Running head: READING SUCCESS AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 1

Effects on Students Reading Success and Parental Involvement

Laura S. Tzunun

Weber State University

MED 6000
READING SUCCESS AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 2

Effects on Students Reading Success and Parental Involvement

It has been said that if a parent reads to a child their chance of being a successful reader is

greatly improved. There have been countless studies that have investigated the correlation

between parental involvement and student success in reading. Hsu and Sukhram (2012) stated:

Studies have also documented the significant role of parent involvement in their

children’s reading experiences and overall success (Ehri and Roberts 2006; Reutzel et al.

2006; Se´ne´chal and LeFevre 2002). Most parents share immense quality time with their

young children, thus making them an influential resource in early literacy development.

As a result, children are exposed to reading through informal parental approaches which

ultimately form the basis of formal reading instruction and developed foundational

reading skills (Se´ne´chal and LeFevre 2002). Children’s early exposure to and

participation in literacy activities with parents in rich home literacy environments is one

of the most important elements in their emergent literacy as well as developmental and

educational outcomes (Leseman and de Jong 1998) (p.117).

I would like to further investigate this idea, to see how effective parental involvement is with

student’s reading success. I will then share my information that I find with my student’s parents

to inform them of how they can help their child be a more successful reader.

Personal Experience

I have personally witnessed the effect on student reading success and parental

involvement. I did my student teaching in a low-income area in Ogden, Utah. Most students’

parents are either both working, or are living in a one parent family. Parents do not have time to

read with their children, and usually do not read in their own free time either. “Historically,

researchers have highlighted many income-based discrepancies in the HLE, such as low-income
READING SUCCESS AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 3

parents being less likely to engage their children in instructive behaviors during story time”

(Dexter & Stacks, 2014 p. 396). I have also worked in areas that either the mother or the father

stays home to take care of their children. They take time to read to their students and to help

them with their school work. When comparing these two situations it is easy to see the effect on

reading success and parental involvement. Students in the low parental involvement areas

struggle greatly in the language arts. They are not at grade level in their reading. They struggle

over things that students that receive parental help do not have a problem with. “Children living

in lower-quality home environments are much more likely to encounter problems in school than

are children from middle-income homes” (Dexter & Stacks, 2014 p. 396).

Parents can have a great influence on children with reading learning disabilities. When I

was in elementary school I was diagnosed with a reading learning disability. Ever since I was a

baby my mother read to me daily, it was one of my favorite things to do with her. My mother has

a love for reading and I often found her reading in her bed. This influenced me greatly. I read

with my mom, I asked her to read to me, and I tried my best to learn how to read because I

always saw my mom reading and I wanted to be like her. When I started school I struggled with

reading, but even with my reading disability I never had to do reading intervention in school. My

teachers knew that I struggled, but I kept up with my peers because my mom had such a great

impact on my reading ability. I owe a lot of my reading success to her involvement. I cannot

recall any teacher that had such a great impact on my reading ability as much as my mother did.

Without her help it is likely that I would have had to attend special education class in hopes of

improving my reading.

Research
READING SUCCESS AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 4

Mitchel and Begeny (2014) evaluated the effects of a structured and research-supported

reading program when implemented by parents in the home. They performed a pre-test of first

and second grade students then a posttest after the implication of the parental research-supported

reading program. They found that “Comparisons from pretest to posttest showed significant

student improvements on all four measures that we hypothesized would evidence growth, with

effect sizes ranging from medium for sight word efficiency to large for reading fluency and

reading comprehension” (p.52). These findings support the positive influence parental

involvement has on student reading success.

Cameron, Losike-Sedimo, and Reglin (2012) also investigated the effects of student

reading success with the involvement of parents. They studied seventh graders who were not

passing the end of level reading test. They had them read with their parents and do other reading

activities with them and then tested them, this is what they found: “The experimental group's

increase in reading scores were supported by the literature and were interpreted to mean that

structured and research-based parent-support activities, such as the PSR activities, contributed to

enhanced reading skills” (p.23). This too supports the positive correlation between student

reading success and parental involvement.

I researched a third study by Pagan & Sénéchal (2014).They “trained parents as reading

partners who encouraged, modelled, and coached their child to read during the summer holidays.

Moreover, children received books that were matched to their interests and reading levels”

(p.19). After testing they found these results: “Children in the intervention condition had stronger

reading and receptive vocabulary skills at the end of the summer months as compared to children

in the control condition” (p.19).

Summary
READING SUCCESS AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 5

These studies all support the idea that if parents become involved in their children’s

reading they will become successful readers. ‘‘Weigel et al. (2006) noted, ‘Parents who express

positive attitudes about reading and actively engage their children in literacy enhancing activities

are creating an atmosphere of enthusiasm for literacy and learning’ (p. 374)” (Hsu & Sukhram,

2012 p.118). If parents were aware of the effects their influence has on their child’s reading

success they would be more likely to take 20-30 minutes of their day to read with their child.

Most Americans want to come home and relax and watch T.V. after a long day of work. If

parents would just get into the routine of reading to their children they will find that it can also

be very relaxing and rewarding. They will not only help their child become a more successful

reader by modeling good reading to them and sharing an interest in reading, but it will also be a

valuable bonding time with their children.

READING SUCCESS AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 6

References

Begeny, J. C., & Mitchell, C. (2014). Improving student reading through parents' implementation

of a structured reading program. School Psychology Review, 43, 41–58. Retrieved from

http:// http://www.nasponline.org/publications/SPR/index.aspx?vol=44&issue=1

Cameron, H., Losike-Sedimo, N., & Reglin, G. (2012). Effects of a parent support reading

intervention on seventh-grade at-risk students’ reading comprehension scores. Reading

Improvement, 49, 17–27. Retrieved from http:// http://www.projectinnovation.biz/reading

_improvement

Dexter, C., & Stacks, A. (2014). A preliminary investigation of the relationship between

parenting, parent-child shared reading practices, and child development in low-income

families. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 28(3), 394–410.

doi:10.1080/02568543.2014.913278

Hsu, A., & Sukhram, D. (2012). Developing reading partnerships between parents and children:

A reflection on the reading together program. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40(2),

115–121. doi:10.1007/s10643-011-0500-y

Pagan, S., & Sénéchal, M. (2014). Involving parents in a summer book reading program to

promote reading comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary in grade 3 and grade 5

children. Canadian Journal of Education, 37(2), 1–31. Retrieved from http://www.csse-

scee.ca/CJE/