PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN AN ISLAMIC BOARDING SCHOOL IN INDONESIA By Dion Efrijum Ginanto A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of K-12 Educational Administration – Doctor of Philosophy 2018 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN AN ISLAMIC BOARDING SCHOOL IN INDONESIA ABSTRACT By Dion Efrijum Ginanto 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. iii Copyright by DION EFRIJUM GINANTO 2018 iv To my father, Bachmid Mutohar, my mother, Sri Marhaeni, my wife, Ira Suherman, my son, Zaheer Ginanto, and Baby “Z”. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Alhamdulillah, because of the God mercy, I can finish this dissertation. This dissertation is not a solo work for me. This piece of work is a teamwork effort. Therefore, I would like to thank everyone who has invested everything they can do to support my study. First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Kristy Cooper Stein. Kristy for all her students is more than just a professor; she is a mentor, a friend, a teacher, a motivator, and an inspiration. I felt her enthusiasm and determination toward learning and teaching, since I was doing my masters degree back in 2012. As a student, I learned a lot from her thoughtfulness and engaging style in the classroom. Her enthusiasm and love of teaching was evident from the beginning. Kristy really knows how to treat international students like me so I do not feel alienated in her class. I am so fortunate having her as my advisor. She devoted her time for a monthly meeting to all of her advisees to share information and learn from each other’s. She named her advisees group as “Coops Group”. We really love this group, because we will always have one or two presenters who share their study in order to receive inputs and feedbacks. So, we are not only received feedback from her as our advisor, but we can also have a rich input from our colleagues. In addition to Coops Group, she also has a biweekly schedule that we can always book for 30 to 60 minutes slot. That way we can consult with her with the areas or topics we do not feel comfortable sharing with the bigger group. I like this type of mentorship, and I plan to apply her styles of mentorship and advising to my students when I become a professor in the near future. Once again, thank you so much, Kristy, for creating a guided timeline that steered me so I can finish my Ph.D degree within four years. vi Next, I would like to thank all the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Amita Chudgar, Dr. John Yun, and Dr. Siddharth Chandra. Through their mentorship, I learn a lot of what it means and what it takes to be a good scholar. I felt that I was the luckiest student to have them on my dissertation committee. They have been supportive and committed to making sure that I got the best guidance and support. More importantly, they have been invested their time and efforts to provide me with in-depth intellectual feedback and guidance in order to sharpen my critical thinking for my study. I would like to also thank USAID-PRESTASI that has opened me the door to study in a big university in the United States of America, Michigan State University, which I never thought that I could study here. Through its scholarship program for my master's degree, USAID- PRESTASI has invested culturally, financially, and academically and has bridged me to my Ph.D. degree. I would also thank to College of Education, Michigan State University that has granted me a four-year graduate assistantship and has placed me to a wonderful work experience through LATTICE, OISE (Office of International Study in Education), and Dr. Kristy Cooper Stein. Through LATTICE, I learned a lot on how professional development can help both local teachers and international student to be a better educator who has more global understanding. Through OISE, I learn how to assist International students and visiting scholars to feel more welcoming here at MSU. And Through Dr. Stein research assistantship I learned on how to do a more quality research and scholarship. In addition, I would also like to thank the Indonesian community here at MSU. I could not imagine how lonely I am without having our Indonesian community here in this big campus. I also indebted to the Residence Education and Housing Services (REHS) that provides me such vii priceless opportunity to learn and serve the community especially those who live in family housing apartments. Through REHS I learned what it means to work hard and to work smart, and how it feels to help people lock out in the middle of the night or even at 3 am in the morning. I also enjoyed helping residents with noise issues, smoking, marijuana, or even trash in the hallway. Sometimes I felt like I am the police officers for my residents. LATTICE, how could I not thank this big family. Through LATTICE I had such precious opportunities to work with current and future educators who have a more beautiful mind. I wish all teachers in the world were equipped with such open-mindedness quality like those in LATTICE. LATTICE helped me settled through my first year struggling in the campus. LATTICE teaches me something I never learned from any classroom. I would also like to express my gratitude to my host family Melody Hasselback and Fred Hasselback. Melody and Fred are my American parents who always be available to assist in any situation. Through Melody and Fred, I made such good friends with Kim, Barb, and Karl who were also like a family for us. I experienced almost all-American cultures and tradition because of Melody and Fred. This study could not be done without the help and the generosity of the Berjaya Boarding School, especially Mr. Han. Mr. Han has been outstanding in helping me facilitate and link me to key people in the school. Through the help of Mr. Han, I can gather my research participants and collect the data smoothly. I also indebted to all my friends in the College of Education: Abubakar Idris, Seref Gedik, Kris Windorski, Felix, Ian, and Darius, thank you for all the jokes and motivation. My writing group: Sara Bano and Taeyeon Kim, thank you for providing such a comfortable and accountable atmosphere for us to work. My Antek Amerika’s partner in crime: Kristian Adi Putra viii and Taufik Mulyadin, thank you for cheering me up when I was down. Ustaz Arya and all the Halaqah team, thank you all for your prayer and motivation. Last but not least, My wife Ira and my son, Zaheer. I could not imagine how I could finish my research without you. I am so sorry that I needed to leave you and Zaheer and Baby “Z” most of the time, even during our difficult time. Thank you for your patience, loves, and caring. ix PREFACE Because this study involved human beings, this study required approval from The Michigan State University’s Institutional Review Board (MSU-IRB) The IRB log number was IRB# x17-328 x TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................................3 Purpose of the Study ...................................................................................................................5 Significance of the Study and Research Questions .....................................................................6 Definition of Terms and Concepts ..............................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................9 Defining Boarding School ...........................................................................................................9 The Role of Religion in Boarding Schools ............................................................................14 Education in Indonesia: Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia ..........................................15 Parental Involvement .................................................................................................................18 Definition of Parental Involvement .......................................................................................21 Family Characteristics and Parental Involvement .................................................................25 Some Potential Drawbacks of Parental Involvement ............................................................28 Parental Involvement in Indonesia ........................................................................................29 Parental Involvement in Boarding Schools ................................................................................33 Parental Involvement in Religious Boarding Schools ...........................................................34 Parental Involvement in Boarding Schools in Indonesia ......................................................35 The Role of Islamic Values in Indonesian Boarding Schools ...............................................38 Theoretical Framework on Parental Involvement ......................................................................40 Epstein Framework of Six Types of Involvement .................................................................40 Parental Involvement Models in Boarding Schools ..............................................................45 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................48 Research Questions ...................................................................................................................48 Research Design ........................................................................................................................48 Research Site, Researcher’s Role and Positionality ..............................................................50 Participant Selection ..............................................................................................................54 Data Collection ..........................................................................................................................58 Observations ..........................................................................................................................58 Interviews ..............................................................................................................................60 Surveys ..................................................................................................................................60 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................61 Validity ......................................................................................................................................64 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS .............................................................................................................66 Epstein’s Models of Parental Involvement ...............................................................................66 Parenting ...............................................................................................................................66 xi Communicating .....................................................................................................................71 