices, barriers with parental involvement and family demographics. The second survey was designed to gather data regarding the teachers' perceptions of the importance of family involvement, present practices of involvement by the teacher and by the school, estimates of parents' involvement and responsibilities, teaching experiences, personal and school demographics. Additionally, follow-up interview questions were derived from the survey instrument and were used to clarify information collected from the survey instrument. Descriptive statistics were computed to examine the relationship between parental involvement perceptions, parental involvement practices and parental involvement barriers. The results indicated that the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding barriers to parental involvement were significantly different. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between the parent perceptions of parental involvement and parental involvement practices. Also, the parents' experiences were diverse regarding school related parental involvement practices.