Measuring Parents’ Involvement in Children’s Education

The goal of this chapter is to direct attention toward the issues in measuring parents’ involvement in children’s education. We review the major assessment approaches used to date, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. This is followed by suggestions for enhancing the measurement of parents’ involvement along three key lines. First, we make the case that more attention be given to ensuring the convergent and discriminant validity of the time and cost-efficient retrospective approach in which parents, children, or teachers report on parents’ typical involvement. Second, we outline how daily and observational approaches may be used to address important conceptual and practical questions that have not been answered. Third, we suggest assessing how parents navigate bridges, such as parent–teacher conferences, created by schools to foster parents’ involvement.