Volunteering ...........................................................................................................................75 Learning at Home .................................................................................................................78 Decision Making ....................................................................................................................82 Collaborating with the Community .......................................................................................84 Models of Parental Involvement beyond Epstein’s Models ......................................................88 Material Support ...................................................................................................................88 Spiritual/Motivational Support ..............................................................................................90 Evaluator.................................................................................................................................92 Liaison ...................................................................................................................................94 Definition of Parental Involvement ...........................................................................................96 Definition of Parents .................................................................................................................98 Biological Parents and Spiritual/knowledge Parents .............................................................98 Extended Families as Parents ................................................................................................99 Parents’ Motivation in Sending Their Kids to Boarding School ............................................100 Family Characteristics Predicting Parental Involvement at BBS ............................................104 Parenting .............................................................................................................................108 Communicating ...................................................................................................................108 Volunteering .........................................................................................................................108 Learning at Home ...............................................................................................................109 Decision Making ..................................................................................................................109 Collaborating with the Community .....................................................................................109 Parental Involvement (The Combination of the Six Models) ..............................................110 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION ................................................................112 Why Boarding School? ...........................................................................................................110 New Model of Parental Involvement ......................................................................................114 Decision Making at BBS: Is it the Issue of Trust or is it the Issue of Leaning Parents? .......117 Challenging the Narrative of Parental Involvement in Indonesia ...........................................120 The Notion of inequality in the Practice of Parental Involvement ..........................................122 Alternative Approaches for Inequlaity Practice in Parental involvement ...............................124 Culturally Responsive School Leadership ..........................................................................125 Inclusive Leadership ...........................................................................................................127 The Role of Islamic Values on Parental Involvement .............................................................129 Implication for Practice ...........................................................................................................132 School Principals ................................................................................................................132 Teachers ...............................................................................................................................134 Parents ..................................................................................................................................135 Directions for Future Research ................................................................................................136 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................137 APPENDICES .........................................................................................................................141 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS .........................................142 xii APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PRINCIPAL .......................................................................................................................144 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS ..........................................146 APPENDIX D: PARENT SURVEY ..................................................................................148 APPENDIX E: OBSERVATION NOTE-TAKING FORM ...............................................154 APPENDIX F: RESEARCH PARTICIPANT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM FOR INTERVIEW ...............................................................................................................155 APPENDIX G: FULL TABLE OF MULTIPLE REGRESSION .......................................156 APPENDIX H: LETTER FOR THE SCHOOL ...................................................................157 APPENDIX I: JOYCE EPSTEIN PERMISSION LETTER ................................................158 APPENDIX J: IRB APPROVAL .........................................................................................159 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................160 xiii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Mean, standard deviations, and pairwise correlations of constructs .............................105 Table 2. Mean, standard deviations, and pairwise correlations of constructs .............................106 Table 3. Multiple Regression Results across all Parental Involvement Framework ...................107 Table 4. Multiple Regression Results across all Parental Involvement Framework (Full) .........156 xiv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The High School Student’s Schedule at BBS.................................................................51 Figure 2. Parental Involvement new model ................................................................................115 xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION There are several types of educational settings to which parents send their kids to study. These include public schools, charter schools, homeschooling, private schools, as well as boarding schools (Sgro, 2006). In most of these types of schools, students will most likely stay with their parents, except in boarding schools. In the boarding school settings, the students stay internally at the schools for a certain time depending on the schools’ and parents’ agreement (Sgro, 2006). Therefore, boarding schools will have different arrangements for how parents are involved in their children’s education compared to day schools. There are several reasons why parents agree to send their kids to boarding schools, including to increase students’ religious values (Smith, 2009; Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005), to prepare students with certain leadership skills (Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2009; Sgro, 2006; Marin et al., 2015), and to provide educational access for minority students (Hirshberg & Sharp, 200; Curto & Fryer, 2012; Yangbin, 2006). Regardless of parents’ motives for sending their children away, a boarding school decreases the amount of time for parents to watch and support their kids. Researchers have found that when parents are actively supporting their children both at home and school, the students will perform better than those whose parents are not actively involved in their kids’ education (Epstein, 2009; Hornby, 2000; Lareau, 2000). Parents in boarding schools may not visit the schools often or the students will not go back to their parents frequently due to the distance between the school and the parents’ house (Smith, 2009). These circumstances raise questions regarding the different roles that parents play in the educational lives of students attending boarding schools, including what family characteristics affecting the level of parents involvement. 1 The boarding school offers different educational settings for parents, teachers, and students. Parents could not supervise students at home; parents could not drop and or pick up their child regularly; parents could not communicate with their students and teachers often; and parents could not visit the school regularly. The boarding school may not be able to implement the traditional approach in engaging parents the way public schools do to engage parents. Parents may think that they already did their part in sending their children to a boarding school. Parents therefore may merely rely on teachers and school staff to shape their children’s future and education by supporting the school financially. However, the opposite might also be true. The boarding school may have their own approach to engaging parents using the boarding school perspective. To investigate this issue, I used survey, observation, and interview methods to see how the parental involvement looks like in an Islamic school and to seek information whether which parental involvement models best applied in a boarding school setting. Finally, I was also interested in seeing how family characters affecting the level of parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school setting. This dissertation consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the study, including [1] the problem statement; [2] the purpose of the study; [3] significance of the study and research questions; and [4] the definition of key terms and concepts used in the proposal. The second chapter is the theoretical framework I used to support my study. The chapters includes [1] the definition of boardings schools and the role of religion in boarding schools and Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia; [2] how parental involvement is defined in research; [3] 2 family characteristics and parental involvement; [4] some potential drawbacks of parental involvement; [5] parental involvement in Indonesia; [6] parental involvement in boarding schools; and [7] theoretical framework of parental involvement. The third chapter is about the methodology I used for my study. This chapter includes [1] research questions; [2] research