Most of the secondary analyses from different international large-scale student assessments are trying to investigate the association between different factors and academic achievements. Regarding the reading literacy very well-known positive correlations with different factors were investigated: e.g. availability of books, differences in achievement by gender, home language, urban-rural locations, etc. Sociologists’ attention on schools, families, and communities has changed dramatically over the past 40 years – from studies that were conducted as if families, schools, or communities were separate or competing contexts to studies investigating connections between or overlapping those contexts (Epstein & Sanders, 2002, pp. 525–526). Nowadays this is known mostly as the Epstein’s theory of overlapping spheres of influences in educational partnership, which combines psychological, educational and sociological perspectives on social institutions to describe and explain the relations between parents, schools and local environments in an integrated manner (Driessen, Smit, & Sleegers, 2005, p. 511). Involvement of parents in school life is seen as important for development of social and cognitive aspects of students and improves the quality of education. Interaction between school and students’ parents can improve the academic development of students from disadvantaged groups, such as ethnic minorities or those coming from families with low socioeconomic status (SES) (Driessen et al., 2005). Additionally, according to different authors (see Mullis & Martin, 2013, p. 72), higher levels of parental involvement can improve overall students’ attitude toward school as well and help closing the gap determined by different social, ethnic and cultural factors (Bellibas & Gumus, 2013) and can also reduce the absenteeism, school dropout and drug and alcohol abuse (Miljević-Ridički & Vlasta Vizek Vidović, n.d.).
From the triangle schools-families-communities this policy brief focuses on the involvement of families (and more precisely parents/guardians) in school life and learning of students. Our theoretical assumptions will base on Epstein theory that different types of involvement leads to different outcomes for students. Parental involvement will be related with the reading performance of the students.
General objective of the paper is to explore the relationship between parental involvement in school life and student achievements in reading. It will use student, parental and school contextual and achievement data from the IEA Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011.
More specifically:
1. Provide information on the strength of the relationship between school and students’ families with student reading achievement.
2. Estimate the gap in parental involvement between students coming from families with different social, economic and educational background and the related with it achievement gap.
3. Suggest ways to improve the involvement in school life and interaction with parents.

Bellibas, M. S., & Gumus, S. (2013). The Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Parental Involvement in Turkish Primary Schools: Perspective of Teachers. International Journal of Progressive Education, 9(3), 178–193. Driessen, G., Smit, F., & Sleegers, P. (2005). Parental Involvement and Educational Achievement. British Educational Research Journal, 31(4), 509–532. doi:10.2307/30032581 Epstein, L. J., & Sanders, G. M. (2002). School, Family, and Community Partnership. In D. L. Levinson, P. W. Cookson, & A. R. Sadovnik (Eds.), Education and Sociology (pp. 525–532). New York: Routledge Falmer. Miljević-Ridički, R., & Vlasta Vizek Vidović, V. (n.d.). Parental Involvement in the Life of Schools Policy brief: Croatia. Retrieved from http://www.edupolicy.net/images/pubs/policy_briefs/Participation_Policybrief_eng.pdf Mullis, I. V. S., & Martin, M. O. (Eds.). (2013). TIMSS 2015 Assessment Frameworks. Chestnunt Hill, MA: Boston College.