Teacher Beliefs about Parent Involvement, Parent Efficacy, and Child Behavioral Outcomes

Laura C. Mullaney, MA Kathleen A. Gill-Hraban, MASusan M. Sheridan, PhD Carrie A. Blevins, MA

University of Nebraska – Lincoln

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools (CYFS; http://cyfs.unl.edu)

The project is funded by the Institute of Educational Sciences Grant Award Number: R305F050284

Parent Involvement

“Any of a variety of activities that allow parents to participate in the educational process at home or in school, such as information exchange, decision sharing, volunteer services for schools, home tutoring/teaching, and child advocacy” (Chavkin & Williams, 1995)

Parent Involvement

Parent involvement has been shown to predict: Educational outcomes (e.g., improved

achievement, lower dropout rates) Positive behavioral outcomes (e.g.,

decreased aggression) Positive social outcomes (e.g., increased

positive peer interactions)(Gutman & Midgley, 2000; Izzo et al., 1999; Senechal & LeFevre, 2002; Brody et al,, 1999)

Teacher Beliefs about Parent Involvement When teachers make parent involvement

a part of their regular teaching practice, parents: Increase their interactions with their children at

home Feel more positive about their ability to help

their children in school Report the teachers as being better teachers

(Epstein & Dauber, 1991)

Parent Efficacy

A parent’s belief that they are capable of exacting a positive influence on their child’s school outcomes (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 1992)

Parents may experience increased efficacy for helping their children learn when teachers offer specific suggestions for involvement (Hoover-Dempsey, Bassler, & Brissie, 1992)

Teacher Perceptions of Parent Efficacy Teachers who believe that parents are

capable of contributing to their children’s educational success are more likely to encourage parent involvement

Teachers who invite parents’ involvement tend to report high levels of support from parents, and tend to be perceived by parents as better teachers (Hoover-Dempsey et al, 2002)

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) Structured, indirect model of service delivery Parents and teachers:

Are joined collaboratively to address the needs and concerns of a child with the assistance of a consultant

Work toward establishing shared ownership Set mutual goals Make joint decisions, and Help articulate each other’s roles and

responsibilities(Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008)

CBC

Specific focus is to support positive child outcomes by: Strengthening family-school partnerships, and Promoting parent engagement within a developmental and

culturally sensitive context Shown to promote positive academic,

socioemotional, and behavioral outcomes for children

CBC is one service delivery approach with the goal of strengthening family involvement with children’s academics

(Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008)

Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between CBC and child behavioral outcomes?

2. Is the relationship between CBC and child outcomes moderated by

a) teacher beliefs about parent involvement or

b) teacher perceptions of parent efficacy

Child BehavioralOutcomes

Teacher Beliefs/Perceptions

1CBC

2

Participants

Conducted as part of large scale randomized clinical trial investigating efficacy of CBC

80 Teachers 187 students (K-3rd grade) and their parents Public and parochial schools in moderately

sized Midwest city and surrounding communities

Participant DemographicsTeacher Parent Child

Age

Mean 35 6.6

SD 7.5 1.14

Gender

Male 3% 11% 77%

Female 97% 89% 23%

Ethnicity

White 100% 86% 75%

Other 0% 14% 25%

Meet 2008 HHS Poverty Criteria 26%

Education

Less than College Degree 30% 57%

College Degree 64% 36%

Advanced Degree 6% 7%

Measures

Teacher beliefs and perceptions: Teacher Beliefs about Parent Involvement (Hoover-

Dempsey et al., 2002); 8 items rated on 6-point scale Teacher Perceptions of Parent Efficacy for Helping

Children Succeed in School (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 1992); 7 items rated on 6-point scale

For more information on these scales visit: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peabody/family-school/index.html

Collected along with demographic information at beginning of school year

Measures

Child Behavior: Behavior Assessment Scale for Children-Second

Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004); Teachers rate the frequency of Externalizing and Adaptive Behaviors; 4-point scale; T-scores (M=50; SD=10)

Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990): Teachers rate the frequency of the child’s social skills; 3-point scale; Standard Scores (M=100; SD=15)

Procedures

Students identified by teachers as being disruptive

Classrooms randomly assigned to 1) control condition, or 2) CBC condition

Students in control condition received traditional school support

CBC conducted in small group format

Procedures

CBC intervention: Trained graduate students met with teacher and 2 to 3

parents for about 8 weeks Consisted of 3 phases:

Needs Identification and Needs Analysis Intervention Development and Implementation Intervention Evaluation

Behavioral interventions consisted of 3 components: Communication component Motivation component Functional component