design, research site, researcher’s role and positionality; [3] data collection: observations, interviews, surveys, and student examination data; [4] data analysis; and [5] validity. The fourth chapter is the Finding chapters which includes: [1] definition of parental involvement; [2] definition of parents; [3] parents’ motivation in sending their kids to boarding school; [4] models of parental involvement beyond Epstein; [5] Epstein's model of parental involvement; and [5] family characteristics predicting parental involvement in Berjaya Boarding School. Finally, the fifth chapter is the discussion chapter. In the discussion chapter, I discuss [1] why boarding school; [2] new parental involvement model; [3] decision making at BBS: Is it the issue of trust or is it the issue of leavign parents; [4] challenging the narrative of parental involvement in Indonesia; [5] the notion of inequality in the practice of parental involvement; [6] culturally responsive school leadership; [7] the role of Islamic values in parental involvement; [8] implications for practice; [9] directions for future research; and [10] conclusion. Problem Statement Parents of children in day schools may find it relatively easy to volunteer in their child’s school. However, parents in the boarding school setting may find it difficult to volunteer due to distance. In addition, students living at home can receive motivation and help from their parents 3 when it comes to doing their homework. Meanwhile, students in boarding schools may or may not receive help from their parents. The day schools’ communities are those who have a direct influence on the schools. In the boarding schools, however, the community around the schools may or may not send their children to the boarding school. Parents in day schools will most likely spend time with their children when their children finish the school day. Parents at home can protect their children from external factors the kids may find negative (Schneider, 1993), including both online and offline interactions. In addition, parents in day schools may easily join the parent advisory council or parent teachers association in order to help the school in decision making (Schneider, 1993). By comparison, parents in boarding schools setting may not be as intensely involved as parents in day schools. Some parents, however, find some constraints in assisting their children's schooling and education, including time constraints, lack of resources, lack of knowledge, and lack of networking with other parents. In this case, Schneider (1993) suggested some programs or activities that parents can undergo to support kids. For example, some parents send their kids to music classes. Parents can also invite a private tutor in order to help with extra lessons after class. There are also some parents who, due to some reasons, send their children to the boarding schools. The studies, however, showed that parents in boarding schools, especially in Indonesia, are less engaged compared to public school due to the distance between home and school as well as the low understanding of parental involvement for of parents in the boarding school setting (Dewi, 2015; Azizah, 2013; Parker & Raihani, 2011). The study about parental involvement in boarding school in Indonesia did not touch base on any parental involvement framework. Parental involvement framework is a model that parents 4 and teachers do in supporting their children education. It made it difficult to analyze the level of parents engagement because there was no measurement for it. This study came to examine how parents and teachers work together in engaging parents in school events and programs. In doing so, this study also argues that it worth examining the family characteristics that predict the level of parental involvement. Therefore this study is believed to contribute to the parental involvement framework to measure parental involvement in boarding school. Purpose of the Study This study is intended to see whether or not parental involvement models widely used in American Education settings also work in an Islamic boarding school setting. There were so far a limited study on parental involvement using parental involvement framework in Indonesia, especially in an Islamic boarding school context. In addition, the study also examine the parental involvement models beyond a specific parental involvement framework. That way, this study will contribute to comprehensive information on parental involvement using both framework and non-framework perspectives. The proposed study is also aimed at seeking information on whether or not sending kids to boarding schools conflicts with the idea of parental involvement. The notion of including parents has become an issue to most of the boarding schools such as the distance barriers, communication issues, and volunteering issues (Sgro, 2006). Furthermore, Sgro (2006) argued that boarding schools are considered to be unique institutions that offer some educational advantages that day-to-day public schools could not offer. This includes 24-hour educational systems in which students and faculty can interact on a regular basis. Students can have more extracurricular activities, as well as more time for collaboration among students and faculty (Sgro, 2006). However, the distance of parents to the schools has meant that parents could not 5 be actively involved in formal roles such as becoming members of the board of trustees, volunteering at school, or engaging in decision making (Sgro, 2006). If that is the case, what kind of role could the parents play both at school and at home in order to help students’ success? Finally, this study is also intended to find information on what family characteristics predict the level of parental involvement. Using a questionnaire, I am expecting to solicit information on family characteristics that typically predict the level of parental involvement such as gender, types of parents, number of siblings, socioeconomic status, and parents education. By knowing the family characteristics that predict parental involvement model, we can help practitioners and inform researcher in addressing the problem in engaging parents in school settings. Significance of the Study and Research Questions In Indonesia, the study and the practice of parental involvement are relatively low compared to the developed country (Karsidi et al., 2013; Fitriah et al., 2013; Majzub & Salim, 2011). The Indonesian government began to realize the importance of parental involvement and was ready to take serious action on parental involvement in 2015. The Indonesian government previously relied on its teachers and infrastructure quality only and forgot the role of parents in advancing education quality (Farizi, 2015). Therefore, the government of the Republic of Indonesia through the Ministry of Education and Cultures established the Directorate of Parenting Education in 2015 (Tomilson & Andina, 2015). This new directorate, according to Tomilson and Andina (2015), is aimed at “increasing its efforts to improve parental involvement in education” (p. 27). In Indonesia however, not all schools are under the Ministry of Education 6 and Cultures1. The religious schools, such as Islamic boardings schools, are under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The Ministry of Religious Affairs, however, has not established a new directorate to promote parental involvement in the schools. Thus, this paper is aimed at seeking information on school and family relationship in the religious boarding school setting that could inform future policies and practices for the Ministry of Religious Affairs. This paper will specifically address the notion of parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. This study is therefore aimed to answer the following questions: 1. In what ways does Epstein’s framework apply to parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia? 2. How are parents involved in their children’s education in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia? 3. What family characteristics predict parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia? 1 See Education in Indonesia: Islamic Boarding School in Indonesia 7 Definition of Terms and Concepts Boarders are the students who reside in boarding schools (Martin et al., 2015). Da’wa is spreading the Islamic teachings to the surrounding community. Dua is a prayer or an act of worship. Madrasahs are Islamic schools run either by government or individuals, which can be in a form of boarding or non-boarding schools. Madrasah combines both public education curriculum and Islamic curriculum (Tan, 2014). Parental involvement is an effort by both home (biological parents or non-biological parents) and school (teachers, principal, staff) to support students’ success. Parents in this study are not merely father and mother; instead, parents are those who support kids’ education (Epstein, 1995). The term parents, according to Tomlinson and Andina (2015), are those who provide care for children including biological parents, grandparents, extended family, or those who nurture, take care, and protect the children. Pondok Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) is an educational institution in which the students reside in the boarding schools to study both secular and Islamic religious education (Tan, 2014). Pondok Pesantren Berjaya or Berjaya Boarding School (BBS) is a pseudonym of the school in this study. Silaturahmi is maintaining a good relationship with others and respecting guests 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Defining Boarding School So, what is a boarding school? A boarding school is a type of school where its students reside in the boarding homes provided by the school (Sgro, 2006; Tan 2014). Sgro (2006) defined boarding school as a unique environment in which students and faculty can interact on a daily basis. Martin et al. (2015) have a similar definition of a boarding school in terms of its ability to provide an opportunity to increase networking among students and faculty. They called boarding school students boarders (Martin et al., 2015). The boarders vary in how long they will stay in the dormitory; there are some who visit parents weekly, monthly, every semester, or even yearly. The boarders will have their mentors in the dormitory as a replacement of the parental roles, such as helping the students with homework, helping students with consultation, and helping students with behavioral issues (Curto & Fryer, 2012). Martin et al. (2015) conducted a study on motivation and engagement using international samples, including students from Australia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, and discovered that because boarders spend most of their time at school, they, therefore, will have a better understanding of the educational contexts. Similar to this finding, Maphaso and Mahlo (2014) conducted a study of 339 schools in South Africa (51 boarding schools and 288 non-boarding schools); they found that the boarding schools had a significant