Principals' and Teachers' Practices about Parent Involvement in Schooling

Parent involvement has an influence on children's educational engagement for all school levels. The objective of this study was to examine public school principals' and teachers' practices for improving parent involvement in schooling. This study used a mixed method to identify the school administrators' and teachers' perceptions about parent involvement in schooling. Data was collected from 64 public schools' administrators and teachers of elementary, middle and high schools. Six hundred and sixty one (55%) of surveys returned from 28 elementary schools, 27 middle schools, and 9 high schools. Data was analyzed with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). For qualitative part, phenomenological research method was used to investigate principals' and teachers' experiences to promote parent involvement. Findings indicated that school levels and teachers' education levels had a statistically significant impact on combined factors of parent involvement. No significant differences were found in parent involvement among principals and teachers who are from different major, gender, and seniority groups. This study showed that educator' attitudes is the most significant factor on parental involvement in schooling. Additionally, this study claimed when principals offer different time schedule for parent and teacher meetings, parent involvement is increased. One of parents is selected by Parent Teacher Organization for each grade so parents might use social media for all of meetings, offers, events, and announcements.