The Impact of South Asian Parental Involvement Behaviors on Children's Academic Achievement: Instrument Development and Exploratory Factor Analysis

This study examined the factor structure of an instrument used to measure first generation Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani (FGBIP) parental involvement behaviors in their children's academic achievement in Southwest Florida. A survey was designed for FGBIP parents/guardians of K-12 children studying in public schools based on commonly used indicator variables of parental involvement in the literature. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was utilized to test the initial instrument by determining whether the survey items loaded onto the unique factors as well as the number of items to improve the reliability and validity of the instrument. The EFA produced 25 items under five factors: "parental involvement behavioral trends in school-based activities, parental involvement behavioral trends in home-based activities, parents' personal behaviors, parents' involvement in beyond home/school activities, and children's personal behaviors." The researchers described the design process and a useful tool for understanding relationships between parental involvement and students' academic achievement.