positive impact on students’ performance. This success was because the government gave serious attention to the boarding schools, especially to help the low socio-economic status students to advance (Maphaso & Mahlo, 2014). Boarding schools offer the bulk of times for students to interact with their teachers, peers, and school staff, which can eventually increase students’ motivation and students’ relationships 9 with teachers (Marin et al., 2015). Students are also offered an adequate time to ask clarification questions or help for homework from teachers and peers who are also residing at boarding houses (Martin et al., 2015). Additionally, Martin et al. (2015) argued that, due to the regulations and schedules enforced in the boarding houses, the students naturally show good discipline. The rules in the boarding schools cover almost all of students’ daily lives, including time to sleep and wake up; time to have dinner, lunch, and breakfast; time to do homework; and even time for leisure (Martin et al., 2015). As stated above, there are at least three types of boarding schools. The first type of boarding school is that which is built to provide access for minority students. This kind of boarding school, according to Curto and Fryer (2010), is a place in which students move to a boarding program that provides a conducive environment for the students. The study by Curto and Fryer (2010) on urban public boarding schools for low-income families showed a positive impact on the students’ performance. In this case, they argued that boarding schools are the place where they can provide an alternative solution for low-income families in advancing their academic performance. In the United States of America (and beyond), the problem of closing the achievement gap for minority students becomes an endemic problem that has not been resolved (Curto & Fryer, 2012; Yangbin, 2006). In Indonesia, many low social economic status parents send their kids to boarding school due to the scholarship being offered to the students and the low tuition fee compared to other private schools. The boarding schools offer relatively low tuition because most of boarding schools have their own enterprises to support the schools (Putra, 2013; Nurhayati & Yasin, 2013). These types of boarding schools, however, also have some negative effects on students. Such boarding schools often aim to “assimilate” and “civilize” non-dominant groups of people. 10 Indeed, the history of the boarding school in the U.S.A was to civilize the indigenous people, such as Native Americans. For example, Hirsberg and Sharp (2005) studied boarding schools in Alaska from the point of view of Alaskan Natives. In this instance, the boarding schools were built in order (1) to assimilate the American Indian in Alaska with other students; (2) to civilize, or in other words Christianize, the Alaska Natives; (3) and to help provide a place to study for the rural area students (Hirshberg & Sharp, 2005). Hirsberg and Sharp’s studies in Alaska uncovered some physical and sexual abuse in several boarding schools. The sexual assault included “being kissed by the teachers or solicited to pose nude” (p. 11), while the physical assault included being beaten by teachers, or physical punishment for speaking the local language at the dorms (Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005). Additionally, students placed in these types of boarding schools are susceptible to the loss of language, culture, and identity (The Secretariat of the United Nations, 2010). Being away from the family and being mixed with a heterogeneous group of students, as well as the rules of the boarding school, are possible causes of students losing their identities (The Secretariat of the United Nations, 2010). They are no longer able to speak their local language or live in their local tradition and culture in the dorms (Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005). The second type of boarding school is that which prepares elite families for equipping their future generations with quality leadership. Gaztambide-Fernandez (2009) argued that some upper-middle-class families in the U.S.A send their kids to boarding schools in order to offer their kids leadership skills, which are important for the continuation of their family businesses. The elite boarding schools are influential in increasing the leadership and other soft skills such as entrepreneurship skill that the upper-middle social class needs to sustain their wealth. By sending their children to an exclusive environment, it will benefit students to gain such important skills 11 expected by the upper middle families (Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2009; Sgro, 2006). The elite boarding schools according to Gaztambide-Fernandez (2009) are schools that have more autonomy and wealth than public schools; sometimes they have their own curriculum, have their own systems for selecting students, and have high-quality facilities. Elite boarding school students are expected to develop what Martin et al. (2015) mentioned as the benefit of boarding schools, such as (1) students’ value of collectivity and collaboration will be increased, and (2) regulatory process and traditions in boarding schools may improve students’ discipline. Elite boarding schools, however, perpetuate the practice of students’ segregation based on family background. The elite boarding schools create a new discrimination against low- income families because these private schools will most likely be attended by students from upper-class families (Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2009). The parents of students in elite boarding schools may also worry that the schools will engage in the negative practices of other boarding schools, such as physical or sexual abuse. The strict regulations of the boarding schools may also negatively impact students, such as by inducing trauma or other negative attitudes and misconduct due to the trauma (Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005). In addition, boarding schools may contribute to positive outcomes for students with strong academic backgrounds, but not for those who are weaker academically. This is because different students need different amounts of time for the adaptation. Students with strong academic backgrounds will adapt faster compared to the more vulnerable students (Behaghel, Chaisemartin, & Gurgand, 2015). Lastly, Sgro (2006) argued that students in boarding schools sometimes feel lonely because their parents are not with them when they need some help such as doing homework or giving motivation when they are down. 12 The third type of boarding school is the religious boarding school. One of the reasons why parents or government favor boarding schools is that they want to equip their children with certain religious values. One of the goals of establishing boarding schools for the native Alaskan was to introduce the students to the value of Christianity (Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005). The 24-hour educational system in the boarding schools makes it easy for the teachers and the staff to control and regulate students based on the value of the schools as well as the religion (Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005). In a study of religious boarding schools in Australia and the United Kingdom, Ryan and Sibieta (2010) concluded that the Australian government not only put its money in public schoolings, but it also subsidized private or independent schools including boarding schools. The boarding schools in Australia are affiliated with both Catholic and Protestant churches (Ryan & Sibieta, 2010). Ryan and Sibieta (2010) continued that both Australian and United Kingdom students whose parents are religious tend to send their kids to private schools, which include boarding schools. The mission of introducing certain religious values to students, however, often deviates and can be translated into an assault on language, cultures, and beliefs (Sinclair, Littlechild, & Wilson, 2012). In Canada, America, New Zealand and Australia, in the name of civilizing people, indigenous people were forced to leave their families to study in boarding schools and to convert to Christianity (The Secretariat of the United Nations, 2010). There were reports that the students were forced to worship as Christians, were physically abused, and were given inadequate food and medical care (Smith, 2009). Some Churches have officially apologized for the negative treatment of students and parents due to such misconduct (Smith, 2009). 13 The Role of Religion in Boarding Schools In his paper prepared for the Secretariat of the United Nations, Smith (2009) conducted a study over several countries including those in North America, Australia, Asia, Latin America, Russian Federation, Scandinavia, East Africa, and Asia. He found that the role of the church was dominant over the boarding schools. In addition to civilizing the indigenous communities in those countries, the boarding schools also bring their mission to Christianize their students. The churches used to take an important role in the daily operations of the boarding schools as an integral part of the church’s mission is for “the salvation of souls” (Sinclair, Littlechild, & Wilson, 2012). In addition, Sinclair, Littlechild and Wilson (2012) described the involvement of churches in boarding schools in America and Canada. They found that churches such as Roman Catholic, Anglican Church, and United Church believed that in order to civilize and Christianize the indigenous children, they must be separated from their homes and cultures (Sinclair, Littlechild, & Wilson, 2012). Hindu is also a religion that has had a significant role in building and maintaining boarding schools (Smith, 2009). Smith (2009) reported that in Gujarat, India, the Hindu fundamentalist groups built a Hindu nationalist boarding school in order to preserve the students from the influence of the Christian and Islam missionaries. The families agreed to send their children to the dormitories for them to deeply learn the Hindu prayers and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s ideology. