Parents’ Involvement in Children’s Education: Evidence from the 2018 Annual Survey of Refugees

Overview: Although education is paramount to the integration of refugees in the U.S, there is no evidence of studies that have examined predictors associated with refugee parents' involvement in their children's education in the U.S. This study fills this gap by examining predictors of parental involvement in their children’s education.Proposal text: Since the 1980s, the United States has welcomed more than 3.8 million refugees and asylees and hosts thousands of people in other humanitarian immigration categories (Pompeo, 2020). Education then becomes one of the crucial factors that helps refugee families to successfully resettle and integrate as they acquire language, civic skills, and understanding of core curriculum of the U.S education system (Bridging Refugee Youth and Children`s Services, 2018). Research has shown that children's academic success is significantly associated with parental involvement ( Koblinsky, 2009; Kim, 2002). Despite this, the literature points out that most refugee parents are not involved in their children’s schooling either at school or at home (Lightfoot, 2004; Nderu, 2005).

Notwithstanding, research examining the relationship between socio-demographic factors and parental involvement in children`s education by refugee parents is least explored in the United States. This study fills this gap by using a nationally representative sample of refugees from the 2018 Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR) to examine potential predictors of parental involvement in their children’s education. The sample size consisted of 1,007 refugees aged 16 years and above who entered the US between 2013 and 2017. Involvement in children`s education was the outcome variable, while predictor variables were age, gender, marital status, educational status, current work status, year of resettlement in the US, region of resettlement, adjustment of immigration status, and current English proficiency. All statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analyses (SPSS version 28.0).

The majority of the refugees in the sample were females, aged 25-39 years, married, not working, and resettled in the North. Results from multiple regression models indicated that despite the many challenges faced by refugees as they resettle in the US, parents who were more likely to be involved in their children’s education were those who were younger (25-39 years), women, divorced/separated, with a university degree, those who were resettled in the South and those with good English proficiency.

Resettling in a foreign country poses challenges especially related to language. There is a need for interventions and programs that can provide support for refugee parents with school-going children to increase their English proficiency so that they can have an increased role in their children’s education outcomes. There is also a need to raise an understanding of the potential cultural limitations that may impede parental involvement in children’s education.