The Effect of Parent Participation in At-Home Reading Activities on Reading Achievement in At-Risk First Grade Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of parent participation in at home literacy activities on reading achievement for at-risk first graders. Twenty students in a selected first grade classroom and their parents comprised the convenience sample for this study. In order to analyze the effects of parent participation on reading comprehension, parents were instructed to help their students read for fifteen minutes each evening and complete an additional literacy activity two to three times a week. The additional literacy activity could be writing answers to comprehension questions, reading other sources of text, visiting a library, playing a literacy game, completing literacy games online, etc. Using a pre-test post-test design, students’ reading scores were compared using a median test. Results indicated that the students’ reading test scores did improve for students who had consistent parent participation each week. Due to these results, the null hypothesis was rejected. Future and more extensive research is recommended to identify what aspects of parent involvement have the largest positive impact on diverse students’ achievement in reading and potentially other subjects.