Pa ge 1 Pa ge 32 American Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Innovation (AJMRI) Current Approaches for Engaging Parents in Students’ Academic Performance: Basis for Parental Engagement Policy Lito B. Diaz1* Volume 2 Issue 4, Year 2023 ISSN: 2158-8155 (Online), 2832-4854 (Print) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v2i4.1817 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Article Information ABSTRACT Received: June 20, 2023 Accepted: July 18, 2023 Published: July 27, 2023 This action research aims to determine the current approaches that the school has employed to enhancing parental engagement on the academic performance of the students in the new normal. The participants were of the selected 35 high school teacher, which contains 21 Junior High School teachers and 14 Senior High School teacher, from Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School at Boys Town Complex Parang, Marikina City. Parental engagement at school approaches includes volunteering, conferencing with teachers, attending work- shops, involvement at school decision making. Also, the parental engagement in the student’s education at home approaches includes helping on homework, communicating encourage- ment and educational expectation. Results displayed that these approaches enabled parental engagement. Mostly, optimistic comment information from the parents were stimulated and promoted better insight of their child’s performance in school. A significant effect on the academic performance of the learner in PreCalculus course towards the engagement of the parents, whether at home or at school in the new normal. Similarly, parents became more involved both at home and school activities because of the effect of the several approaches which have improved performance in PreCalculus. Keywords Parental Engagement Policy, Academic Performance, Current Approaches to Parental Engagement INTRODUCTION The world has been in the situation called global pandemic due to CoronaVirus (COVID 19), a new normal of living was introduced to protect oneself from the deadly virus that took millions of people’s life globally. The education system around the world turned into online class from the traditional face-to-face or classroom setting. In the online class, the parents’ involvement towards their children’s academic performance has strengthened to the point that they were the ones doing the role of the teacher specially to the kinder and elementary students. The Philippine’s Department of Education (DepEd) has acknowledged the important of the parent’s engagement in the learning of their children whether in school or at home. Hence, several programs have been introduced for promoting parent’s engagement in school such as “Adopt-A School-Program” and the “Brigada Eskwela” program which brought together parents, teachers, students, and other stakeholders to work on a specific plan or goal. Also, School Based Management Approach allows the different stakeholders such as parents, school heads, and teachers, to be part of the decision-making process. While programs for promoting parent’s engagement in the learning of students at home where all entrusted on the hands of the teachers and school administrators which may vary from one school to another and brings a remarkable impact to the academic performance of the students. Hence, the teacher must be trained well in doing activities and programs that will encourage parent’s engagement in the learning of their children in home, for this is one of the greatest challenges that almost all schools are facing. As the research findings, “when parents are engaged with student-learning in the home and work collaborative with their children on schoolwork, significant and meaningful improvements are consistently observed for both standardized test scores and grades” (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005; Harris and Goodall,2008; Altschul, 2011). For this reason, the teacher researcher committed himself to determine the Current Approaches for Engaging Parents in Students’ Academic Performance: Basis for Parental Engagement Policy seeking to understand different approaches for engaging parents that have positive influence on the students’ academic performance for the purpose of policy making on parent engagement at school in the new normal. Furthermore, linking parents in enhancing academic performance is vital, for parents are the most effective influencer on the students’ academic performance (Singh, et al., 1995). In this action research, academic performance is defined as the result of the efforts exerted by the students. It represents outcomes that indicate the extent to which a student has accomplished specific goals. This academic performance is measured using card’s grade giving weight to the sum of all written output such as quizzes, unit test, essays and the like and performance task like video editing, cooking, dancing, solving word problem, etc... Meanwhile, parent’s engagement is defined as the extent to which the parents can motivate and assist the learning of their children whether at home or at school. Furthermore, parental engagement policy is defined as a set of activities where the parents’ engagement would be more visible both in school and at home. This action research aims to determine the current approaches that the school has employed to enhancing parental involvement on the academic performance of 1 Duplex Champaca Street Fortune Marikina City, Philippines * Corresponding author’s e-mail: 622000156@ntc.edu.ph Pa ge 33 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 the students in the new normal. The study will take place at the Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School at Boys Town Complex, Parang, Marikina City. The statement of the problem to be answered are the following: 1. What approaches do Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School employ to ensuring parental engagement in the new normal? 