Influence of Parental Educative Role and Parental Sense of Competence on the Involvement of Parents in their Child’s School Cursus

Through the findings from the analysis of the 139 parents’ and children’s answers attending the 3rd year (theoretically aged 8) of fundamental education in Luxembourg at the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler survey (1995, 1997), it seems relevant to highlight the influence of parental educative role and the parental sense of competence within the process of parents’ decision making involved in their children’s school process Our data show that the parents’ sense of competence and their perception of their educative role seem to be a key element within the process and an "in-between element" in connection to the parents’ school past (mainly regarding the school performance) and the children’s variables including their academic performance. We also conclude that parental sense of competence and parental educative role are two components influenced by the social and cultural background of families.