Middle school teacher perspectives of parental involvement during middle school

Developmentally appropriate practices of parental involvement during the middle school years are positively related to emotional well-being and academic achievement outcomes in middle school students (Boonk et al., 2018). Unfortunately, the declining rate of parental involvement during middle school reflects an underutilized resource for middle school students and their families (Jeynes, 2022). The purpose of this research was to examine teacher held beliefs of parental involvement during the middle school years. Participants for this research study consisted of 10 currently employed, middle school level teachers. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview developed by the researcher. Interview data were transcribed and were analyzed via the coding methods of descriptive coding and pattern coding. The following four themes were gathered from the data: Parental Involvement During Middle School is Important, Parental Involvement During Middle School Needs Improvement, Parental Involvement During Middle Means Parents are Involved to the Best of their Ability, and COVID-19 had an Impact Upon Parental Involvement During Middle School along with subthemes. Research findings support the notion that parental involvement can be understood as a multidimensional construct (Boonk et al., 2018). Furthermore, findings indicate the need for continued development of parental involvement courses that focus on middle school level involvement during pre-service teacher education programs as well as the need for the continued development of parental involvement programming at the state, district and school levels, amongst others. Practice recommendations and recommendations for future research are discussed.