2. Does parental engagement, whether at home or at school, improves the student’s academic performance? If so, what types of engagement activities are most effective? 3. Based on the findings, what policy on parental engagement may be proposed to improving student’s academic performance whether at home or in school? This action research hypothesized there is no significant improvement on the student’s academic performance towards the parental engagement policy, whether at home or at school. LITERATURE REVIEW Parent-student collaboration in doing homework at home would boost student academic performance. As the research findings, “collaborative, subject-specific homework that requires student-parent interaction to be a particularly effective approach for improving student academic achievement” (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005; Bailey, Silvern, Brabham, and Ross, 2004). Research also proposes that the positive outcome of parent-child collaborative homework can be supplementary increased by supplying parents with information concerning the value of achieving so (Bailey, Silvern, Brabham and Ross, 2004). For instance, while assigning parent-child collaborative reading homework has been found to upshot in substantial progresses in reading skills among 2nd grade learners, including directions to parents concerning the importance of working with their child on homework resulted in significantly greater enhancement beyond assigning collective homework alone (Bailey, Silvern, Brabham and Ross, 2004). Beyond vigorous collaboration on homework, merely conversing schoolwork and grades with children can be an effective means for parents to surge their child’s own involvement in school (Mo and Singh, 2008; DePlanty, Coulter-Kern, and Duchane, 2007) and enhanced academic marks (Desimone, 1999). Nonetheless, schools can still supply parents with advice concerning homework outlook and parent-child discussions on learning at home (Harris and Goodall, 2008). While collaborative homework with students and parents at home improves academic performance of the student as shown in many research findings, home environment also plays an important role to the improving of the student’s academic performance. This does not mean to have a spacious study room rather an environment in which student can be motivated to work on their school requirements whether in writing, reading, or computing. Research has found other home-based aspects that school can funding that may assist parent involvement in student education. For instance, having informative resources in the home and having parents and children involvement to enhancing activities at the same time have been learned to be linked to success in middle and high school age Mexican American formative years (Altschul, 2011). Subsequently, schools can aid an enhancing home environment by giving parents and learners with game packets or lending-library activities that they can use at home. Supplying families with such resources has been found to be on par with collaborative homework in supporting math achievement (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005). Schools that are not able to offer this sort of assist can also help to promote a supportive learning environment at home through workshops on topics such as helping with homework and achievement test preparation (Sheldon et al., 2010). Meanwhile, “raising parent and student aspirations and expectations may be one of the most important things parents can do to increase student academic performance and success” (Rosenzweig, 2001, Fan and Chen, 2001). For instance, in one study examining predictors of student achievement on the ACT test, the single strongest predictor of high performance was student reports that their parent(s) expected them to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA (Barwegan, Falciani, Putnam, Reamer, and Stair, 2004). Other studies have also found that parents’ expectations of student achievement had a more positive impact than other parent behaviors, including homework help, time management, and discussions with their children about education (Lee and Bowen, 2006). A verse from Proverbs 22:6 says, “Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life”, requires communication for this statement to be fully attained. Without telling children on how they should live their life on earth this statement would not come to reality. Communicating refers to the creation of pure and active communication concerning schools and parents on learner performance and school plans. It is proposed for this type of parental participation that parents are motivated to appear parent-teacher conferences, that parents are informed about school rules and school plans, and that parents obtain phone calls concerning learner performance. For this type of parental involvement, learner performance outcomes comprise learner consciousness of their academic performance, familiarity of school rules, and development of communication skills (Epstein, 2002; Kemal Tekin, 2011;). Similarly, in the school, student’s academic performance must be communicated to the parents, and this can be done through various communication-based strategies such as video conferencing, face to face reporting, and sending letter via email or any online means. The school and