Open research questions in Parental Involvement in Education

What the literature leaves open

• In light of the limited research on intergenerational family studies with school support (Farrell 2025), and focusing on the voices of parents and grandparents, this study highlighted the catalytic role of ECE in fostering meaningful IGL experiences.

  Cultivating Family Intergenerational Encounters Through a Family–School Project on Cultural Heritage: Adults’ Voices · 2026 · DOI

• Although studies on ECEs’ stress and job satisfaction exist (Viernickel & Weßels, 2020), no studies have yet been conducted specifically with regard to the extent to which ECEs perceive the interactions with parents as challenging and dissonant.

  Dissonance in Interactions with Parents: A Qualitative Study on Vulnerability and Trust and Implications for the Professional Development of Early Childhood Educators · 2026 · DOI

• The limited understanding of the moderating role of age in the relationship between perceived teacher homework involvement and homework completion.

  The role of expectancy and value in the relationship between perceived teacher homework involvement and homework completion · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of understanding of how different types of parental support affect adolescents' academic development. The need to identify the type of parental support that is beneficial for adolescents' mathematical achievement.

  Which parental support may help: divergent associations of content and autonomy support with adolescents’ exam-based mathematical achievement change · 2026 · DOI

• In addition, little is known about how parent and teacher/school collaboration can be supported or how middle-grades students specifically benefit from effective home–school partnerships, particularly from the perspectives of multiple groups within the school community.

  A Scoping Literature Review on Parent Interactions with Teachers and School Environments at the Middle Level · 2024 · DOI

• Future research should investigate how this approach can support changes in child outcomes, including interest in STEM, ability to engage in science inquiry, and language skills.

  Powering Up Preschool Science: A Home–School–Community Partnership to Support Science Learning with a Focus on Emergent Multilingual Learners · 2024 · DOI

• Future research might address this by testing hypotheses associated with the integrative model using multiple datasets.

  Understanding Working Memory and Mathematics Development in Ethnically/Racially Minoritized Children through an Integrative Theory Lens · 2024 · DOI

• The observed interaction with caregiver gender additionally suggests that gender-related differences may warrant consideration in future models of family involvement, although the present data are insufficient to establish distinct gender-specific mechanisms.

  Parental Emotion Regulation, Psychological Distress, and Family Involvement in Education Among Chilean Caregivers: An Observed-Variable Analysis · 2026 · DOI

• The study did not suggest future research directions. No future research directions were stated.

  Which parental support may help: divergent associations of content and autonomy support with adolescents’ exam-based mathematical achievement change · 2026 · DOI

• Notably, this is the first review to conduct a meta-analysis across connectedness, belonging, or engagement school-based interventions research, addressing a significant gap in the literature.

  Interventions to Improve Connectedness, Belonging, and Engagement in Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis · 2025 · DOI

• Yet, findings in this area are limited by the lack of inclusive participant samples, specifically concerning the intersectionality of parental role and race.

  Parental involvement in school: Black fathers, seen and unseen · 2025 · DOI

• Yet most existing evidence comes from Western contexts, and little is known about whether these mechanisms operate similarly in East Asian societies?

  The impact of concerted cultivation on academic achievement among Chinese junior high school students · 2026 · DOI

• Despite these insights, comparative studies examining the influence of parental expectations across different family structures remain scarce.

  A Study on the Differences in Parental Educational Expectations and Adolescents’ Academic and Psychological Development: A Comparative Analysis of Only Children and Non-Only Children · 2025 · DOI

• This timing effect warrants further investigation using other cohorts and designs.

  No evidence of parental mental health influencing children’s academic achievement: a within-family study · 2026 · DOI

• Future studies can investigate the causal relationships between the variables using experimental designs. Future studies can explore the relationships between learning discipline, student independence, parental attention, and mathematics achievement in different contexts and populations.

  Evaluating the individual and combined effects of learning discipline, student independence, and parental attention on mathematics achievement among Indonesian Grade XI science students · 2026 · DOI

• The study revealed that parent education is necessary for parents to have sufficient knowledge about family involvement. In this context, it can be suggested that school administrators should encourage teachers to organize parent meetings regularly and at a level appropriate for parents.

  Family participation in emergency distance learning: A multiple case study on sixth-grade students, parents, and teachers · 2026 · DOI

• In part because of the lack of data and support for student socio-emotional and psychological needs, Gharti (2023) reported that teachers felt online teaching was less learner-friendly than face-to-face teaching.

  Learning online in schools after COVID: a systematic review of research aligned to the science of learning and development · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need for further research on the negative consequences of dysfunctional family dynamics on children and adolescents. The study highlights the importance of understanding the interplay between home environment and school outcomes.

