Parental engagement in primary education: differences in teacher perceptions and parent-teacher communication explained

Abstract

The importance of parental engagement for children’s outcomes is indisputable. This paper studies whether teacher perceptions regarding parental engagement, their own proficiency, and contact possibilities for parent-teacher communication, as well as school type (by socioeconomic status), teacher, student, and parental characteristics can explain differences in parental engagement and parent-teacher communication. The results show that differences in school type, teacher perceptions regarding parental engagement, teachers’ perceived own proficiency, and contact possibilities are the main reasons for differences in the extent of parental engagement and parent-teacher communication. Teacher characteristics (such as gender and experience), student, and parental characteristics do not seem to play a role.