parent used this strategy to report to the parent about their children’s academic performances in school. “While no one would argue against the inherent value of such school-parent communication, to date there is limited empirical evidence that this in fact leads to higher academic performance (Sheldon and Epstein, Pa ge 34 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 especially in times of difficulties in life or incapability to decide for whatever reasons. In the school, involving parents into the decision-making process for school development is one of the approaches when it comes to encouraging parental engagement. This can include pursuing parental involvement from all backgrounds to plan strategically or perform on countless role in a committee form. (Sheldon, Epstein, and Galindo, 2010). However, as with volunteering, and school participation, this springs only slight indication that parental involvement in the school decision making has a direct impact on student academic performance. As the research findings, there are encouraging academic results restricting from parental participation extending from advantages in primary to teenage years and afar (Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Patrikakou, Weisberg, Redding, & Walberg, 2005). However, its lifelong effects on the academic performance of the students cannot be undervalued. Specifically, students whose parents are involved in their learning do better at school. MATERIALS AND METHOD The analysis of survey questionnaires on School Engagement Survey (Mason, C. A., et al, 2014) were the main instruments used in gathering pertinent data. The survey questionnaires were generated using Google Forms, sent to the faculty group chat messenger account of the Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School. Moreover, the student’s academic performance for the S.Y 2020 – 2021, and S.Y. 2021 – 2022 in Precalculus class of the STEM strand were gathered for the evaluation of the effectiveness of different approaches for engaging parents employed at the Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School. To accomplish this, the teacher researcher gathered some of the related literatures and studies on parent’s engagement and its influence on the student’s academic performance to be reviewed. For the parental engagement in school the following variables were examined such as volunteering, conferencing with teachers, attending workshops, involvement in school decision making. Meanwhile, the parental engagement in the student’s education at home includes helping on homework, communicating encouragement and educational expectation. The researcher has adopted the “School Engagement Survey” by Mason, C. A., et al, (2014), these are national “best practice” standards in the University of Maine Orono, Maine, to assess the different parental engagement approaches being used in Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School. The research conducted an online survey among the teachers of VEFMHS using Google form. These data were then determined whether it has an impact to the students’ academic performance in Precalculus class. The findings were organized into two parts such as approaches for encouraging parent engagement in education at-home and approaches for encouraging parent engagement in schools. For the approaches for 2005) — although the impact may be more indirect and subtle, making it difficult to detect.” Although the actual influence of such efforts is uncertain, one option is that school-communication efforts that are aimed, foresighted, and govern may have greater influence on learner education and routine than methods that are more wide-ranging and unintended. For instance, elementary schools that explicitly aimed parents of low-achieving learners by having teachers (1) telephone parents of low- achieving learners on a steady and as-needed basis, (2) send resources home to parents concerning approaches for assisting their child, and (3) hold face-to-face meetings with parents, saw progress rates among low-achieving learners rise at a 40% advanced rate than schools that testified low levels of such efforts (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). In this instance, phoning parents of high- risk learners may justifiably be more operative for those specific learners than providing extra learner-growth updates to all parents in a school. Encouraging parents to join from the different school’s activities is a remaining challenge even in the new normal. VEFMHS do its very best inspiring the parents to be involved in all school’s activities such as quarterly distribution of grade, distribution of educational packages like sim, tablets, modules, and flash drive, etc. believing parents participation or volunteerism would take effect to the improvement of their children’s academic performances. Volunteering refers to inspiring, getting, and establishing aid and support from parents at home, at school, and at other civic events. It is proposed for this type of parental participation that parents help with the care and regular operations of the school, support teachers, and assist other parents who need extra help. For this type of parental participation, learner performance outcomes contain progress of communication skills with adults and enhancement of learning skills done by volunteering activities (Epstein, 2002; Kemal Tekin, 2011). On the contrary, researchers have suggested that “parental involvement in schools may be more effective at influencing child academic outcomes when that involvement is targeting specific content areas” (Henderson and Mapp, 2002; Sheldon and