The purpose of this non-experimental research study carried out in Shanghai, China, was to examine parents’ perceived parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and parental involvement (home-based involvement, school-based involvement, and home-school conferencing) in relationship to children’s overall school readiness among third-year kindergarten children (5-6 years olds). In addition, this study investigated how, if at all, the use of various parenting styles moderated the effects of parental involvement on children’s development of school readiness, while controlling for child gender and household income. Three hundred and twenty ( N =320) parents and 22 teachers of third year kindergarten children from four kindergartens in two districts of Shanghai participated in this study. Each parent participant completed a parenting survey consisting of three parts: demographic information, the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) and the Family Involvement Questionnaire(FIQ). The teachers completed the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a school readiness assessment for each child which covers five development domains: physical health and well-being, language and cognition, social competence, emotional maturity, and communication and general knowledge. The results of this study indicated that authoritative parenting was positively correlated to children’s school readiness, and authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting were negatively correlated to children’s school readiness. Only authoritative parenting had a significant unique influence on children’s overall school readiness skills while controlling for child’s gender and monthly household income. In addition, although all three types of parental involvement were positively related to children’s school readiness score, only home-based involvement had a significant unique influence on children’s school readiness while controlling for child’s gender and monthly household income. Controlling for child’s gender, and family income, authoritative parenting moderated the effects of school-based involvement and home-school conferencing on children’s school readiness skills. Specifically, the effects of school-based involvement and home-school conferencing were enhanced in the context of high authoritative parenting style. In contrast, the effects of school-based involvement and home-school conferencing were decreased in the context of low authoritative parenting style.

Bourdieu, the French sociologist, proposed some significant concepts (e.g., habitus, capital and field) to help to explain how social agents play roles in social occurrences. Among his theories, Bourdieu’s trilogy of economic capital, social capital and cultural capital has now been used as a powerful theoretical framework to explain class reproduction and education equity. Over the past decades, his theories have begun to be introduced and recognized in Chinese academic world. And this research attempts to see whether this western theory works in the Chinese educational context. Shanghai, one of the biggest cities in China, has a huge migrant population. Limited by the unique Chinese hukou system, the migrant population in Chinese big cities mostly faces a challenging situation to ensure their children’s local educational opportunities, especially during the compulsory education levels. However, the past research only focused on its disadvantaged subgroup, i. e. the migrant worker population while ignoring the vast diversity in their economic, social and cultural capitals among this general population. Therefore, this research, by means of a comparative multiple case study, aims to see how parents’ economic, social and cultural capitals help to win their children’s educational opportunities at elementary education level. Studying three typical migrant families with distinguishable strong, medium and weak capitals, the research finds the specific paths how the parents respectively use their economic, social and cultural capitals to obtain more educational opportunities for their children, and eventually produce the divide in educational outcomes, school segregation and social stratification. The research extends its discussion with characteristics of parent capitals, redefinitions of educational opportunities, and an unexpected minor theme about full-time mother. At the end of the dissertation, it can be concluded that Bourdieu’s trilogy of economic, social and cultural capital does work in Chinese educational context. And it indeed helps us to see more clearly what is happening in present China at a transitional age and calls for service and help to the disadvantaged migrant families in Chinese cities.

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The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the reading level of parents of students in special education and the readability level of special education documents/forms. A related purpose was to determine whether a difference between reading level and the readability of documents/forms was related to parental involvement. The sample consisted of 30 parents of students in special education who were enrolled at Mosheim Elementary School in 2002. Parents were tested using the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery: Part Two-Tests of Achievement, developed by Richard W. Woodcock and M. Bonner Johnson. Subtest 13, 14, and 15 were administered to parents. Subtest 13 is a Letter-Word Identification subtest, Subtest 14 is a Word Attack subtest, and Subtest 15 is a comprehension subtest. Parents were asked to complete a short survey that elicited information on education level, actual years of school completed, annual household income, work schedule, and household members. Parents were also asked five questions concerning their knowledge of their childÆs IEP. At the conclusion of the session, parents were interviewed concerning their feelings about attending IEP Team Meetings at the school. The findings from this study showed the average reading level of parents was at the 9.0 grade level. Special education documents/forms had readability levels that ranged from 9.9 to 12.0 grade levels. These scores showed parents were generally reading three grade levels lower than the reading level required to read the special education documents/forms. Parents also demonstrated a limited understanding of their childrenÆs IEP. Only 13.3% answered all five questions correctly and 26.7% answered four questions correctly. Sixty percent of the parents could only answer one, two, or three questions correctly. The study also showed that 93.3% of the parents surveyed attended their childÆs IEP Team Meeting at the school during the year. Only two of the 30 parents in the sample did not attend their childÆs IEP Team Meeting. The results highlight the difficulty that many parents have in reading the various forms used in special education, including the Individual Education Program for their child/children.