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was the conservative Hindu sect in Gujarat (Smith, 2009). In Indonesia, the role of religion, especially Islam, is dominant in the Indonesian boarding schools. The Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia offer not only religious subjects, 14 but they also teach the modern subjects for economic competitiveness (Tan, 2014). In most Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, in addition to the extracurricular activities, the students use their afternoon and night time to study the Islamic ethos, morals, and principles (Tan, 2014). Similar to Indonesia, in Malaysia the role of Islam in forming the boarding schools are prominent. Smith (2009) wrote that boarding schools in Malaysia are dominated by Islamic boarding schools. Education in Indonesia: Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia There are at least two reasons why a study of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia is relevant. First of all, unlike the boarding schools’s history in the UK, America, Australia, Canada, or New Zealand that received a great amount of challenge from parents due to some abuses; in Indonesia, parents and students are greatly appreciative of the Islamic boarding schools (Tan, 2014; Nurhayati & Yasin, 2013). In Indonesia, the educational system is pretty unique because it is under two different ministries, the ministry of education and cultures and the ministry of religious affairs. The Islamic boarding school is under the ministry of religious affairs. Within Islamic based schools, there are three types of schools: Pesantren, Madrasah, and Sekolah Islam (Tan, 2014). Pesantrens are the oldest Islamic Schools in Indonesia, and all of the pesantrens are in the form of boarding schools (Tan, 2014). There are three types of pesantren according to Tan (2014): (1) traditional pesantren (it focuses on the traditional ideology and classical Islamic texts, dominated by Nahdhatul Ulama ideology); (2) modern pesantren (it introduces some reforms of the traditional texts, and refuses such mystical beliefs that traditional pesantren offers, dominated by Muhamadiyah ideology); and (3) independent pesantren (this pesantren is not affiliated with either Nahdatul Ulama or Muhammadiyah. The 15 independent pesantren adopt the ideology of Salafi/orthodox). The Ministry of Religious Affairs, however, only classifies Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia into two types: traditional pesantren and modern pesantren. The second type of school under the ministry of religious affairs is Madrasah. Similar to pesantren, madrasah is a kind of school run by either government or individuals. Most madrasah are in the form of non-boarding schools (however, there are also Madrasah in the form of boarding schools). Also, madrasah could be either specified as a formal educational setting that utilizes the public curriculum or as a non-formal educational setting that adopts the curriculum of the traditional pesantren (Tan, 2014). The last type is Sekolah Islam. Sekolah Islam combines Islamic teachings and public school curriculum. However, Sekolah Islam is not a form of boarding school. Sekolah Islams are dominated by private owners who have modern facilities, such as air conditioning, computer labs, language labs, multimedia, and a good library. Most of Sekolah Islam adopted full-day school programs, which have longer instructional hours compared to daily public schools (Tan, 2014). In Indonesia, the number of Islamic boarding schools is increasing (Kementrian Agama Indonesia, 2011). Parents’ objective in sending their kids to the dormitories is to equip their children with religious values while still maintaining the general curriculum like in the public schools (Kementrian Agama Indonesia, 2011). Currently, Indonesia has 21,521 pesantren (Islamic boarding schools): 37% of those are traditional pesantren, and 63% are the modern pesantren (Kementrian Agama Indonesia, 2011). With that number of pesantren, Indonesia has approximately 3 million students studying in pesantren or about 7% of the total population of the 16 students in Indonesia (Kementrian Agama Indonesia, 2011). This number is predicted to increase given the positive outcomes of the students and the high motivations of the parents (Kementrian Agama Indonesia, 2011). Tan (2014) reported that the increasing number of students studying in pesantren is due to the parents and students wanting to better balance the modern, Western type of education with Islamic education and values. Pesantren offers national curriculum in addition to the Islamic teachings provided by the Islamic scholars and teachers. According to Tan (2014), the Islamic boarding schools are growing due to their ability to adapt to the changing times and places. The Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia are recognized as some of the most innovative and the most open-minded in the world because of their willingness to go beyond religious studies and offer marketable skills for the students (Nurhayati & Yasin, 2013; Tan, 2014; Azizah, 2013). This is an interesting case because there are several objections to boarding schools in English speaking countries such as in the USA, UK, Australia, and Canada because there were so many reports of boarding schools being places of physical abuse, sexual abuse, loss of languages and cultures, trauma, and other negative effects as described above (Hirshberg & Sharp, 2005; Smith, 2009). The growing acceptance of parents and students toward the Indonesian boarding schools is an important phenomenon and is one reason to conduct more research on Indonesian boarding schools. The second reason why studying Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia is important is that the Islamic boarding schools offer significant benefits in addition to preserving Islamic values. Nurhayato and Yasin (2013) conducted a research in an Islamic baording school in Kuningan, Cireborn, Indonesia. Nurhayati and Yasin (2013) mentioned at least five benefits of studying in pesantren: (1) there is no discrimination against socio-economic status; (2) pesantren 17 has more peer collaborative learning; (3) it has stronger relationships between teachers and students, between teachers and teachers, as well as between students and students; (4) it offers opportunities to develop self-regulation and self-determination for students; and (5) it has more community engagement. In a similar study by Tan (2004), he argued that parents are interested in sending their kids to Islamic boarding schools because (1) pesantren in Indonesia are increasingly using student-centered pedagogy, which is necessary for the students’ creativity; and (2) pesantren are growingly served with more extracurricular activities, such as robotics, English debate, sports, and scientific experiments, which are important to support the students’ personal growth. Parental Involvement One of the big questions and challenges for boarding schools is that students will stay away from their parents. When parents are away from their children, their participation in their kids’ education will automatically decrease. Meanwhile, studies indicate that parents also hold a significant role in shaping their children’s education (Sgro, 2006; Epstein, 2009; Khalifa, 2012). This is because parents are the caregivers as well as the children’s teachers during their first several years (Lareau, 2000). Teachers need to learn from parents because no one knows more about the children than parents do (Schneider, 1993). Parents who live close to the school and understand the importance of their involvement will contact the teachers to discuss their children’s academic progress. As a result, parents and teachers will be able to easily work in collaboration to support the children’s academic success (Schneider, 1993). In addition, when parent are in the same place as their children, they will be able to be the filter from the negative influence of social media, television, online gaming, cyberbullying, and other electronic devices that distract students from their education (Schneider, 1993). 18 That said, if the parents are actively engaged in students’ education, students will most likely perform better academically at schools (Khalifa, 2012; Noguera, 2004; Epstein, 2009; Amatea, 2009). On average, students whose parents help them read books, engage in school activities and help with their homework will have relatively higher achievement (Cotton & Wiekelund, 1989). Also, there has been some research suggesting that when parents, teachers, and schools have high expectation of students, the students will attribute more positive value to their education (Sanders & Epstein, 1998). Parental involvement is not merely intended for parents to be more caring to the students and more supportive of teachers; rather parental involvement is developing collaborative partnerships based upon mutual accountability and responsibility (Noguera, 2004). In line with this, Hara and Burke (1998) found that parental involvement could boost both students’ cognitive and affective achievement in inner-city schools. While parental involvement has a positive impact on students’ academic achievement, it also enhances the positive behavior of the students (Jaeger, Bertot, & Gorham, 2015). Jaeger, Bertot, and Gorham (2015) conducted research on parental involvement towards kindergarten students, and the result revealed that parental involvement has a positive correlation to the decline in problem behaviors. In another study by Willems and Gonzalez-Dehass (2012) following students from elementary to high school, they uncovered that involving parents in students’ academics has yielded positive results on students’ motivation both intrinsically and extrinsically. Active participation of parents in their children’s education has also been proven to decrease the incidence of drug and alcohol abuse (Dwyer & Hecht, 1992). In line with this, Sumiati (2012), from her qualitative research in Dubai, contended that students would not only have better cognitive performance, they would also have better behavior at schools if their family 19 is engaged. Similarly, Walberg, Bole and Waxman (1980) discovered from their study of students in 41 schools in Chicago that if the parents are involved in the school's activities, the students will have better performance than those whose parents are not actively engaged. Parental involvement also yields consistently positive results on students’ graduation. If the parents put more attention on their children and have good communication with teachers, their students will have higher graduation rates (Bogenshneider, 1977; Leuchovius, 2006; Cotton & Wikelund, 1989; Keane, 2007; Hara and Burke, 1998). Research by Rumberger et al. (1990) on students in California showed that parental involvement has a significant impact on reducing the dropout rate of high school students (Rumberger et al., in Dwyer & Hecht, 1992). In line with this, a positive home learning environment, regular communication between parents and teachers, as well as strong reinforcement towards school work results in higher achievement of the students all the way through the secondary level (Ziegler, 1987 in Constantino, 2003). In practice, however, upper-middle-class families tend to have higher parental involvement compared to the low-income families. Lareau (2000) wrote that upper-middle-class families tend to have a greater influence on school decision-making compared to the low-income families. Even some upper-middle-class families were reported to place a high demand on the teachers and school principals (Lareau, 2000). While some parents are too demanding, there are also parents who do not know what they are supposed to do. There are several factors hindering parental involvement, such as parents who do not understand their role, parents who do not know how to help, parents who depend on the school, parents