Epstein, 2005). For instance, Sheldon, Epstein and Galindo’s study (2010) engrossed closely on student performance in math. Precise activities were known as having better influence on student attainment such as family math nights, volunteer math-aides, and math projects that include family or community associates. Instead on concentrating merely “getting parents into the school”, optimum approaches may entail deliberately planned parent participation activities that involve parents and students in discussion of the subject-specific material and skills (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005). One of the topmost roles of human existence on earth is to making decision in everything and very vital for survival. Sometimes the decision has been done through the help of other people and that is perfectly fine Pa ge 35 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 encouraging parent engagement in education at-home, findings are further organized by the following: (1) the use of collaborative homework and (2) approaches supporting the home environment. While the approaches for encouraging parent engagement at schools, findings are further organized by the following: (1) school parent communication, (2) volunteering and participation in school activities, and (3) decision making (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005). And each segment starts with a review of the research on the kind of parent engagement particularly on its influence on student academic performance. This action research used descriptive and quantitative method in gathering the necessary data to determine the Current Approaches for Engaging Parents in Students’ Academic Performance: Basis for Parental Engagement Policy. Also, the teacher researcher used random sampling techniques to obtain the sample in the study which contains 21 Junior High School teachers and 14 Senior High School teacher, a total of 35 secondary teachers from Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School at Boys Town Complex Parang, Marikina City. Data Gathering Procedure The teacher researcher did seek for approval of the school principal to conduct the action research in school. The questionnaires which have been generated through Google Form were sent to the faculty group chat messenger account of the Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School. After two weeks, all responses will be gathered and treated statistically such as percentage and mean to assess the current approaches that have positive influence on the academic performance of the students in the new normal. While the academic performance of the students was treated using mean, standard deviation and T– test to test the hypothesis of the study. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sub – problem No. 1. What strategies do Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School employ to increase parental engagement in the new normal? The study’s findings were group into two parts: parent engagement in education at home and parent engagement at school. The aim is to give a clear presentation of the different strategies that Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School has employed to ensuring increase parental engagement in the new normal. Parent Engagement in Education at Home In this part, the teacher researcher will be discussing two important strategies for encouraging parent engagement in education at home specifically collaborative homework and home environment (Mason, C. A. et al., 2014). Collaborative Homework Designating homework that involves learners to display their work and converse their math skills with a household fellow has been found more effective at foreseeing school-wide mathematics attainment than a wide-range of other methods, including workshops, parent-teacher conferences, targeted communications to parents, and volunteerism in the school and classroom (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005), even after controlling for prior school- wide achievement. The VEFMHS supported this point of view as shown in table 1 with a very high regards on the activities that encourages parent engagement in student’s education at home such as sending enrichment material at home and assigning homework that requires parental involvement such as reading, computing, and writing essays on family history. Table 1 shows that the VEFMHS made special efforts Table 1: Percentage of Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School Reporting Activities to Engagement in Education at Home Engagement Survey Question Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree VEFMHS makes a special effort to send enrichment material at home with children. 31.4% 57.1% 8.6% 2.9% - VEFMHS makes a special effort to assign homework that requires parental involvement, such as joint reading, family history essays, etc. 17.1% 65.7% 17.1% - - to assign homework that required parental involvement. There were “88.5%” or 31 out of 35 teacher respondents agreeing and strongly agreeing with the statement “VEFMHS makes a special effort to send enrichment material home with children”. Also, about “82.8%” or 29 out of 35 teacher respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement “VEFMHS makes a special effort to assign homework that requires parental involvement, such as joint reading, family history essays, etc.” Home Environment Education at home refers to confirming that families have access to information at home that describes what they can do to provide their children with their learning. It is proposed for this type of parental participation that parents are supplied with