Improving Parent Involvement-Based Model

This article is a literature review of how conceptual and empirical studies have furthered the understanding of the processes of improving parental involvement based model proposed by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler. The Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model focused on the construct of parental motivation for involvement. It included: (1) active role construction for involvement and positive self efficacy, (2) perception of invitations for involvement from the school, teacher, and child, and (3) important elements of the parents’ life, overall, which facilitated or prevented involvement (p. 106). The authors reviewed literature that provided insight to expand their research on improving parental involvement in an effort to improve student outcomes.

They suggest that schools can creating a welcoming school environment, empowering teacher to handle parental involvement, learn about parental goals for learning, use existing structures to enhance involvement, offer a wide range of opportunities, and invite teachers, parents, principals, and staff to student centered events will aid in motivating parents to be involved (p.118). They also suggest that parents’ abilities can be strengthened by the schools increasing communication of the importance of the parents’ roles in their child’s success, providing parent with specific information about how they can be involved, providing parent with the information about how their involvement impacts the students learning, and providing parents with feedback and support on their involvement (p.120). They point to three limitations in the literature. Those limitations are: limited focus of parent involvement (e.g. frequency and type of parental involvement), the lack of triangulation due to only have single source reporting, and a lack of understanding of what involved parents do and how does the involvement influence student outcomes (p.