More parents are involved in their children's schools at the elementary than at the secondary school level. In part, this result occurs because teenagers often discourage their parents from coming to school. Parents of secondary students often are unsure how to help their children, and many high schools do not make parent involvement a high priority. But research shows a link between parent involvement in high school and future student success (Engle, 1989; Hickman, 1995-1996).
Engle (1989) indicates that students whose parents remained involved through high school were much more likely to complete college. These students were three times more likely to complete a bachelor's degree than children of parents who were not involved in high school. Parent involvement was defined as frequency of talking to teachers, parent interest in planning for post-high school activities, and parent monitoring of school work. More than 11,200 students were involved in the study. Twenty-seven percent of the students whose parents remained involved completed a bachelor's degree, compared to only 8 percent of those students whose parents were not very involved in high school.
For more information on parent involvement at the high school level, see the following resource:
