| Jon Douglas Willms
University of British Columbia
A national assessment of schooling processes
FINAL REPORT:
Perhaps the most enduring finding in the sociology of education is that children's schooling outcomes are related to the socioeconomic status of their parents (e.g., see White, 1982). Much of the work in this field has been directed at uncovering the processes that contribute to this relationship, including structural processes at the level of the school, community, or larger society, and micro-level processes associated with individual and group actions. Our study found that in-school participation did vary significantly across schools, and that this had a positive impact on student achievement. Also, levels of school participation were related to the social class background and family structure of students, and their sex and ethnicity. These findings suggest that if schools are to improve levels of involvement, school staff must be cognisant of the subtle mechanisms by which some parents are excluded, and construct strategies that encourage the participation of parents with diverse backgrounds.
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