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##  Father Involvement in Schools. ERIC Digest.                                  

Until recently, fathers were the hidden parent in research on                   children's well-being. Their importance to children's financial                 well-being was widely accepted, but their contribution to other                 aspects of children's development was often assumed to be secondary             to that of mothers and was not usually examined. Reflecting this                bias in research on child development, many federal agencies, and               programs dealing with family issues, focused almost exclusively on              mothers and their children. In 1995, President Clinton issued a                 memorandum requesting that all executive departments and agencies               make a concerted effort to include fathers in their programs,                   policies, and research programs where appropriate and                           feasible (Clinton, 1995). Research stimulated by the new interest in            fathers suggests that fathers' involvement in their children's                  schools does make a difference in their children's education (Nord,             Brimhall, & West, 1997). 
This Digest looks at the extent to which             fathers are involved in their children's schools and the link                   between fathers' involvement and kindergartners' through                        12th-graders' school performance, using data from the 1996 National             Household Education Survey (NHES:96). 
1996 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD                 EDUCATION SURVEY 
The NHES:96 was sponsored by the National Center             for Education Statistics (NCES). The involvement of fathers in                  two-parent and in father-only families is presented and contrasted              with that of mothers in two-parent and in mother- only families.                Information related to the link between father involvement and                  student achievement is presented for children living in two-parent              and in father-only households. (The analyses are restricted to                  children living with biological, step, or adoptive fathers. Children            living with foster fathers are excluded.) 
The NHES:96 asked about             four types of school activities that parents could participate in               during the school year: attending a general school meeting,                     attending a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference, attending            a school or class event, and serving as a volunteer at the school.              Parents are said to have low involvement in their children's schools            if they have participated in none or only one of the four activities            during the current school year. They are categorized as having                  moderate involvement if they have participated in at least two of               the available activities. Those who have participated in three or               four of the activities are said to be highly involved in their                  children's schools. (Not all schools offer parents the opportunity              to be involved in each of these activities. Low involvement may be              due to failure to take advantage of available opportunities for                 involvement or because schools do not offer parents opportunities               for involvement.) THE EXTENT OF FATHER INVOLVEMENT

TWO-PARENT              FAMILIESThe proportion of children living in two-parent families            with highly involved fathers is about half of the proportion with               highly involved mothers--27% and 56%, respectively. In other words,             in two-parent families, children are twice as likely to have mothers            who are highly involved than to have fathers who are highly involved            in their children's schools. Nearly half of children in two-parent              families have fathers who participated in none or only one of the               four activities since the beginning of the school year. In contrast,            only 21% of children living in two-parent families have mothers with            such low participation in their schools. SINGLE-PARENT                        FAMILIESChildren living with single fathers or with single                  mothers are about equally likely to have parents who are highly                 involved in their schools--46% and 49%, respectively. Both fathers              and mothers who head single-parent families have levels of                      involvement in their children's schools that are quite similar to               mothers in two-parent families and are much higher than fathers in              two-parent families. TYPES OF INVOLVEMENTIn two-parent                    families, there are two activities for which fathers' involvement               approaches that of mothers: attendance at school or class                       events (such as a play, science fair, or sports event) and                      attendance at general school meetings. Fathers may find it easier to            attend these types of activities because they are more likely than              the other two to occur during nonschool and nonwork hours. Fathers              in father-only families are more likely than fathers in two-parent              families to participate in these and other activities, so work                  constraints are not the sole explanation for low involvement among              fathers in two-parent families. FATHER INVOLVEMENT AND STUDENT                ACHIEVEMENTPolicymakers and educators agree that family                     involvement in children's education is closely linked to children's             school success (U.S. Department of Education, 1994; Henderson &                 Berla, 1994). Many policymakers, school officials, and families,                however, often assume that family involvement means that mothers'               involvement in schools is important. This assumption has some basis             in fact in that mothers are more likely than fathers to be highly               involved in their children's schools, and the extent of their                   involvement is strongly related to children's school performance and            adjustment (Nord, Brimhall, & West, 1997). However, an important                question is, does fathers' involvement matter, as well? FATHER                PARTICIPATION IN TWO-PARENT FAMILIESHalf of students get mostly             A's and enjoy school, according to their parents, when their fathers            are highly involved in their schools compared to about one-third of             students when their fathers have low levels of involvement. Students            are also half as likely to have ever repeated a grade (7% vs. 15%)              and are significantly less likely to have ever been suspended or                expelled (10% vs. 18%) if their fathers have high as opposed to low             involvement in their schools. After taking into account such factors            as mothers' involvement, fathers' and mothers' education, household             income, and children's race/ethnicity, it was found that children               are still more likely to get A's, participate in extracurricular                activities, enjoy school, and are less likely to have ever repeated             a grade if their fathers are involved in their schools compared to              if they are not (Nord, Brimhall, & West, 1997). 
After taking into             account these other factors, it was found that mothers' involvement,            but not fathers' involvement, is associated with a reduced                      likelihood of 6th- through 12th-graders having ever been suspended              or expelled. FATHER-ONLY HOUSEHOLDSChildren living in                     single-parent households are, on average, less successful in school             and experience more behavior problems than children living in                   two-parent households (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). Most research on            single- parenthood focuses on children living with single mothers.              However, children living in father-only households also do less well            in school than children living in two-parent households. 
