Family-School Relations during Adolescence: Linking Interdisciplinary Research and Practice

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

The benefits of family involvement in children's education for academic and socioemotional development and mental health outcomes have been documented by psychologists, sociologists, economists and education scientists. Despite consistent evidence documenting the benefits of establishing productive family-school relationships, there are three pressing issues. First, the positive influence of parental involvement in education on academic achievement has been established in research based on elementary schools. Adolescence, a time of increased autonomy, is often associated with lower levels of parental involvement in education. However, research on middle and high school students shows that parental involvement not only maintains its association with increased academic achievement but also shows that adolescence is a critical period for parental involvement. Preliminary research suggests that, although some practices used during elementary school are applicable to middle and high school, middle and high schools may require a different type of involvement because of the complexity of curricular and school choices, the often obscured nature of tracking in middle and high schools, and the increased number of teachers. The field needs to identify appropriate strategies of parental involvement to maximize the effectiveness of programs and policies targeting parental involvement in education. Second, despite consistent evidence across disciplines of the benefits of parental involvement in education, there is a lack of communication across the disciplines and among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Operational definitions and measurement of parental involvement vary widely across disciplines. Communication across disciplines and between researchers and practitioners can broaden our theories and improve research and practice. Third, because the American school population is becoming increasingly diverse, there is a need to focus on how demographic factors influence parental involvement in education. To address these issues, this project will result in a 2-day interdisciplinary conference on parental involvement in education that will include researchers from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics, and education, as well as practitioners and policy makers. The goals of this conference are to broaden our theories of parental involvement to include developmentally appropriate and effective parental involvement strategies for adolescents, to converge research findings across disciplines to hone our research questions and set a research agenda, and to bridge research findings and effective practices. Research, practice, and policy agendas based on conference presentations will be published as an edited volume and as policy briefs. The synergy created by reaching across disciplines will result in new research questions and interdisciplinary collaborations that will improve research, policies, and practices to help schools and families from diverse backgrounds build productive relationships to promote academic development. The explicit focus on ethnic and socioeconomic diversity will assure that research collaborations, findings and practices are culturally sensitive and appropriate. This conference and the publications based on it will challenge researchers and practitioners to think beyond their disciplinary niches and challenge assumptions to the benefit of adolescents' academic development.