Principal leadership of parent involvement

The study was conducted in order to examine the relation of principal behaviors on parent involvement towards their children academic achievement. A study purpose was to to determine the extent to which principal behavioral roles predicted school-level parent involvement and related variables while controlling for within-school variations in parent background characteristics. Other study purposes entailed examining differences in the relation of principal roles to parent involvement among schools which varied in consensus among parents regarding involvement in their childrens education and their perceptions of the school social environment, varied in socioeconomic status of the student population, and varied in the English-speaking ability of students.

Objectives of Research

To examine the relations of various principal roles to parent involvement and to factors traditionally associated with parent involvement.

To examine differences in the relation of principal roles to parent involvement among schools in consensus among parents regarding involvement in their childrens education and their perceptions of the school environment

To examine differences in the relation of principal roles to parent involvement among schools in socioeconomic status of the student population and Englishspeaking ability of students
1

Research Questions

The study was conducted based on these derived research questions:

What principal behaviors are associated with high levels of parent involvement and with factors conducive to parent involvement?

What principal behaviors are related to consensus among parents concerning perceptions of the school environment?

Do principal behaviors affect the level of involvement differently in schools having higher concentrations of socioeconomically-disadvantaged students and non-English-speaking students?

3.2

Population and Sampling The sample population for this study was picked from two-thirds of all elementary schools in a large metropolitan area and suburban school district. These schools represented a systematic sampling of clusters of schools in seven geographic areas. In each geographic area, schools are organized by clusters which normally included one high school, two middle schools, and six to seven elementary schools. The first and third clusters in each geographic region were selected for the study. All schools in each of the selected clusters participated in the study. The two-thirds sample of schools varied in the sociodemographic make-up of the student populations, as did all the elementary schools in the school district.

3.2.1

Sampling Technique Population was based on the data obtained from three sources: parent survey, principal survey and archival data on school student population characteristics. Under the parent survey, Of the 34,541 students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade in the elementary schools, 13,768 parents or 40 percent completed questionnaires. For principal survey, of the 82 schools in the study, 78 or 95 percent of the school principals completed the principal questionnaires. And for the archival data, the results was based the percentage of students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Meals program (FARMS); and the percentage of students participating in the English for

Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze data to meet these study purposes.

Recommendations Based on the findings, I would recommend the following points that would be beneficial for other researchers in future.
1. The researcher should mention the area of where the study was conducted in order

to enable other researchers to compare and do the same research from different area, so that other researcher can improvise certain issues lack in this area.

2. The research should be expanded to all types of school as the management and

administrations of each school is different, so the approaches taken can be compared.

3. In future, the study should involve not only parents, principal and students

populations, but importantly the involvement from all teachers and students because only teachers know the strengths and weaknesses of the students.

4. In future, the interview process should be undertaken as certain matters cannot be achieved via survey questions alone, but required some clarification.

5. The scope of research should be widened, not only to focus on the elementary

schools, but should include high schools, colleges and universities. This is because school, college, university plays a vital role in shaping students to become a betterperson.

6. The researcher should present the results to the authority in order for them to take

further action and improve the education system that not only focus to students, but also involve all parties include parents, teachers, schools and principals.

7. It is also hoped that this research will be a stepping stone and a promotional kit to

encourage other researchers conducting the same research area.

8. The researcher should give the credits to all teachers for the hardwork that they

have done throughout their entire life to ensure the successful of their children. This is because, when the researcher only taking the principal as one of respondent, it seems that the success and failure of the students only under principals responsibility, not other teachers.