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for their children. Another point of view is that of Auerbach who stated that parents were involved as partners in the education of their children so that they could reinforce the school culture and practices at home. He conceded also that parental involvement cannot be overlooked as it has positive benefits for the children (cited in Briggs, Jalongo & Brown, 1997, p. 59).

On the other hand, Wishon et. al (1997) affirm that it is generally understood that parent involvement does not in and of itself guarantee improved educational outcomes but being able to participate ensure more accountability for the outcome. They also emphasized that effective teachers know that children can learn, succeed and achieve without parental involvement if the classroom environment provides appropriate support and instruction. In agreement, Springate and Stegelin (1999) concur that parents are still the key ingredients in the learning of their children as they are likely to be a constant factor in the lives of their children. As a result, effective parents will then ensure that they support their children’s learning throughout the years of schooling.

In addition, Senechal and LeFevre (2002) stated that the importance of parental involvement in children’s education had never been in any doubt and recently this topic had received increased attention through numerous researches. For example, Hill and Craft (2003) cited some researchers who found that parental involvement in children’s education and school achievements was consistently associated with positive results. (Ames & Archer, 1987; Entwisle, Alexander, Pallas & Cadigan, 1987; Grolnick, Benjet, Kurowski, & Apostoleris, 1997; Hill, 2001; Jimerson, Egeland & Teo, 1999; Kohl, Lengua McMahon & The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 2000; Luster and McAdoo, 1996), Feinstein and Symons (1999) found evidence that suggested that parental interest in children’s education was the single most powerful predictor of achievement at age sixteen.

Benefits of parental involvement

Children

Parental involvement benefits children, parents, teachers and the school. Research shows the tremendous positive impact that even the smallest efforts on the part of parents can have on children’s learning. Beaty (2006) suggested that education should be viewed as a shared responsibility and to improve the educational outcome the school should reach out to the family. Furthermore, when children view their parents as a part of their educational journey, they feel motivated to achieve and feel justified in sharing achievement. He also added that “there is no doubt that when parents are closely involved with their children’s pre-school programme, children tend to bloom” (p. 421).

According to Pena (2000) increase communication, increase volunteerism, better school support and better attitudes are just a few ways that parental involvement benefit parents, children and school. Additionally, when parents take an active interest in their child’s education, the child’s cognitive and physical development is enhanced; the child develops greater problem-solving skills and a significant increase occurs in the child’s receptive and expressive language skills (Wishon et al, 1998, p.124). Several studies (Berk, 2006; Henderson & Berla,1994; Wishon et al, 1997) have agreed that parental involvement in school benefits ch