Parental involvement and students’ achievement in Cambodia: Focusing on parental resourcing of public schooling

Studies of the effect of parental involvement on students’ achievement in a variety of contexts can provide valuable insights into how the relationship between parental involvement and students’ achievement may depend on specific local contexts of education and family. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives derived from social capital model, this study examines the effects of three types of parental involvement on students’ achievement. Dataset drawn from student questionnaire of 1551 tenth-grade students and their parents were used to investigate the determinants and the effects of parental resourcing on students’ achievement in comparison to other types of home-based and school-based involvement. Multiple regression analyses show that parental efforts in resourcing public schooling are significantly associated with students’ achievement. Features of Cambodian education in which parental resourcing becomes an important strategy for parents to enhance educational quality are described, and the broader implications of the findings are discussed.

► Parental resourcing of schooling is significantly related to students’ achievement.
► School-based involvement is significantly associated with students’ achievement.
► Home-based involvement, though important for children at lower grade levels, has no significant relationship with students’ achievement at higher grade levels.
► There is no significant relationship between family social background and students’ achievement.