Data Analyses

Hierarchical Linear Modeling Addressed nested structure of data (children

nested within teachers and nested within time) To test effect of CBC on child behavioral

outcomes, slope difference between pre- and post-test was compared by condition

To test moderation, interaction between CBC and teacher beliefs/perceptions was examined

Results

1. What is the relationship between CBC and child behavioral outcomes?

Significant slope differences between CBC and control groups found for:

Social skills between CBC and control groups (p=.014) Adaptive skills between CBC and control groups (p=.046)

Marginally significant difference for externalizing behaviors between CBC and control groups (p=.061)

ResultsAdaptive Skills Social Skills

ResultsExternalizing Behaviors

Results: Parent Involvement

2. Is the relationship between CBC and child outcomes moderated by teacher beliefs about parent involvement? Teacher beliefs about parent involvement moderate the

relationship between CBC/control and adaptive skills The slope for children who have received CBC is

significantly greater when teacher beliefs about the importance of parent involvement are high

Results: Parent Efficacy

2. Is the relationship between CBC and child outcomes moderated by teacher perceptions of parent efficacy? Teacher perceptions of parent efficacy moderate the

relationship between CBC/control and adaptive skills The slope for children who have received CBC is

significantly greater when teacher perceptions of parent efficacy are high

Discussion

CBC results in a significant positive change in children’s social skills and adaptive skills, as well as a marginally significant decrease in children’s externalizing behaviors

Supports previous research showing positive outcomes for CBC

Discussion

Initial teacher beliefs about parent involvement in school seem to positively influence the relationship between CBC and change in children’s adaptive skills Children show the greatest improvement in their

adaptive skills when their teachers begin CBC with the belief that parent involvement in education is important

The effect of CBC was bolstered when teacher beliefs were high

Discussion

Initial teacher perceptions of parental efficacy for helping their child in school also seems to positively influence the relationship between CBC and children’s adaptive skills Children show the greatest improvement in their

adaptive skills when their teachers begin CBC with strong perceptions that parents are able to help their child succeed in school

The effect of CBC was bolstered when teacher perceptions were high

Implications

These results suggest the importance of continuing to educate teachers not only on the importance of getting parents involved in their children’s education, but also educating teachers on the notion that parents are in fact able to help their children do well in school

Such results also highlight the importance of using a strength-based approach to problem solving by identifying the strengths of the parent and the teacher, in addition to strengths of the child

Limitations

Select sample – teachers willing to be involved in CBC likely do so because they already believe parents involvement is important

Teachers’ beliefs and perceptions are self-reported Social desirability may have influenced teacher

responses to parent involvement/parent efficacy items Both the parent involvement and the parent efficacy

measures are global measures –they are not specific to what is being tapped by CBC

Future Research

Future research should examine how teachers’ beliefs and perceptions influence their invitations for parent involvement

Research is needed that examines the effect of interventions that are designed to significantly alter teachers’ beliefs and perceptions about parent involvement and parent efficacy

Contact Information

Susan M. Sheridan: ssheridan2@unl.edu Laura Mullaney: lauramullaney@yahoo.com Katie Gill-Hraban: katiegill33@hotmail.com

ReferencesBrody, G. H., Flor, D. L. & Gibson, N. M. (1999). Linking maternal efficacy

beliefs, developmental goals, parenting practices, and child competence in rural single-parent African American families. Child Development, 70, 1197-1208.

Chavkin, N. F. & Williams, D. L. (1989) Low-income parents' attitudes toward parent involvement in education. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 16, 17-28.

Comer, J. P. & Haynes, N. M. (1991) Parent involvement in schools: An ecological approach. The Elementary School Journal, 91, 271-277.

Epstein, J. L., & Dauber, S. L. (1991). School programs and teacher practices of parent involvement in inner-city elementary and middle schools. The Elementary School Journal, 91, 289-305.

Gutman, L. M., & Midgley, C. (2000). The role of protective factors in supporting the academic achievement of poor African American students during the middle school transition. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 223-248.

Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Bassler, O. C., & Brissie, J. S. (1992). Explorations in parent-school relations. Journal of Educational Research, 85(5), 287-294.

References Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. (1995). Parental involvement in

children’s education: Why does it make a difference? Teachers College Record, 97(2), 310-331.

Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Walker, J. M. T., Jones, K. P., & Reed, R. P. (2002). Teachers Involving Parents (TIP): An in-service teacher education program for enhancing parental involvement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 1-25.

Izzo, C. V., Weissberg, R. P., Kasprow, W., J., & Fendrich, M. (1999). A longitudinal assessment of teacher perceptions of parent involvement in children's education and school performance. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 817-839.

Sénéchal, M. & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73, 445-460.

Sheridan, S. M., & Kratochwill, T. R. (2008). Conjoint behavioral consultation: Promoting family-school connections and interventions. New York: Springer.