  From Home to Classroom: A literature study on the impact of dysfunctional families on child's mental health. · 2026 · DOI

• The study highlights the challenge of ensuring that programs are implemented with fidelity while also adapting to local contexts and communities. The study emphasizes the need for ongoing support and guidance for educators and communities who must make adaptations when implementing new programs.

  Exploring the local adaptation of a multimedia program for families with young children · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on program adaptations and limited guidance for educators and communities who must make adaptations when implementing new programs. There is limited research on how programs are adapted by educators and organizations in different contexts, especially for informal and family-based programs.

  Exploring the local adaptation of a multimedia program for families with young children · 2026 · DOI

• ⒊ Teacher education institutions may integrate inclusive education strategies more deeply into pre-service and in-service training, emphasizing the simultaneous application of adaptive instructional practices. ⒋ Educational policymakers may consider developing policies that support sustained funding for inclusive education programs and promote structured parent-teacher collaboration mechanisms.

  Parental assessment of SPED teachers’ practices in content adjustment and instructional support for learners with special educational needs · 2026 · DOI

• This study’s focus on fifth-grade students in a specific educational context limits its generalizability.

  Young Learners’ Perceptions of How Their Teachers, Peers, and Parents Impact Their EFL Motivation and Task Engagement: A SEM Study · 2025 · DOI

• The views of the parents participating in the study revealed that they generally viewed family participation as limited to their children's academic success and that, although they considered family participation important, they did not fully understand how to be involved in this process.

  Family participation in emergency distance learning: A multiple case study on sixth-grade students, parents, and teachers · 2026 · DOI

• Thirdly, in this study, we only measured and analyzed the parent–child relationship, lacking attention to the influences of other family members or the family environment; therefore, it is recommended that future research should consider a broader range of family contexts, including all family members’ relationship systems, the family’s economic situation, parents’ education level, and familial perceptions…

  The Effects of Parental Food Education on Children’s Food Literacy: The Mediating Role of Parent–Child Relationship and Learning Motivation · 2024 · DOI

• Importantly, this current study bridges a gap in the literature by simultaneously examining whether both fixed and growth mindsets, along with homework effort, mediate the link between the effects of teacher and parent autonomy support on student achievement within a single, integrated model.

  Autonomy Support and Achievement: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Homework Mindsets and Effort · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Parental Involvement in Education

• Parental Involvement and Students' Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis · Educational Psychology Review · 2001 · 1,762 citations
• Impact of Parenting Practices on Adolescent Achievement: Authoritative Parenting, School Involvement, and Encouragement to Succeed · Child Development · 1992 · 1,675 citations
• The Influence of Parent Education and Family Income on Child Achievement: The Indirect Role of Parental Expectations and the Home Environment. · Journal of Family Psychology · 2005 · 1,591 citations
• Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. · Developmental Psychology · 2009 · 1,340 citations
• Student engagement with school: Critical conceptual and methodological issues of the construct · Psychology in the Schools · 2008 · 1,267 citations
• A Meta-analytic Review of Components Associated with Parent Training Program Effectiveness · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · 2008 · 1,232 citations
• Parents' Involvement in Children's Schooling: A Multidimensional Conceptualization and Motivational Model · Child Development · 1994 · 1,224 citations
• Why Do Parents Become Involved in Their Children’s Education? · Review of Educational Research · 1997 · 1,133 citations
• Relationships Matter: Linking Teacher Support to Student Engagement and Achievement · Journal of School Health · 2004 · 1,057 citations
• The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Urban Secondary School Student Academic Achievement · Urban Education · 2006 · 985 citations

Most recent work

• Part I: Can School‐Based Delivery of an Evidence‐Based Parenting Program Promote the Home‐School Partnership? A Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial · Family Process · 2026
• Factors influencing secondary students’ mathematics homework effort and academic achievement: A Social Cognitive Theory perspective · Contemporary Educational Psychology · 2026
• Using an African Indigenous Knowledge lens to explore Sub-Saharan African immigrant parents’ perspectives and experiences of their children’s mathematics learning · Educational Studies in Mathematics · 2026
• “Connecting the dots”: a social network study of inter-organizational partnerships for designing equity-centered principal preparation programs · Journal of Educational Administration · 2026
• Caregiver experiences with special education in Massachusetts: Evidence of broken promises? · Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs · 2026
• Investigating the Latent Factors of Parental and Bilingual Student Perceptions of Learning Environment: Evidence From Two Large-Scale Surveys · Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences · 2026
• Bridging home, school and community to address educational inequality: Supporting educational trajectories through community bridge work · British Educational Research Journal · 2026
• School and its educational value: the role of parental influences in shaping adolescents’ values, academic beliefs, and expectations · Social Psychology of Education · 2026
• Exploring the Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Family Education Choice: Evidence From China · New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development · 2026
• Practices That Support Enriching Interactions Between Young Children and Older Adults in a Co-Located Intergenerational Program · Journal of Intergenerational Relationships · 2026

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