The Influence of Parental Involvement on Reading Comprehension in Grade Three Learners

Abstract

This study examined the role of parental engagement in the reading comprehension of learners. It specifically focused on two aspects of involvement: parents’ encouragement of their children to read and their role in modeling positive attitudes toward reading. Using a descriptive correlational design anchored on the Input–Process–Output (IPO) model, the research gathered data from parent-respondents through an adapted Parental Involvement Questionnaire (Alazri, 2019) and assessed learners’ comprehension using standardized reading tests. Results showed that parents were generally highly involved in encouraging their children to read, especially by allowing them to choose books, giving books as gifts, and monitoring school performance. However, parents were only moderately involved in modeling positive reading attitudes, as fewer engaged in daily shared reading or demonstrated consistent personal reading habits. Statistical analysis revealed that parental educational attainment significantly influenced involvement, while other demographic factors such as age, gender, and income did not. Most importantly, parental encouragement, modeling, and overall involvement were all significantly related to learners’ reading comprehension performance. The findings emphasize the critical role of family support in literacy development and highlight the need for schools to strengthen home-school partnerships to improve comprehension skills at this crucial stage of learning.