Students' Perceptions on Parental Involvement and Their Future Aspirations.

The purpose of this study was to survey eighth grade students at Armstrong Middle School to determine their perceptions regarding parental involvement both in and out of school and their future aspirations. The project included a survey designed to illicit information about students’ demographics, perceptions of parental involvement in and out of school, and the students’ future aspirations.
The research survey was completed in the winter, 2011 semester. Frequencies and percentages were calculated on the student profile questions and the researcher also used a general cross sectional analysis where applicable in order to report trends in different groups.
The researcher discovered that the grades a student earns generally depends on the parents’ education levels. Parents who at least graduated from high school tended to have students that earned higher grades. Whereas, parents that did not finish high school had students who earned lower grades. In addition, parental involvement both in and out of school also correlated positively with the parents’ education levels. All parents regardless of education levels encouraged their students to do well in school. Most students, no matter the grades earned, planned to further their education. Students also had high expectations for their future irrespective of parental involvement and were confident they could achieve their future goals.