who are unmotivated, and schools that parents find are not welcoming (Bartel, 2010; Lareau, 2000). Smith (2006), in her case study at a public elementary school in the Pacific Northwest, argued that parents even feel that they were not welcomed due to the stereotype of low-income families who tend to neglect their children’s 20 education. As a result, the parents felt discouraged to become involved in activities to support the schools. The importance of supportive parental involvement is inarguable because the success of the students depends on the students' home environment (Epstein, 1989). Parental involvement is deemed effective and efficient because it does not cost a lot of money compared to other strategies for enhancing student success, such as teachers’ professional development, increasing the quality of the school facility, building the school’s infrastructure, or increasing the teacher’s salary (Werf, Creemers, & Guldemond, 2001). Since the 1980s, parents, government, and schools have increased their awareness of parental involvement. Lareau (2000) contends that parental involvement is what most teachers want from parents. Most teachers do not like parents to merely state how bad the school is or how poor the teachers teach the students. Instead, they want the parents to come into the school and help (Sanders & Epstein, 1989). Definition of Parental Involvement So how do researchers define parental involvement? There is no universal consensus among researchers regarding the definition of parental involvement (Jafarov, 2015). Keane (2007) defined parental involvement as “an effort to work collaboratively between school and parents to ultimately improve students’ achievement” (p. 1). Similarly, LaRocque et al. (2011) asserted that parent involvement is an investment by either “parents” or “caregivers.” By investing their time and effort to support students both at home and schools, parents significantly help students to excel. McCromick et al. (2013) contended that parental involvement is an interaction between home and school to improve students’ behavior. Cotton and Wikelund (1989) wrote that parental involvement is the participation of parents in their children’s education from both inside and outside the home. Fitriah et al. (2013) defined parent 21 involvement as an effort in which parents develop an effective communication with teachers and school principals, regardless of the parent's opportunity to be involved in the school’s structure or not. Further, Cotton and Wikelund (1989) asserted that parents need to start to invest in their children as early as possible, even when the children are not at schools yet. However, parent involvement is not constant and steady. Sanders and Epstein (1989) stated that parents pay more attention to education when their children are in the kindergarten and elementary years, and will decrease as the students progress to the higher levels. Lastly, Hornby (2000) argued that in parental involvement both schools and home families work in partnership in order to create a positive educational atmosphere for the students. Epstein (1995) however, does not define parents as merely father and mother; instead, she also emphasized that the families and communities need to make an effort to create a supportive environment for students’ education. In addition, the term parents according to Tomlinson and Andina (2015) are those who provide care for children including biological parents, grandparents, extended family, or those who nurture, take care, and protect the children. If that is the case, the school also needs to reach out to the larger scope (such as students’ grandparents, siblings, and other extended families who live close to the children) in dealing with communication between school and home. Similarly, Werf et al. (2001) argued that parent involvement is not merely the responsibility of parents. Instead, it should engage the families and community who understand mutual collaboration to increase students’ performance. The primary activities of parents, according to Cotton and Wikelund (1989), include: paper and online communications, volunteering at schools, attending parent and teacher conferences, helping students with homework, and helping in school governing and decision-making 22 Further, OECD (2013) listed four kinds of a partnerships between parents and schools: (a) parents discussing educational matters with their children; (b) parents supervising their children’s progress through education; (c) parents’ communication with the school; and (d) parents actively participating in school communities. Parents, in this case, can also refer to a guardian who cares about the students’ education (OECD 2013 in Berger, 2000). Ho and Willms (1996) identified parental involvement into two activities: home activities and school activities. Within the home, there are two activities through which parents can show support for their kids: (1) discuss school activities with their children; and (2) monitor their kid's activities that are related or not related to the school’s activities. School activities, according to Ho and Willms (1996), include (1) maintaining good communication between home and school, and (2) initiating volunteer activities in school. Among these two practices, research has shown that home activities have a stronger influence on students’ outcomes (Werf, Creemers, and Guldemond, 2001). When school and home partnerships have been established, they will create a positive school climate in which students will feel a “family-like school and school-like family” (Epstein, 2001). Family-like schools, according to Epstein (2001), are schools that treat all students like family members and who reach out to the family regardless of their backgrounds. Meanwhile, a school-like family, according to Epstein (2001), is a family that creates a situation in which the home feels like a school, where parents motivate their children on the importance of schooling, help their children with homework and create activities that support students’ academic activities at home. To sum up, parental involvement is an effort by both home (biological parents or non- biological parents) and school (teachers, principal, staff) to support students’ success. 23 In the absence of parental involvement, students may feel that they are alone, working in isolation, and have lower motivation in doing school work (Epstein, 2009). Hornby (2000) contended that students would be more motivated when their parents were directly involved, such as by being a tutor or mentor, being a supervisor of students’ homework, and being a role model in volunteering at schools. On the other hand, students might not feel that the parents value their education when parents do not show interest in their education (Lareau, 2000). As a result, students devalue education. When they already devalue education, they will feel reluctant to do any homework or any school activities. Consequently, students tend to do something to attract their parent’s and teachers’ attention by engaging in several negative behaviors at school. Eventually, the students will likely end up with lower grades and test scores (Amatea, 2009), lower attendance and less homework done (Hornby, 2000), a higher rate of dropping out (Constantino, 2003), and negative behavior at school (Rahman, 2001). Finally, there are different terms that researchers used to refer to parental involvement such as parental participation, parental involvement, and parental engagement. Hornby (2000) argued that if parents are simply involved in supporting their kids’ education, they will benefit from the increase in their students’ achievement. In this case, the words “simply involved” refer to parental participation. Parental involvement has deeper commitment than just simply participating; in parental involvement, parents are actively reaching out to the school, and the schools are actively telling parents what they need from parents (Cotton & Wiekelund, 1989; Epstein, 2009; Ferlazzo, 2011). Meanwhile, parental engagement, according to Hornby (2000), is when parents are directly involved in helping their children both in school and at home, while the school is also committed to building a school and family partnership by reaching out and empowering the family. Ferlazzo (2011) makes an interesting point in differentiating 24 involvement and engagement. Ferlazzo (2011) contended that involvement is leading the school by “mouth,” that is identifying objects, needs, and goals by telling parents how they can be involved; while engagement is leading by “ears,” that is by listening to parents’ ideas, dreams, and concerns. Engagement is to gain partners while involvement is to serve clients (Ferlazzo, 2011). For the purpose of this research, I will use the term “parental involvement” for two reasons. First, I will be conducting a study in a boarding school in which most parents live far away from the school. Family engagement requires teachers to visit the parents’ home (Ferlazzo, 2011), which is hard to be applied in boarding schools where parents live far away from the school. Secondly, in Indonesia, the government and the schools are still in the level of parental participation and involvement in the effort of including parents in their children education (Fitriah et al., 2013; Karsidi et al., 2013). Parental involvement in this study therefore is defined as school, community, and home efforts in engaging parents in educational setting in order to improve the student performances. Family Characteristics and Parental Involvement There are several family characteristics influencing the level of parental involvement in children’s schooling, such as parents’ socioeconomic status, educational background, family structure, gender, culture, and language (Schneider, 1993). It means the higher the level of household income, the more parents are involved (Lareau, 2000). The lower the educational background, the fewer parents participate in their children’s education (Javarov, 2015). And the more educated the parents are, the less likely culture and language influence their participation in education (Bartel, 2010). 