Co-Principal Investigators: Lambert, Matthew; Huscroft D'Angelo, Jacqueline; Trout, Alexandra

Purpose: The goal of this project is to better understand associations between parental involvement and education outcomes for high school students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD). As a group, youth with EBD experience high rates of dropout and juvenile arrest, and poorer academic performance when compared to youth without disabilities and those in other disability groups. While it has been widely documented that parental involvement plays an important role in the education outcomes of younger children, there is limited research on the types of parental involvement activities that are key to improving education outcomes among high school youth, including those with EBD. The current project will address this gap by using data from a nationally representative dataset to explore relationships between parental involvement and proximal and distal education outcomes for students with and without risk for EBD.

Project Activities: Researchers will conduct secondary data analyses of a nationally representative dataset, the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:2009) to explore the role of parental involvement in predicting proximal and distal education outcomes for high school students at risk for EBD compared to those in the general population. Researchers will also explore the potential mediating or moderating role of students' school engagement on relations between parental involvement and student outcomes.

Products: The products of the project will include preliminary evidence of associations between parental involvement and high school students' education outcomes as well as factors that mediate or moderate these associations. This project will result in peer-reviewed publications and presentations as well as additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The project will use data from the HSLS:2009, a nationally representative, longitudinal study.

Sample: HSLS:2009 data were collected from high school students and their parents, beginning in 2009 when students were in ninth grade and continuing in 2012, 2013, and 2016. Data from 12,692 students and their parents will be used for the current study. Of these students, 2,010 are identified as at risk for EBD based on parents' reports of their behavior.

Malleable Factors: The malleable factor under investigation is parental involvement.

Research Design and Methods: Researchers will conduct secondary data analyses to address three primary research aims. First, they will examine the role of parental involvement in predicting education outcomes (grades, math performance) for ninth grade students in the general population and students at risk for EBD. Second, they will investigate whether parental involvement in ninth grade differentially predicts longer-term outcomes (such as graduation status and enrollment in college or entrance into the workforce upon completion of high school) for students at risk compared to those in the general population. Third, the researchers will explore the potential mediating or moderating role of students' school engagement.

Control Condition: Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control condition. However, for some analyses, models of parental involvement for learners at risk for EBD will be compared to parental involvement for students in the general population who are not at risk for EBD, including those who have another disability.

Key Measures: Six domains of parental involvement—school-parent communication, attending school activities, activities at home, homework help, parent-child communication, and parental aspirations—were measured in the original study through a parent questionnaire. Education outcomes were assessed with students' performance on a math assessment, grades from transcripts, graduation status, and post-secondary enrollment/employment status. Researchers will also include variables representing potential covariates, such as socio-economic status and other demographic characteristics, and students' self-reported engagement in school (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement) as mediators or moderators.

Data Analytic Strategy: The research team will use structural equation modeling (SEM) to develop measurement models to explore the nature of parental involvement constructs. SEM will also be used to examine relationships between parental involvement and education outcomes, how these relationships differ for students with and without risk for EBD, and the role of student engagement as a mediator or moderator of these relationships.