(Special Issue)Correlations Between Interdistrict Enrollment, Parental Educational Expectation, Parental Involvement, and School Choice in Rural Areas
Author: Wei-Cheng Chien (Research Center for Educational System and Policy, National Academy for Educational Research and Department of Education and Learning Technology, National Tsing Hua University and Department of Graphics Arts and Communications, National Taiwan Normal University), Chuan-Chung Hsieh (Department of Education and Learning Technology, National Tsing Hua University)
Vol.&No.：Vol. 68, No. 3
Date：September 2023
Pages：61-93
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202309_68(3).0003
Abstract：
Research Motivation and Purpose
Rural education has been emphasized during the development of Taiwan’s education-related policies since 2017 recent years. However, the factors influencing parental choices of schools for children graduating from junior high or elementary schools in remote areas remain underexplored. Moreover, in-depth studies on parental educational expectations and involvement in school education are limited. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the cross-district enrollment rate of junior high and elementary school graduates. Furthermore, the correlations between parental educational expectations, parental involvement in school education, and factors influencing their school choice were investigated. We also assessed the disparities arising from factors such as school tier, remoteness level, and family socioeconomic status and the differences in factors influencing school choice between parents enrolling their children in schools within their original district and those enrolling their children in schools outside their district.
Literature Review
Students from remote areas often encounter unfavorable conditions during school selection; this often results in their enrollment in schools outside their district (Lin, 2012). Parsons et al. (2000) conducted a case study on the situation of UK students attending schools outside their district and revealed that cross-district enrollment was most pronounced in rural areas, moderately remote suburbs, and nonremote urban areas, with the rural regions experiencing the most substantial impact. This underscores the fact that a considerable number of students from remote areas choose to attend schools outside their district, which potentially leads to the problem of student attrition.
Understanding the cross-district transition of students from remote areas and the factors affecting parental school choices can guide future education policies for remote areas. Apart from school choice, parental educational expectations is strongly correlated with children’s learning (Fan & Chen, 2001; Pinquart & Ebeling, 2020). Studies have reported disparities in parental children’s perspectives regarding their children’s educational expectations, particularly among parents with varying socioeconomic backgrounds and remoteness levels (Yulianti et al., 2019). Parents in areas with higher remoteness levels tend to have lower expectations for their children’s education attainment and participation (Byun et al., 2012). The importance of parental involvement in school education is often studied because of its significant effects on student learning (Hill & Tyson, 2009; Keith et al., 1998). These research perspectives (Byun et al., 2012; Fan & Chen, 2001; Hill & Tyson, 2009; Keith et al., 1998; Pinquart & Ebeling, 2020; Yulianti et al., 2019) indicate that studies on parental educational expectations and involvement in school education in remote areas should not be overlooked. Therefore, this study was conducted using parental educational expectations and involvement as related research variables.
Studies on the interrelationship between variables have reported a significant correlation between parental educational expectations and parental involvement in school education (Castro et al., 2015; Froiland et al., 2013; Goodall, 2018; Jeynes, 2022). Furthermore, the influence of parental educational expectations on parental involvement was demonstrated to be consistently high across students stratified by such as age, ethnicity, sex, academic achievement, and subject preferences (Jeynes, 2022). Some studies have also suggested that students often consider parental expectations in their decision-making process for school selection (Boerchi, 2020; Martinez et al., 1995). This finding suggests that parental educational expectations influence school selection to some extent. Regarding the effects of parental involvement in school education on school selection, Cox and Witko (2008) and McGinn and Ben-Porath (2014) did not report any correlation between parental involvement and school choice; however, their research samples mainly comprised parents from general or metropolitan areas and might not have represented parents in remote areas. By contrast, Goldring and Phillips (2008) indicated that parental involvement in schools is a key indicator of school choice.
Methods
We conducted a questionnaire survey among parents whose children had graduated from junior high or elementary schools in remote areas of Taiwan in 2021. A total of 2,047 valid questionnaires were obtained. The collected data were statistically analyzed through one-way analysis of variance and repeated-measures analysis of variance by using IBM SPSS software. Furthermore, structural equation modeling was performed and the multiple indicators multiple causes model was used for data analysis; for this, we used Muthén & Muthén Mplus.
Results and Conclusion
The study findings were as follows:
1. The cross-district enrollment rate of junior high school graduates (47%) was significantly higher than that of elementary school graduates (28%). The rate was significantly higher for graduates from extremely and moderately remote areas (60% and 58%, respectively) than for those from remote areas (44%). Additionally, the rate was significantly higher for elementary school graduates with a high socioeconomic status (30%) than for those with a low socioeconomic status (19%); this finding indicates that students who opted to stay in their original school district may not do so voluntarily but may be influenced by the limitations arising from their family’s socioeconomic status.
2. Parents of graduates from both elementary and junior high schools in remote areas had high expectations for their children’s education. However, parents of elementary school graduates had significantly higher expectations than did those of junior high school graduates. Moreover, parents of elementary school graduates with a high socioeconomic status had significantly higher education expectations than did those of elementary school graduates with a low socioeconomic status.
3. Parents of primary school graduates in remote areas exhibited significantly higher levels of involvement in school education than did those of junior high school graduates. Additionally, parents of primary school graduates in extremely remote areas exhibited significantly higher levels of involvement than did their counterparts from moderately remote and remote areas. Similarly, parents from extremely remote areas exhibited higher levels of involvement than those in remote areas. This trend suggests that the more remote the school is, the higher is the level of parental involvement in primary education. This trend was also observed for parents of junior high school students. Furthermore, parents of graduates with a high socioeconomic status exhibited significantly higher levels of involvement in school education than did those of graduates with a low socioeconomic status.
4. The most important factor influencing school choice for parents of both junior high school and elementary school graduates was facilities, followed by teacher quality.
5. The educational expectations of the parents of junior high school graduates in remote areas exerted a significant, positive, and moderate direct effect on parental involvement in school education. These expectations exerted a significant indirect effect on various factors influencing school choice; this effect was mediated through parental involvement in school education and varied across factors influencing school choice.
Parents of students who remained in their original district placed significantly more importance on the factor convenient transportation than did those of students who attended school in a cross-district. Conversely, parents of students who attended school in a cross-district placed more importance on welfare subsidies than did those of students remained in their original district.
Keywords：parental involvement, parental educational expectation, rural education, school choice
《Full Text》
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