Relationships among perceptions of parent involvement, time allocation, and demographic characteristics: Implication for policy formation

Variables that facilitate or hinder parent involvement (PI) in education and schools were explored, along with the amounts of time parents spent in various activities. A total of 506 participants from San Diego and Imperial Counties completed the first part of the study (1) designed to assess parents' beliefs about involvement with their child's school and education. Of these same participants, 357 self‐selected parents also chose to complete a second part of the study (2) that assessed the amount of time parents spend in education‐related activities. Factor analysis of the 506 participant responses revealed four school perception factors related to parent attitudes: (a) communication, (b) familiarity, (c) sensitivity, and (d) support. Factor analysis of the 357 participant responses to the time factors also revealed four involvement areas: (a) general school issues, (b) specific school issues, (c) extracurricular school activities, and (d) specific help. Significant relationships were found among three of the attitudinal factors (sensitivity, familiarity, and support) and various time factors, including total involvement time, general issues, specific problems, and extracurricular issues. Further, significant differences among means were found for both the school perception factors and the time factors based on ethnic background, income, and marital status. Recommendations for increasing parent involvement and formulating public policy are discussed.