material about homework guiding principle, information about directing their children with homework, and information about family reading programs at school. For this type of parental engagement, student performance outcomes include superior rates of homework achievement, students assessing their parents as a companion in their learning, and intensified levels of self-efficacy (Epstein, 2002; Kemal Tekin, 2011). The VEFMHS as shown in table Pa ge 36 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 2 nailed its importance of having such environment in which raising parent and student aspirations and expectations are on the top priority. Table 2: Percentage of Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School Reporting Formal Efforts to Encourage Parental Engagement in Education at Home Engagement Survey Question Never Occasionally but not every year Approximately one such campaign each year More than one such campaign each year VEFMHS have organized campaigns to encourage parents to become involved in their child’s education at home. 2.9% 14.3% 45.7% 40% Table 2 displays VEFMHS huge support for formal initiatives to involve parents in their child’s education at home, with “85.7%” or 30 out of 35 teacher respondents reported that they make this type of effort at least once a year, wherein these teachers have organized campaigns to encourage parents to become involved in their child’s education at home. Parent Engagement at School In this part, the teacher researcher will be discussing three important strategies in encouraging parent engagement at school specifically: school parent communication, volunteering and participation in school activities, and decision making (Sheldon and Epstein, 2005). Parent‐School Communication Parent-school communication refers to the communication amid school employees (teachers, office staff, etc.) and parents (Anthony & Ogg, 2019). This type of communication contains emails, conferences, and phone calls. This type of participation establishes to children that their parents and teachers involve in on-going communication. Previous studies have showed uneven results on the effect of home-school communication. Some studies have found positive correlations, while other studies have found insignificant correlations (Anthony & Ogg, 2019; Fernandez-Alonso, 2017; Oswald, Zaidi, Cheatham, & Brody, 2018). The VEFMHS alone has a very high respects in this matter as shown in table 3 and 4 for various communication-based strategies to encourage parental engagement in school and various communication‐based activities for new students and families, respectively. On the other hand, table 5 shows VEFMHS offers different types of workshops for parents. All these strategies found to be more helpful for engaging parents or families with a new school environment. Table 3: Percentage of Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School Reporting Various Communication‐Based Strategies to Encourage Parental Engagement at School. Engagement Survey Question Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree VEFMHS makes a special effort to regularly remind parent’s to monitor their student’s work 57.1% 40% 2.9% 0% 0% VEFMHS makes a special effort to inform parents when it is time for midterms, final, or high-stakes testing. 34.4% 62.9% 2.9% 0% 0% VEFMHS makes a special effort to reach out to parents of struggling students. 68.6% 25.7% 0% 0% 5.7% VEFMHS makes a special effort to reach out to low-income or ethnic minority families. ethnic minority families. 42.9% 45.7% 11.4% 0% 0% VEFMHS makes a special effort to regularly report student’s positive behavior and achievements. 54.3% 40% 2.9% 0% 2.9% Table 3 shows a variety of efforts of VEFMHS to communicate with parents through different ways and on different topics relevant to families. In this table, every item got a rating higher than “94%” or 33 out of 35 teacher respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing except from the item VEFMHS makes a special effort to reach out to low- income or ethnic minority families where the rating reach only “88.6%” or 31 out of 35 teacher respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing. Table 4 displays more than half responding teachers indicated that parents of new students were invited to visit the school and nearly all responding teachers reported that parents of new students were given chance to meet their child’s teacher with “54.3%” and “82.9%” respectively. Pa ge 37 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 Table 4: Percentage of Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School Reporting Various Communication‐Based Activities for New Students and Families. Engagement Survey Question Frequency Percentage Rank A "Welcome" packet is sent home containing information about the school. 8 22.9% 3.5 Parents are offered an opportunity to visit the school. 19 54.3% 2 Parents are offered an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher(s). 29 82.9% 1 A personalized letter is mailed to the family home. 5 11.3% 5 Someone from the school personally calls the parents. 8 22.9% 3.5 Table 5: Percentage of Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School Offering Different Types of Workshops. Engagement Survey Question Never Occasionally, but not Once a year More than once each VEFMHS offer workshops on understanding children’s educational progress such as, such as testing and placement. 0% 14.3% 20% 65.7% VEFMHS offer workshops on understanding how children learn and grow, such as child development, learning styles. 