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding effective parental involvement with elementary students based on Epstein et al.'s (2009) 6 typologies of parental involvement. The population consisted of 77 teachers in a particular east Tennessee school district and the parents of 889 students enrolled in kindergarten through 6th grade. Parents and teachers were asked to indicate the effectiveness of 4 activities within each of the 6 parental involvement categories: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Parents and teachers were asked to rank each activity numerically with 1 indicating not effective and 5 indicating highly effective. A ranking of 2, 3, or 4 indicated an activity between not effective and highly effective. In a separate section, parents and teachers were asked to rank the 5 most important activities from a list of specific parental involvement activities. Findings indicated that parents and teachers in this study have some similar views and some differing views regarding effective parental involvement. Parents and teachers in this study shared similar perspectives by ranking the top 5 specific parental involvement activities from a list of 10 specific activities. Parents and teachers used a Likert scale to indicate the effectiveness of activities from Epstein et al.'s (2009) 6 typologies: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. The t-test indicated significant differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding effective parental involvement in 5 of the 6 typologies. ANOVA and post hoc analysis revealed significant differences among the parent population based on age, education level, gender, and race. No significant differences were identified among the teacher population based on the 4 demographic areas examined: age, education level, teaching experience, and gender. This study revealed that parents and teachers surveyed had some similar perceptions and some differing perceptions regarding effective parental involvement, but both groups identified communicating as the most important typology from Epstein et al.'s (2009) 6 major types of involvement.

This study examined the effects of the communication aspect of using an online grading program. This study explored teachers' perceptions of the implications of allowing the grading process to become transparent to parents. The purpose of this study was to assist teachers in searching for ways to create a positive parent-teacher relationship. A positive and constructive parent-teacher relationship is helpful to the student. If grades are made available to parents on a daily basis, they will have access to specifics about the academic performance of their child. Parents and teachers will be able to communicate with each other on a regular basis with the use of an online grading program. In-depth interviews of 10 middle school teachers were conducted using an interview guide. The interviews were then transcribed and coded by the researcher. The researcher found that teachers spoke positively regarding many of the features of Engrade, an online grade book. The teachers benefited from the convenience of communication with parents and students. The perceived primary result of Engrade is viewed as a positive by teachers because parents can communicate with the teachers about their children, and that, hopefully, allows them to be more involved in their child's academics. Further research opportunities are available in that the perceived implications of implementing an online grade book need to be evaluated from the perspective of parents and students.

Using Bourdieu's model of social and cultural reproduction, I examine student achievement and parental involvement levels across seven immigrant nationalities: Cambodian, Cuban, Filipino, Laotian, Mexican, Nicaraguan, and Vietnamese. I then analyze the relationships between five parental involvement types and GPA, while controlling for student, family, and school characteristics. Finally, I test for interaction effects to examine variations across groups. Results point to parent expectations as a strong predictor of student success, especially among Cubans, Filipinos, and Vietnamese, while other dimensions of parental involvement have little or no effect. Bourdieu's model may not be adequate among immigrant parents and their children who follow a pattern of dissonant acculturation.

A qualitative study was conducted investigating the perceptions of seven parents of high functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) regarding incidents of bullying in which the child was involved. Results of the study indicated that all of the children had been bullied at one time or another, and that the majority had difficulty in demonstrating appropriate social skills. The parents viewed supportive peers to be a positive factor, fostering the children's satisfactory social adjustment. Parent interventions for their child included social skills instruction and empathy training. Research implications for educators included the need to establish systemic organized school-wide support to benefit all students. Findings substantiated previous literature in regard to the importance of positive social skills, social support, and parent support for promoting children's resiliency and social growth when faced with bullying. In the current study results were reflective of proactive parents' involvement as advocates for their child. A high level of parental involvement paired with supportive school personnel created an ideal partnership between home and school in developing and implementing both proactive strategies and interventions that supported adolescents with ASD.

A review of research on family economic distress and its association with teen well-being shows a clear need to expand our knowledge about the connections between economic distress and key teen outcomes. Economic distress can act as an unexpected negative shock to the family system and can influence parent relationship quality, functioning, and involvement in children's lives. In turn, changes in systemic quality, functioning, and involvement can impact adolescents positively or negatively. Using observational coding and questionnaire self-report, this study examined the relationship between economic distress and negative marital interaction and the impact this has on parental involvement as a predictor of child school engagement while controlling for gender of the child. A structural equation model analysis was fit to data from 323 two-parent families. The average age of children for the study was 14.31 years of age. Results showed that economic distress is associated with marital relationship interactions, as well as parental involvement, which also impacts school engagement. Therapists should be mindful of and address current economic distress which their clients are experiencing and be aware of the possible associations with all parts of the family system. Possible interventions in the parent-couple system and increasing both mother and father involvement are suggested.