Motivation of Parent Involvement in Secondary-Level Schooling 6

ABSTRACT : Inspired by K. V. Hoover-Dempsey and H. M. Sandler's (1995, 1997) model of the parent involvement process, the authors examined 4 psychological constructs of parent involvement: (a) relative strength of parents' role construction, (b) parents' self-efficacy for helping adolescents succeed in school, (c) parents' perceptions of teacher invitations to become involved, and (d) parents' perceptions of students' invitations to become involved. The authors obtained survey responses from 770 parents of adolescents in 5 Quebec secondary schools-354 parents of 7th graders, 231 parents of 8th graders, and 185 parents of 9th graders. Results emphasize that it is important that researchers distinguish parent involvement at home and at school when examining the predictive power of the 4 psychological constructs. Findings also provide evidence of grade-level differences in the predictive models of parent involvement at home and at school. Parents' perceptions of students' invitations was the most powerful predictor of parent involvement at home models across the 3 grade levels. Parents' role construction made important contributions to the prediction of their involvement at Grades 7 and 9; parents' perceptions of teacher invitations were associated with parent involvement at school across the 3 grade levels. Whether at home or at school, parents became involved if they perceived that teachers and students expected or desired their involvement. 56

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