Results              also reveal that children in father-only households do better in                school, are more likely to participate in extracurricular                       activities, enjoy school more, and are less likely to have ever been            suspended or expelled if their fathers are highly involved in their             schools compared to if they have only low levels of involvement.                Nearly one-third of students get mostly A's when their fathers are              highly involved in their schools compared to 17% when their fathers             have low levels of involvement in their schools. Even more striking,            only 11% of 6th- through 12th-graders have ever been suspended or               expelled when their fathers have high levels of involvement in their            schools compared to 34% when their fathers have low levels of                   involvement in their schools. Although a similar pattern is observed            for grade repetition, the difference between children whose fathers             have high and low levels of involvement is not statistically                    significant. 
Even after controlling for such factors as fathers'              education, family income, and children's race/ethnicity, it was                 found that children do better in school and are less likely to have             ever been suspended or expelled if their fathers have high as                   opposed to low levels of involvement in their                                   schools. CONCLUSIONSThe observed patterns of fathers'                     involvement in their children's schools, linked to family structure,            are consistent with existing research (Cooksey & Fondell, 1996) and             with the notion that there is a division of labor in two-parent                 families, with mothers taking more responsibility for child-related             tasks, whereas in single-parent families the lone parent assumes the            responsibility. Fathers and mothers in two-parent families may be               operating under the mistaken assumption that fathers do not matter              as much as mothers when it comes to involvement in their children's             school. The results also support research showing that single                   fathers and mothers are more similar in their parenting behavior                than are mothers and fathers in two-parent families (Thomson,                   McLanahan, & Curtin, 1992). 
The low participation of fathers in               two-parent families offers schools an opportunity to increase                   overall parental involvement. By targeting fathers, schools may be              able to make greater gains in parental involvement than by targeting            mothers or parents, in general. This is not to say that schools                 should not continue to welcome mothers' involvement, but because                mothers already exhibit relatively high levels of participation in              their children's schools, there is less room to increase their                  involvement. 
The involvement of fathers in their children's                   schools is also important for children's achievement and behavior.              In two-parent households, fathers' involvement in their children's              schools has a distinct and independent influence on children's                  achievement over and above that of mothers. These findings show that            fathers can be a positive force in their children's education, and              that when they do get involved, their children are likely to do                 better in school. Unfortunately, many fathers are relatively                    uninvolved in their children's schools (Nord, Brimhall, & West,                 1997). These results should encourage fathers to become more                    involved in their children's schools and encourage schools to                   welcome fathers' involvement. -----ADAPTED FROM: NORD,                    CHRISTINE WINQUIST. (1998, APRIL). How involved are fathers in their            children's schools? AND Students do better when their fathers are               involved at school. (ISSUE BRIEFS NCES 98-120 & 98-121). Washington,            DC: U.S. Department of Education. REFERENCESClinton, W.                   J. (1995, June 16). SUPPORTING THE ROLE OF FATHERS IN FAMILIES.                 Memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies.                 Washington, DC. 
Cooksey, E. C., & Fondell, M. M. (1996). Spending             time with his kids: Effects of family structure on fathers' and                 children's lives. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY, 58(3),                    693-707. EJ 537 273. 
Henderson, A. T., & Berla, N. (Eds.). (1994).            A NEW GENERATION OF EVIDENCE: THE FAMILY IS CRITICAL TO STUDENT                 ACHIEVEMENT. Washington, DC: National Committee for Citizens in                 Education. ED 375 968. 
McLanahan, S., & Sandefur, G. (1994).                  GROWING UP WITH A SINGLE PARENT: WHAT HURTS, WHAT HELPS. Cambridge,             MA: Harvard University Press. ED 375 224. 
Nord, Christine                     Winquist, Brimhall, DeeAnn, & West, Jerry. (1997). FATHERS'                     INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR CHILDREN'S SCHOOLS (NCES 98-091). Washington,              DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education                 Statistics. ED 409 125. 
Thomson, E., McLanahan, S. S., & Curtin,              R. B. (1992). Family structure, gender, and parental socialization.             JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY, 54(2), 368-378. EJ 446                      994. 
U.S. Department of Education. (1994). STRONG FAMILIES, STRONG            SCHOOLS: BUILDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS FOR LEARNING. Washington,              DC: Author. ED 371 909. 
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This publication was funded by the            Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of              Education, under contract no. RR93002007. The opinions expressed in             this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of             OERI. ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely                   reproduced.                                                                  **Title:** Father Involvement in Schools. ERIC Digest.                                  **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); Reports---Research/Technical (143); **Descriptors:**  Academic Achievement, Elementary Secondary Education, Family                   Environment, Father Attitudes,  Fathers, Nuclear Family, One Parent             Family,  Parent Participation, Parent Role,  Parent School                      Relationship,  Parent Student Relationship, Performance Factors              **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests,  National Household Education Survey                           
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