Parent and Family Engagement Interventions to Improve Academic Achievement in Black Children: A Systematic Review

Background and Purpose: Parent engagement play a crucial role in successful outcomes for all youth. However, inequalities in educational outcomes and discriminatory practices have strained the relationship between Black families and schools. This review builds upon Jeynes (2003) metanalysis of parent involvement interventions by assessing study methodological quality, and intervention effectiveness to improve academic achievement for Black children in urban settings. The following research questions are addressed: 1) what were the types of interventions used to improve academic achievement among Black children?, 2) What were the common outcomes measured across studies?, 3) What were the methodological strengths and weaknesses of the intervention studies?, and 4) what interventions were most effective when taking into account the study’s methodological rigor?

Methods: A systematic search of seven databases was conducted to identify studies that evaluated parent and/or family engagement interventions to improve academic achievement of Black children. Studies were included if they met the following criteria: 1) published in peer-reviewed journals; 2) sample with 50% or greater of Black Americans; 3) conducted in a U.S. urban setting; and 4) included academic achievement outcomes. Methodological rigor was assessed using an adapted version of Auslander et al. (2012) Methodological Quality Rating Scale (MQRS). A total scale score (11 items, possible range of 0-11) and a mean score were used to determine high versus low levels of rigor, and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of study methodological quality. The strength of the evidence for the effectiveness of the interventions was determined by combining methodological rigor with statistical significance on the most common outcomes. Interventions were considered to have “strong evidence” if they had significant outcomes and were high rigor; “promising evidence” if they had significant outcomes and were low rigor; and “weak evidence” if they had non-significant outcomes and were high or low rigor.

Results: Seven studies met inclusion criteria. Interventions included: parent empowerment (n=3), parent interactive activities (n=2) and parenting practices (n=2). Primary outcomes included math achievement (n=7) and reading achievement (n=6). Methodological rigor was low with only 57% scoring at or above the mean of 6 (M=6 SD=3.7). Methodological strengths included discussions of intervention standardization using manuals and specific training. Areas for improvement included discussions of reliability and validity of measures, and discussion of dropouts/attrition. Among the six studies that assessed reading achievement, two provided strong evidence of effectiveness (33%) and four provided promising evidence (67%). Among the seven studies that assessed math achievement, three (43%) provided strong evidence of effectiveness and four (57%) provided promising evidence. Interventions supporting parenting practices were more effective at improving reading and math achievement for students compared to parent interactive activities and parent empowerment interventions.

Conclusions and Implications: Additional rigorous parent engagement interventions, particularly interventions supporting parenting practices and where Black families are predominately represented, are needed to support equitable academic achievement outcomes for Black children. Engaging school social workers is crucial to informing relevant and effective interventions for home, school, and community partnerships. Further implications specific to school social workers, researchers and education policy are addressed.