Parental Roles in Students' Learning of Mathematics.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles parents play in students' learning of mathematics in the home setting and to examine the relationships between parental involvement and students' learning of mathematics. This study attempts to identify the kinds of parental roles which contribute to students' learning of mathematics. This study also attempts to provide empirical evidence of the relatl-L: involvement to students' mathematical achievement and attitude toward mathematics. Approximately 60% of the primary guardians of 220 middle school students returned a completed Parental Involvement Questionnaire (PIQ) which was designed to assess the parents' level of support in five roles as: (1) motivator; (2) resource provider; (3) monitor; (4) content adviser; and (5) learning counselor. Students with the most supportive parents demonstiated higher mathematics achievement and more positive attitudes towards mathematics than those students with the least supportive parents. Also, students whose parents did not return the PIQ demonstrated lower mathematics achievement and less positive attitudes towards mathematics than those students whose parents returned the PIQ. The measures relating to the roles of parents as motivators, resource providers, and monitors were found to be the most important in predicting students' mathematics achievement. (AIM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Parental Roles in Students' Learning of Mathematics Jinfa Cai University of Delaware John C. Moyer, Marquette University