The relationship between parental involvement and adequate yearly progress among urban, suburban, and rural schools

Using national data from the 2007-08 School and Staffing Survey, we compared the relationships between parental involvement and school outcomes related to adequate yearly progress (AYP) in urban, suburban, and rural schools. Parent-initiated parental involvement demonstrated significantly positive relationships with both making AYP and staying off the category of schools in need of mandatory improvement across urban, suburban, and rural schools, whereas school-initiated parental involvement demonstrated significantly negative relationships with both outcomes across urban and suburban schools. We tested school website as a way of communication with parents. Frequency of updates of school website was significantly positive across both outcomes but for urban schools only. We also tested school support for involvement of parents with limited English proficiency (LEP). Provision of translators to parents with LEP was not statistically significant. Provision of translated materials to parents with LEP was significantly positive only on making AYP only for urban schools.