PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: UNDERSTANDING PATTERNS, BARRIERS, AND OPPORTUNITIES

Research across the social sciences has long sought to better understand how various inputs - from parents, schools, neighborhoods, policies, programs, and others - are determined and combined to produce child outcomes. One such input, parental time and involvement (PTI), has been the object of considerable empirical attention because of its importance for the cognitive and social development of children. This dissertation seeks to better understand three new aspects of PTI. Chapter one takes an institutional approach to investigate whether racial representation among teachers affects a parent's decision to become involved at his or her child's school. Chapter two focuses on the effectiveness of state-level policies designed to protect parents' rights to take time off from work to attend children's school meetings or events. Finally, chapter three builds on existing research that estimates differences by socioeconomic status in the amount of time parents spend with their children by investigating two new dimensions of parent-child time: shared time when both parents are present, and individual time when no siblings are present.