While the notion of parental involvement in developed countries has become important for students’ education, parental involvement in Indonesia has not been implemented very successfully (Karsidi et al., 2013; Fitriah et al., 2013; Majzub & Salim, 2011). In addition, the literature suggests that Indonesia still needs some additional effort to implement the notion of parental involvement both in day and boarding schools (Fitriah et al., 2013; Azizah, 2013; Subiyanti, 2007). Using a parental involvement framework by Epstein (2009), this study gives information on the level of parental involvement in Islamic Boarding Schools. This research also examined whether or not the parental involvement framework by Epstein, which has been widely used both in research and practice in the US and beyond, is applicable in an Islamic boarding school setting. Specifically, this paper explored in what ways Epstein’s model applies to parental involvement in Islamic boarding school. I also examined what family characteristics predict parental involvement models by Epstein.Using mixed methods, I conducted this study at an Islamic boarding school in one province in Indonesia, a country which has the biggest Muslim population in the world. Parental Involvement Framework developed by Epstein (2009) is applied as a theoretical framework for analyzing the data findings. The study found that five out of six parental involvement models were practiced by both parents and the school staff. Parenting, communicating, learning at home, volunteering, and collaborating with the community were identified during interviews, observations, and surveys. However, school policy decision making was not evident and observed. It was difficult to find evidence of parental involvement in decision-making processes from the data I collected. In addition to the six parental involvement models, I also found that there were four additional models applied in the school: material supporter, motivational/spiritual supporter, evaluator, and liaison. From the survey data, there were three parents’ characteristics that predict the level of parental involvement: parents’ income, parents’ background as a farmer, and number of siblings at school. Finally, even though Berjaya Boarding School (BBS) has been implementing parental involvement relatively well, the school needs to be aware of inequalities in parental involvement practices, such as that families from the lower socio-economic status tend to have lower opportunities to get involved in school activities or programs. One alternative approach to combat the inequity practice in this study is by adopting the culturally responsive school leadership approach (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Gay, 1994; & Khalifa et al. (2016).I believe that the Parental Involvement models by Epstein plus the expanded new models are suitable to be applied in Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia. However, the decision-making model is one area that needs to have more attention in future studies. Further research on a parental role in decision-making is strongly recommended. Finally, in addition to Epstein’s six parental involvement models, there must be other models that can also be applied in boarding school settings such as non-material supporters, material supporters, evaluators, and liaisons.
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