2.9% 8.6% 28.6% 60% Table 5 depicts nearly all responding teachers reported holding annual (or more frequent) workshops teaching parents about educational progress monitoring, such as testing and student placements with “85.7%” or 30 out of 35 teacher respondents, while nearly all responding teachers reported held similar workshops on child development with “88.6%” or 31 out of 35 teacher respondents. Volunteering and Participation in School Activities One must have in mind when encouraging parents’ participation in school activities is the accessibility of the activity regardless of the family background. The VEFMHS as shown in table 6 reflects the same values in which school activities are accessible to the family regardless of the background. Table 6 shows more than half of the teachers responding “54.3%” or 19 out of 35 to the School Engagement Survey, indicated that most or half of school activities in VEFMHS are free or low-cost, with only “17.1%” or 6 out of 35 of the teachers offering financially accessible activities rarely. Table 6: Percentage of Valeriano E Fugoso Memorial High School Offering Activities at Low or No Cost. Engagement Survey Question Never Rarely Sometimes Most of the times Always How often does the VEFMHS offer family activities At low or no cost? 0% 17.1% 28.6% 34.3% 20% Decision‐Making Decision making refers to inspiring and having parents help on school boards as leaders and representatives. It is proposed for this type of parental participation that parents are knowledgeable about Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) and are motivated to be active members in these assemblies. For this type of parental participation, learner performance outcomes comprise understanding that families are signified in their school and that the learners’ rights are secured (Epstein, 2002; Kemal Tekin, 2011). The VEFMHS holds the same point of view; hence, as shown in table 7 that echoes positive partnerships with the parents of their students. Moreover, table 8 reflects how VEFMHS valued the parent’s inputs in the decision making. Table 7 displays nearly all teacher respondents generally reported positive such partnerships, with “94.3%” or 33 out of 35 of them reporting that the school administration and PTA worked well or very well together. Table 8 shows teacher respondents reported doing this more often, with more than one-third of teacher reporting that they did so most or all the time with “37.2%” or 13 out of 35 of them, and exactly “8.6%” or 3 out of 35 of them indicating never or rarely. Table 7: Quality of Partnership Between School Administration and PTA. Engagement Survey Question Very Poorly Poorly Fair Well Very Well How well does the school administration and the PTA work together? 0% 0% 5.7% 40% 54.3% Table 8: Use of School Newsletter for Parent Input. Engagement Survey Question Never Rarely Sometimes Most of the times Always How often does VEFMHS newsletter solicit input from parents? 5.7% 2.9% 54.3% 22.9% 14.3% Pa ge 38 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 Sub – problem No. 2 Does parental engagement, whether at home or at school, improves the student’s academic performance? If so, what types of engagement activities are most effective? As the research findings, there are encouraging academic results restricting from parental participation extending from advantages in primary to teenage years and afar (Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Patrikakou, Weisberg, Redding, & Walberg, 2005). However, its lifelong effects on the academic performance of the students cannot be undervalued. Specifically, students whose parents are involved in their learning do better at school. To measure students’ academic performance in this action research. the teacher researcher has used report card grades during the first semester of the S.Y. 2020 – 2021 and S.Y. 2021 – 2022. Table 9 shows the result of the significance effect of the two mean grades during First Semester of the S.Y. 2020 – 2021and S.Y. 2021 – 2022. As shown in this table, a computed t – value of |-2.19| verbally interpreted “Significant” for it is greater than the critical value of 1.644854 at 0.05 level of significance with the degree of freedom of 78. Thus, reject Table 9: Significance Effect of the First Semester Mean Grade of S.Y 2020 – 2021 and First Semester Mean Grade of S.Y. 2021 – 2022 School Year Mean Grade Standard Deviation T – Test Value Verbal Interpretation Decision 2020 – 2021 87.00% 5.74 2021 – 2022 89.50% 4.49 -2.19 Significant Reject Ho CVα=0.05 = ±1.644854, df = 78 the research hypothesis. This implied that that there was significance effect on the student’s academic performance towards the engagement of the parents, whether at home or at school in the new normal. Research exposed that parental participation remains a compelling contributor of academic success even for high school learners. According to Patrikakou (2008), it is vital to discredit the common fable that parents’ impact over their children weakens as they enter teenage years. High school learners can do well at school if their parents or relatives are concerned in their school task and with greater hopes from them to succeed. Also, teenagers who are supported at home and at school exhibit further optimistic views about school, works nicely, effective and improved attendance and intensified class involvement (Patrikakou, 2008). As to the types of parent engagement activities that are most effective, table 10 displays different activities in which VEFMHS employs to encourage parents’ engagement at school during pandemic. Also, table 11 shows several activities in which VEFMHS encourage parents’ engagement in the education of their child at home. Parent involvement in school indeed has its positive influence on their children’s performance academically. Table 10: VEFMHS Most Effective Activities to Encourage Parents’ Engagement in School. ACTIVITIES 1. Empowerment of Parent-Teacher Conference Association (PTCA) by including them in most projects and activities like Brigada Eskwela. 