Parental Involvement in K-12 Education

A majority of students had parents who attended a school meeting, a parent-teacher conference, or a school event in 2016, according to new data from the National Household Education Survey (NHES). The National Center for Education Statistics released a new First Look report today (September 26), entitled Parent and Family Involvement in Education: Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016. The Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016 collected data on children enrolled in public or private school for kindergarten through 12th grade or homeschooled for these grades. The survey gathered information about various aspects of parent involvement in education, such as help with homework, family activities, and parent involvement at school. For homeschooled students, the survey asks questions related to students’ homeschooling experiences, the sources of the curriculum, and the reasons for homeschooling. Among the findings: • In 2016, 89 percent of students had parents who reported attending a school or parent-teacher organization/association meeting. This was the most common school-related activity in which parents reported participating, higher than attending a school or class event (79 percent); attending a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference (78 percent); participating in school fundraising (59 percent); and volunteering or serving on a school committee (43 percent); • About 83 percent of students in grades K-2 had parents who felt that the amount of homework their child is assigned is “about right.” This was significantly higher than the percentage for students in grades 3-5 (75 percent), grades 6-8 (73 percent), and grades 9 -12 (70 percent); • Overall, about 3 percent of students, ages 5 through 17, were reported as being homeschooled, representing 1.7 million homeschooled students in 2016.