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The aims of the review are to investigate the impact of:

•  parental support (e.g. the provision of parenting skills training, advice and guidance for parents) on pupil achievement/engagement;
• family learning (i.e. as a Parent Governor, reading to children, encouragement and help with homework) on pupil achievement/engagement; and
• parents’ level of education, e.g. the impact of parents with universitylevel education on children’s achievement.

The main aim of the proposed project is to produce a comprehensive literature review of reliable research evidence on the relationship between parents/parenting and pupil achievement/engagement. The reviewattempts to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the main findings/conclusions of research that has investigated the relationship between parenting (in terms of parental support, family learning, parental involvement and parents’ level of education) and pupil achievement/engagement.
2. On what issues are the research findings in agreement? On what issues are the research findings Inconsistent? Where are the gaps in the current research evidence?
3. What elements of parental support, family learning, parental involvement and parents’ level of education impact positively on pupil achievement/engagement? Does the effectiveness of these elements change according to: (a) pupil age; (b) the gender of pupils; (c) whether parents participate on a voluntary – rather than required – basis; (d) socio-economic group; and (e) the way in which schools interact with parents?
4. What strategies/interventions have been successfully used (nationally and internationally – especially in the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA) to enable parental support, family learning, parental involvement and parents’ level of education to have a positive impact on pupil achievement/engagement? To what extent can these strategies/interventions be successfully implemented in
   present-day England?
5.  To what extent can those strategies/interventions, which effectively enable parental support, family learning and parental involvement to have a positive impact on pupil achievement, be deliberately targeted to address the achievement gap – particularly towards hard-to-reach parents?
6. To what extent does the timing of interventions impact positively or negatively? For example, what is the evidence for/against intervention from birth? What evidence is there that later interventions (e.g. at KS1, 2 or 3) have equal/lesser/greater impact?

This presentation is based on a study that examined the factors that motivate or constrain the involvement parents’ involvement in their child’s education. Munroe employed qualitative and quantitative research methods including “(i) non-participant and participant observations of PTA meetings, parent-conferences, and classrooms; (ii) questionnaires administered to parents and teachers; (iii) focus-group discussions with parents and with teachers; and (iv) semi-structured interviews with other key informants” (Munroe, 2009, p. 11). The findings indicate that though parents want to be involved in their child’s education, both at home and school, involvement varied from low to moderate. This has been attributed to: “(a) strong parental role construction; (b) weak perceived sense of parent efficacy; and (c) moderate perception of invitation from others which is attributed to frequent general invitation from the school and infrequent specific invitation from the teacher” (Munroe, 2009, p. 12 ).  She also noted “the study found that an invitation from others, especially teachers, can positively influence parental involvement, provided that the invitation and opportunities for involvement are mindful of the life context of the parent and the learning needs of the child” (Munroe, 2009, p. 13). Munroe identified several types of interventions to raise parental involvement and recommendations for policy makers, school administrators and teachers colleges to change the parenting involvement landscape and harness the real interests of parents in assisting their children to succeed.

This paper discusses the concerns raised by the long summer vaction, the research concerning summer learning loss and the solutions that have been applied to tackle the problem.

This handbook was developed by the Education System Change Project, which aimed to help schools "create opportunities for meaningful parental involvement in the education of all children". The strategies and examples presented in this document relates to parenting, home school communication, volunteering, decision making and collaborating with the community.

At the end of each chapter, the benefits for students, parents and teachers are presented and school self assessment checklist is available. The appendix includes Inventory of Present Practices of School - Family - Community Partnerships.