2. Quarterly giving of school report card. 3. Home Visitation for identified student at risk 4. School Orientation regarding School Kasunduan. 5. Creation of Parent - Teacher Group Chat through Messenger and Facebook to solicit suggestions to encourage students to give their best in their studies. 6. Frequently doing phone calls to inform parents about the progress of their child in school. 7. Online parent orientation before and after school year starts/ends. Table 11: VEFMHS Most Effective Activities to Encourage Parents’ Engagement in their Child’s Education at Home. ACTIVITIES 1. Parent – Teacher – Student (PaTeSt) Video Conferencing to discuss means to help students and parents and teachers to be actively involved in the improvement of learners’ performance in school. 2. Compensation like awards or special recognition for parents who have actively assisted their children in doing their schoolwork’s at home. 3. Creation of Parent - Teacher Group Chat through Messenger and Facebook for announcement, clarification on student’s homework and additional instructions. 4. Family recreational activities related to the lessons. 5. Frequently doing phone calls to inform parents about the progress of their child at home. Pa ge 39 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 Vandergrift and Greene (1992) said that, “The two key elements that work together to make up the concept of parental involvement are the level of commitment to parental support and the level of parental activity and participation.” The listed activities that were practiced by the VEFMHS as shown in table 10 reflected how the school ensure the parent’s commitment to parental support, activity and participation in school were observed. When parents participated in academic enrichment activities with their children outside of school, the benefits were manifest in improved academic performance in school. Hence, VEFMHS ensure through the listed activities in table 11 which support open communication to teacher and students’ parent were encouraged and performed regularly. Sub – Problem No. 3 Based on the findings, what policy on parental engagement may be proposed to improving student’s academic performance, whether at home or in school? Result showed on Table 10, the activities on the policy on parental engagement that may be proposed to improve student’s academic performance in school are as follows: (1). Empowerment of Parent-Teacher Conference Association (PTCA) by including them in most projects and activities like Brigada Eskwela; (2). Quarterly giving of school report card; (3). Home Visitation for identified student at risk; (4). School orientation regarding School Kasunduan; 5). Creation of Parent - Teacher Group Chat through Messenger and Facebook to solicit suggestions to encourage students to give their best in their studies; (6). Frequently doing phone calls to inform parents about the progress of their child in school; and (7). Online parent orientation before and after school year starts/ends. While result showed on Table 11, the activities on the policy on parental engagement that may be proposed to improve student’s academic performance at home are as follows: (1). Parent – Teacher – Student (PaTeSt) Video Conferencing to discuss means to help students and parents and teachers to be actively involved in the improvement of learners’ performance in school; (2). Compensation like awards or special recognition for parents who have actively assisted their children in doing their schoolwork’s at home; (3). Creation of Parent - Teacher Group Chat through Messenger and Facebook for announcement, clarification on student’s homework and additional instructions; (4). Family recreational activities related to the lessons; and (5). Frequently doing phone calls to inform parents about the progress of their child at home. According to the policy document, parental involvement enables learner attainment, and parents make decisions about the learning process and the progress of learners. Therefore, the policy guidelines form part of the rules of the activity system that ensures sufficiency, provide opportunity for improvement, coordinate effort and capture the multi-voices engagement of actors as they work on the system and change it (Hedegaard 2012). The purpose of home visits is to improve academic performance of students in school and to enhance the parent-teacher partnership (Sheldon, 2011). The teacher visits the child’s home to communicate to the parents about their child performance in school. The teacher gives the awareness how students are trained at school, how students absorb, and display parents about diverse study skills that can improved and make development in the student’s educations. Blank (2011) says that this is performed for parents and teachers to share responsibility and ownership of students’ performance. Through home visits, teachers can create a greater understanding and strong relationship, not only with the parents of the active children, but to the students as well. Home visits activity of the teacher to the identified student at risk from VEFMHS has improved the learner engagement in school and at home thus, enhanced student academic performance. According to the cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), parental engagement policy permits parents to enhance the