25 One critical factor that research has found to impact parental involvement is the family’s socio-economic status (SES). Parents are reportedly different in helping students according to their social status. Lareau (2000) reported that students from the upper-middle-class family tend to receive more attention from their parents. Parents with more social capital, particularly those with high SES, can afford more learning materials, which will boost their children’s education (Bartel, 2010). While Lareau (2000) and Bartel (2010) conducted their studies in the USA, Chudgar and Shafiq (2010) conducted research in South Asia and found that families with high economic status are also associated with better educational outcomes. There are several reasons why socio-economic status affects the level of parental involvement according to Lareau (2000). First of all, it is because the low SES family still believes that the responsibility of their children' education is on the teachers and school. Second of all, the upper-middle-income family has more resources in giving more additional help for the children, such as hiring a tutor, having a consultant for their children, etc. And lastly, the upper- middle-income families are more confident to participate in school activities or to engage in their children’s education at home because they have a better educational background compared to their low-income counterparts. The second family characteristic that predicts the level of parental involvement is the parents’ educational background. Parents with higher academic qualifications have considerably more attendance at some activities organized by the school (Jafarov, 2015). Jafarov (2015) found that parents in the American education setting who have better educational backgrounds will most likely initiate conversations with teachers about their children’s progress at school. However, quite often parents with the university background in South Asia were reported to have less time for their children due to their busyness (Chudgar & Shafiq, 2010). Conversely, parents 26 who have lower education tend to be less engaged because they do not have the knowledge to help with their kids’ homework or other school activities (Jafarov, 2015). Further, Lareau (2000) argued that parents’ higher education affects the ability of the family to access more resources such as information about the educational process and children’s school-site experiences. Chudgar and Shafiq (2010) examined why parental education affects the level of parental involvement. The first reason they found is because parents with high academic qualifications would be able to help with their children’s homework. The second reason is because well- educated parents are knowledgeable enough in their kids’ nutrition and health needs. Finally, parents with higher levels of education would be able to motivate students to remain in school. Another family characteristic affecting parental involvement is gender. Both students and parents’ gender matter in this case. Jafarov (2015), for example, reported that female high school students’ parents would more likely engage compared to the male students; meanwhile, for the elementary school, male students reportedly had greater parent involvement. In general, a father will spend less time on his kids compared to the mother (Jafarov, 2015). Lareau (2000) found there is a distinction of gender-based involvement between the working class and the upper- middle-class family. She found that in the working-class family, parent involvement is dominated by the mother, while in the upper middle class, the family shares the roles between father and mother. Family structure also affects the level of parental involvement. Astone and McClanahan (1991) conducted a study on the relationship between family structure and student achievement. They found that students who stayed with a single parent or step-parents are more likely to have less support and control compared to students who stayed with both father and mother (Astone & 27 McClanahan, 1991). Also, Astone and McClanahan (1991) found that students who did not stay with both natural parents were less likely to finish high school. Also, Sawitri (2014) found that the number of children in the family affects the level of parental involvement. That is, the more children in the family the less likely parents will be involved in their education (Sawitri, 2014). Jafarov (2015) reported that marital disruption in the household could also lead to a low level of parental engagement. Meanwhile, Chudgar and Shafiq (2010) stated that the nuclear family would have better family influence compared to those in the extended family. Other family characteristics that relate to the volume of parental involvement are culture and language. Parents who speak a different language from that spoken at the school, as well as parents who have different cultures from the dominant culture at the school, tend to have lower involvement (Jafarov, 2015). Similar to this, Bartel (2010) stated that parents whose ethnicity and language are different from the school tend to participate less, compared to the majority parents. The different culture and language may affect the level of parents’ confidence when it comes to involvement at schools (Bartel, 2010). In some cases, parents will feel so intimidated when teachers are contacting them because they think that their children are in trouble (Amatea, 2009). Indeed, in some part of the world, schools will only contact parents when their children disobey the school’s rules (Karsidi et al., 2013). Some Potential Drawbacks of Parental Involvement Parental involvement could be of great benefit for both schools and parents, but on the other hand, parental involvement could be an added burden for teachers and administrators (Cotton & Wikelund, 1989). Parents may sometimes be too demanding of their children’s teachers, particularly for high-income parents (Cotton & Wikelund, 1989). Also, if high-income parents provide more resources to their kids, this sometimes creates a gap among students in 28 schools (Bartel, 2010). Parents are sometimes also selective; that is, they are more willing to volunteer in the school governance only, such as by becoming a board member or a local school council member, rather than volunteer for academic activities (Cotton & Wikelund, 1989). Lareau (2000) presented a different scenario of the potential drawbacks of parental involvement. From her observation of two schools, she found that there are parents who are too excessive in putting pressure on their children. When parents know that their children did not perform well in class, some parents worry so much, which then triggers some disproportionate actions by giving more time for students to study, such as by hiring tutors, hiring helpers to read to their children in the summer, and other extensive learning by parents. These actions will create pressure on the students themselves. Besides, parents are sometimes comparing their children’s performance to others, which eventually places more burden on the individual child who is being compared (Lareau, 2000). Finally, Lareau argued that “parent’s actions could harm as well as help their children in school” (p. 150). Despite some potential drawbacks of parental involvement, studies consistently find that parental involvement is an effective and efficient factor in improving student performance (Epstein, 2009). The question is: What if the students are not living with their parents in their daily life? Will parents still be an important factor in dealing with students’ outcomes in boarding schools? How do these facets of parental involvement play out in Indonesia? Parental Involvement in Indonesia Majzub and Salim (2011) conducted a study on six different preschools in Tangerang, Indonesia. They collected data from 294 parents from these six preschools. Majzum and Salim (2011) divided these three schools into three categories: low school fee, moderate school fee, and high school fee. Using a scale from 1 to 5, they found that these three different types of schools 29 have different levels of parental involvement. The low school fee (Type A) has very low parenting (1.7 mean score), very low decision making (1.5 mean score), low communication (2.3 mean score), and low learning at home (1.8 mean score). The moderate school fee (Type B) has a low score on parenting (1.96 mean score), very low on decision making (1.6 mean score), low on communication (2.4 mean score), and low on learning at home (1.9 mean score). Lastly, the high school fee (Type C) has a moderate level of parenting (2.5 mean score), low decision making (1.9 mean score), moderate on communication (2.5 average score), and low on learning at home (2.4 average score). Overall, Majzub and Salim (2011) argued that regardless of the type of preschools in Tangerang, the parental involvement was at a low level. Majzub and Salim (2011) argued that the parents still have low understanding of parental involvement. Therefore, both school and local government need to give more socialization on how important parental involvement is. Further, the school principals need to also train teachers in order for them to have better skills in involving parents in their kids’ education. Unlike Majzub and Salim (2011), who conducted a quantitative study in preschools, Fitriah et al. (2013) conducted a study on parental participation using a qualitative approach in primary schools. Fitriah et al. (2013) conducted document analyses, questionnaires, and interviews with two public primary schools’ stakeholders in Depok. They found that the type of parental involvement in public schools in Depok includes financial contributions to the schools; participation in the school’s meetings; and access to the school’s financial information (Fitriah et al., 2013). Before the Indonesian government enacted the Free School Policy (FSP), the roles of parents were mainly as the contributors of school funds. However, after the FSP were abolished, the parents are reluctant to come to schools because they no longer have the role as the 30 contributor as well as the evaluator of the school budgets. The three types of parental involvement above (Fitriah et al., 2013) are now decreasing because the schools do not feel that they are obligated to report the school funds to parents. Instead they report the full school budget to the government because the parents are no longer the source of school funds. Fitriah et al. (2013) observed, “Parents felt that since they had no financial responsibilities to the school, their participation was now weaker” (p. 493). Similar to Fitriah et al. (2013), who studied the School Committee in Depok, Karsidi et al. (2013) conducted their study in five senior high schools (ranging from rural, suburban, and urban areas) in Karanganyar, Central Java, Indonesia. They used a mixed methods study, in which they conducted focus groups with parents, headmasters, teachers and students; they also disseminated questionnaires to 250 parents (50 parents for each school). Karsidi et al. (2013) found that most of the parents did not participate in helping their children learn at home because they did not understand the significance of their role in helping their kids academically. In addition, Karsidi et al. (2013) found that the low socio-economic status families tend to have minimal involvement in their children’s education. Besides, high-income families have a tendency to have tutors to have additional learning for their children (Karsidi et al., 2013). Parents also reportedly do not know what to do and are less sensitive to their children’s’ problems at school (Karsidi et al., 2013). Karsidi et al. (2013) used their qualitative data to evaluate the participation of parents in Indonesia; they found that there was a misconception among parents that the success of their children is solely the school’s responsibility. Lastly, Karsidi et al. (2013) found that the school tried to involve parents at the school. However, from their 250 respondents, they found that the schools invite them to come to school in order to contribute to the school infrastructure, facilities, and financial issues. 