participated in their child's education, report researchers in a recent study in

the Journal of Educational Psychology. The real driving force in

parental involvement are interpersonal relationships with children and teachers,

the study concludes.

"Given that home- and school-based involvement relied heavily on specific

invitations from teachers and children, parental involvement programs might

consider emphasizing in-service teacher training for parental involvement and

initiatives to increase parents' school related interactions with children at

home," the authors write.

The study of responses from 853 parents of children from grades 1-6 did not

find that SES was a factor in parental involvement, although they acknowledge

that it has been identified as a factor in previous research and should continue

to be investigated in the future. The study considered both school-based and

home-based parental involvement.

The researchers found that parental involvement decreased as children grew

older. Yet at all ages, specific invitations from the child and from the teacher

were vital. General invitations from the school are unlikely to have the same

effect, they write.

The study tested the authors' own model of three major sources of motivation

for involvement: parents' perceptions of invitations to involvement, life

context (time, energy, knowledge and motivational beliefs (self-efficacy and

their perceived roles).

"Parents' motivations for involvement in children's education: An

empirical test of a theoretical model of parental involvement," Christa Green,

Joan Walker, et al., Journal of Educational Psychology, 2007 Aug Vol 99(3)

532-544.