oa Ouderbetrokkenheid van ouders met een kind in het eerste jaar vmbo

Parental involvement in the first year of secondary education. Parent beliefs on their roles, expectations, efficacy, wishes and behavior at the start and at the end of the school year

When schools want to strengthen parental involvement it is important to know more about the aspects influencing this. The current study explores whether the views, efficacy, wishes and expectations from parents can affect parental involvement. Understanding the decision of parents whether or not to become involved in the learning of their child and school is essential for schools in developing and improving their policies with regard to parental involvement. The ultimate goal is to strengthen educational success in students. The current study measured the parental role construction, efficacy, time and energy, the perception of invitations, and parental involvement at the beginning of the first year in secondary school (N = 201) and in the end of that school year (N = 52). The questionnaire was largely based on the empirically tested model by Hoover-Dempsey (2005). It is expected that whether or not parents decide to play an active role in the education of their child (both at home and at school) is related to the perceived role of parents, and the extent to which they score high on efficacy. Available time and energy is seen as a mediating variable. Items from the scales used by Hoover-Dempsey were translated into Dutch and were found to be reliable and usable to measure the constructs in the Dutch context. Perceived role and the degree to which parents consider themselves competent were positively related to parental involvement. Parents who were more likely to help their child with education were more involved in school, an important predictor of school success. The extent to which parents thought it was important to cooperate with the school was also positively related to parental involvement. The intermediating role of available time and energy of parents, as suggested in the model of Hoover-Dempsey, was not found in the current study.