Parent classroom involvement and the development of social capital: a reading program in East Vancouver

Abstract

Parents have the potential to play an important role in the development of social capital in their children’s classrooms. Both theoretical and empirical evidence suggest that parents’ classroom participation is directly linked to higher academic achievement and pro-social behaviour in the children. This study examines the influence that the in-class parent reading component of the Partners in Education (PIE) program had on parents and children. By evaluating teacher observations of parents who participated in the PIE program and their children over the 2005/2006 school year, the results of this study support the continued funding of this program (and of similar programs). Teachers reiterated fundamental parent, student and parent-student changes. For many students, the reading program enriched the social capital in their classroom as parents moved from being out-group to in-group classroom members, thereby positively influencing their level of support and also their confidence which, in turn, enabled students to improve their academic achievement and or sociability.