Role of Parental Involvement in their Children Academic Achievement: A Comparative Qualitative Study of Public and Private Elementary Schools

Abstract

This qualitative research study compared the role of parental involvement in the academic achievement of public and private elementary school students. The purpose of this research was to understand how parental involvement affected the academic achievement of students, what dimensions contributed in parental involvement and how these dimensions contributed in students’ academic achievement from the perspectives of teachers and parents. The population of the study consisted of all private and public schools of district Gujrat. Convenient sampling technique was used for data collection. One public and one private school were selected, four teachers of each public and private school were selected and seven parents of students of these two schools were also selected for data collection. Two semi-structured interviews were prepared and validated through experts’ opinion and then used as an instrument of the study for teachers and parents. The data obtained from these interviews were recorded and analyzed. Findings of the perspectives of teachers and parents indicated that in all dimensions i.e. parenting, communicating, volunteering, and learning at home the parents of private school students were more involved than the parents of public-school students. Furthermore, the private schools had a better system of communication, parent-teacher meetings and involvement of parents. It was recommended that public school parents should ensure communication through mobile or face to face meeting with the teachers to enhance the academic achievement of their children.