examine the prevalence of this strategy, Becker and Epstein (1982) surveyed 3,698 first-, third- and fifth-grade teachers in Maryland's public school system. More than 600 elementary school principals in the state also responded to a brief questionnaire on parent-involvement programs in the school. Overall, results were said to indicate that there was a highly positive view of parent-oriented teaching strategies on the part of both teachers and school principals.
In another relatively early piece of research, Jackson (1989) reported that during the 1980s, most educators came to the conclusion that parents play a central role in their children's education, and that there was a growing awareness of the need to form a partnership between the home and school to ensure a successful educational experience for children. Accordingly, Jackson attempted to obtain and analyze types of parent involvement in the elementary schools, the principals' perceptions of the degree of parent involvement and elementary teachers' perceptions of their involvement in the School District of Lancaster in Pennsylvania.
A principal's questionnaire was developed to obtain the information about the type and degree of involvement in the schools. Also, a teacher's questionnaire was developed to obtain teacher's perceptions about their involvement. In other words, the instruments utilized were researcher-designed rather than standardized instruments.
Results obtained from the principal's questionnaire were said to show that most schools in the School District of Lancaster had an organized parent involvement program. As to the type of program and the degree of involvement, this varied from school to school depending upon the decisions made by the principals, teachers, and parents themselves.
A variety of approaches were used to identify parents who were interested in participating. A correlation coefficient was used to determine the relation...