ambiance of the school and home that is beneficial to learning through supervising learner’s assignment. The activities as showed in table 11 and 12 supports this claimed; hence, the academic performance of the learner has showed significant improvement in PreCalculus class. Activities such as “frequently doing phone calls to inform parents about the progress of their child in school”, “Parent – Teacher – Student (PaTeSt) Video Conferencing to discuss means to help students and parents and teachers to be actively involved in the improvement of learners’ performance in school”, and “Creation of Parent - Teacher Group Chat through Messenger and Facebook for announcement, clarification on student’s homework and additional instructions” were found helpful to ensure the engagement of the parents to their children’s education whether in school or at home. Learning is a communal discussion; it involves human collaboration and communication (Owusu-Ansah and Mji 2013). Grant and Ray (2010) contend, parental participation policy permit parents to connect with the school and direct students to perform best academically. Activities such as “Creation of Parent - Teacher Group Chat through Messenger and Facebook to solicit suggestions to encourage students to give their best in their studies” and “Parent – Teacher – Student (PaTeSt) Video Conferencing to discuss means to help students and parents and teachers to be actively involved in the improvement of learners’ performance in school” were found favorable in achieving participation of parents, students and teachers to convey matters that would improve student’s academic performance. School Based Management Approach empowers the school heads, teachers, and other stakeholders including the parents to be part of the decision making process. Abulencia (2014) yielded a positive result in terms of academic performance of the students, through the increased participation of parents and community in the education of their children. As showed on the list of activities, VEFMHS recognizes the importance of Pa ge 40 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(4) 32-41, 2023 empowering its stakeholders; wherein, “Empowerment of Parent-Teacher Conference Association (PTCA) by including them in most projects and activities like Brigada Eskwela” was found to be engaging; thus, improve participation of parents and community in the education of their children. The reviewed rules governing “Parents-Teachers Association” undoubtedly agreed that both elementary and secondary schools shall establish a Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) for the purpose of providing a forum for 36 The Normal Lights Special ISSUE 2016 the discussion of issues and their solutions related to the total school program and to ensure total cooperation of parents in the implementation of such program emphasize that parents should always be part of decision making for their child’s education (DepEd, 2009). Positive reinforcement such as giving rewards after a good performance is founded on Edward Thorndike’s development of the Law of Effect which was expanded later by B.F Skinner’s operant conditioning. VEFMHS values this reward system for it encourages parents to be involved in their children’s education whether in home or at school setting. As showed in the findings “Compensation like awards or special recognition for parents who have actively assisted their children in doing their schoolwork’s at home”. This study subscribed to the importance of these classical theories of motivation and learning. Nevertheless, the involvement of parents is being highlighted in the study to support the teachers in providing positive reinforcement that could lead to enhanced performance in school. CONCLUSIONS The Valerian E Fugoso Memorial High School employs various approaches to encourage parent engagement both in school and at home. Parent engagement at home has two approaches namely: collaborative homework and home environment. These two approaches were both rated higher than 80% strongly agreeing or agreeing in all its efforts and initiatives. The data showed that the VEFMHS has a very high remarks in terms of encouraging the parents to be involved in the learning of their children in home. Meanwhile, parent engagement in school has three approaches namely: parent-school communication, volunteering and participation in school activities, and decision-making. Although these three approaches had no clear evidence to the effect on the academic performance of the students, the data shows that VEFMHS valued these approaches in which more than half or almost every teacher respondent said they are into practicing them. The T – value of |-2.19| as shown in Table 9 implies that there is a significant effect on the academic performance of the students after the mean grade of two school year were treated using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Its significance has something to do with the approaches employed by the VEFMHS to encourage parent engagement both in school and at home; hence, academic performance improved. As to the most effective type of parent engagement activities that VEFMHS employs during new normal. Table 10 and 11 clearly identifies them and have been practiced even before new normal by the teacher respondents. RECOMMENDATIONS A proposed activity plan on parent engagement in the learning of their children at home and in school may be introduced. Second, a seminar-workshop must be facilitated to enhance the skills of the teacher to encourage parents to be involved in the learning of their children. 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