31 Despite the fact that parental involvement has not been implemented very successfully in Indonesia (Karsidi et al., 2013; Fitriah et al., 2013; Majzub & Salim, 2011), parental involvement corresponds positively with student achievement (Werf, Creemers, & Guldemond, 2001). Werf, Creemers, and Guldemond (2001) conducted a study on PEQIP (Primary Education Quality Improvement Project in Indonesia) involving six provinces in Indonesia (Aceh, Sulawesi Utara, Sumatera Barat, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara Timur). The conducted a study specifically on a cost analysis on the PEQIP program. PEQIP programs include Teacher Development, Educational Management, Books and Learning Materials, as well as Parent and Community Participation. They found that parental involvement had a significant influence on student achievement. In addition, they argued that parental involvement is considered to have a lower cost compared to the other three PEQIP programs. Also, from a study of grade 10 in an Indonesian high school, Sawitri et al., (2013) used social cognitive career theory to examine the relationship between parental involvement and students’ future careers. They found that families are the major factor that shapes students’ future development. Specifically, Sawitri et al. (2013) argued that parental expectations and encouragement towards their children’s career really had a significant influence on positive career behaviors for students. With similar findings, Majzub and Salim (2011) found that parental involvement has a significant positive impact on preschool education by helping children in a holistic way. These studies, however, were not conducted in boarding schools. This paper is therefore aimed at making a case that parental involvement in boarding schools matters and so is a critical topic for future research. 32 Parental Involvement in Boarding Schools It is interesting to see whether or not parental involvement matters in boarding schools. Maphoso and Mahlo (2014) conducted their study in South Africa by comparing boarding and non-boarding schools (a study of 339 schools in South Africa; 51 are the boarding schools and 288 are non-boarding schools), and they found that parental involvement matters. Their study indicates that parents have better involvement in boarding schools, compared to the non- boarding schools. Most of the time, parents who send their kids to boarding schools in South Africa have better parental interest, parental education, and socio-economic status, which eventually increase their awareness to engage in their student's academics and school activities (Maphaso & Mahlo, 2014). Maphaso and Mahlo (2014) even suggested that the government needed to give scholarships for the lower income parents in order for them to send their kids to the boarding schools. Huefner et al. (2014), from their study with 350 youths who reside in residential care boarding schools, found a similar result. Their study focused on analyzing the influences of different types of family contacts on their children who reside in the boarding schools. They found that the students who received better support and more contact from their parents were most likely to have better behavior and academic performance, greater satisfaction at schools, and shorter lengths of stay because their goals had been achieved (Huefner, et al., 2014). Sgro (2006) contended that parental involvement in a boarding school is started even when the parents decide or agree to send their kids far away from them. Sgro (2006) also stressed that initially the willingness of parents to pay the tuition at schools is also part of parental involvement activities in boarding schools. 33 Parental Involvement in Religious Boarding Schools The Australian Parents Council (2005) undertook a project involving 11 faith-based boarding schools predominantly affiliated with Christianity. The council invited participation from 13 boarding schools that are members of the Australian Parents Council and the Australian Boarding Schools Association. There were 11 boarding schools that agreed to join the study. The study aimed to understand current perspectives on parental engagement. In the study, the interview and online questionnaire were delivered to the senior boarding staff member, school principal, and the head of the curriculum. The study recommended increase awareness of parental engagement among teachers, headmasters, and parents for the boarders. Therefore, the schools are now trying to provide more opportunity for parents to visit the schools and interact with the students, teachers, and school staff. To accommodate this endeavor, media and technology are being deployed such as technology to record and upload information sessions for parents, media for real-time video conferences, as well as social media engagement in order to improve the communication between home and schools. However, most of the schools faced the challenge that the indigenous parents had a lack of understanding on how to use technology to help them engage in the schools. This is because most of the schools in the study served the indigenous students, which the schools were attempting to “civilize” and “Christianize.” Parents, therefore, did not reportedly understand their roles, especially when it came to the media and technology (Australian Parents Councils, 2005). Another report by the organization Woord en Daad (2007) who conducted a study on boarding schools found that parents have a significant role in boarding schools. Woord en Daad is a non-profit religious organization based in Gorinchem, Netherlands that aims to eradicate poverty. In doing their study on boarding schools, they used literature analysis study methods as 34 well as conducted interviews and surveys in five Dutch non-government organizations (NGOs) and two Indian Organizations. They found that although boarding schools have a significant influence on religious values, the parents still hold a great amount of influence at home. This includes being a role model when their children are at home, building a strong foundation of religious values before the school age, creating a Christian environment at home, and engaging in the Church activities. Parent involvement is aimed to familiarize students with religious principles both at boarding school and at home. Parents’ decision to send their kids to an all boys or all girls’ boarding school (Herrell, 2011) is also considered a form of parental involvement. Even though it could disconnect the relationship between parents and children (Herrell, 2011), boarding schools are believed to be a convenient place to instill religious values in children. In addition, Sgro (2011) contended that parents who have high trust in boarding schools often lower their participation in the school activities. Hirshberg and Sharp (2005)’s study on sixty-two Alaska Native adults who attended boarding schools revealed that thirty-eight participants mentioned that their parents chose boarding schools for them. There were also several students who revealed that they went to boarding schools because they did not get their first choice of school (Hirsberg & Sharp, 2005). Parental Involvement in Boarding Schools in Indonesia In the Indonesian context, the common reason many parents send their kids to Islamic boarding schools is for the students to maintain their Islamic values while studying in the classrooms (Azizah, 2013). Lately, there has been an inclination for parents in Indonesia to rely on Islamic boarding schools; this is because Islamic boarding schools have been known as a trusted institution that has already produced leaders within the community (Subianti, 2007). Azizah (2013) asserted that students whose parents are actively visiting and making contact with 35 their kids in the boarding schools will not feel that they are alone and left behind by their parents. From her study, Azizah (2013) listed several parents’ activities that can boost students’ performance in boarding schools, including regular visits to the boarding schools, regular phone calls, regular efforts to motivate students, as well as regular support for students’ extracurricular activities. Dewi (2015) added that when the students come home for the school holidays, parents need to encourage and support students’ academic activities at home. Dewi (2015) argued that the basic Islamic and cultural foundations should be shared by parents. Parents should not give up their supports even though their kids do not live in the same house with them (Dewi, 2015; Azizah, 2013). Parker and Raihani (2011), from their study of four Islamic schools (madrasah) in West Sumatera and two madrasahs in Jogjakarta, found that parental involvement in these six schools was still lacking. Like the typical schools in Indonesia, Parker and Raihani (2011) argued that the low level of parental participation in Indonesia is due to the low understanding of parents regarding their role at schools. They still believe that teaching and learning are the responsibilities of teachers and schools, while the parents’ job is to support the funding for the schools. From their research, however, Parker and Raihani (2011) reported a unique example of parent participation for the national final examination. The schools in their study invited all parents to come to the school to hold a communal prayer to support students mentally and spiritually in order for the students to pass the national final examination (Parker & Raihani, 2011). Almost all parents in Indonesia are afraid that their children will not pass the national exam. This is because the students will have a burden that they already disappointed their parents because they need to re-do the final examination or even will be held at the school for another year. Therefore, parents need to show their support for the 36 students spiritually and mentally. By coming to the communal prayers at schools, the parents in the study hoped that their children would be motivated during their final examination (Parker & Raihani, 2013). In another study, Dewi (2015) surveyed 176 parents in an Islamic boarding school in Purworejo, Indonesia. She found that parents participated in their students’ education by choosing the best institution to help equip their kids for their future. Dewi (2015) found that parents in her study wanted Islamic boarding schools in order to protect their children from the bad influence of negative social interactions, such as watching pornography, using illegal drugs, smoking, or using too much online games. In addition, the survey revealed that parents were motivated to send their kids to the Islamic boarding school: to have good morals (90%), to understand the rules of worship (89%), to understand the Quran (85%), to understand the religious values (65%), and to have good achievement academically and religiously (65%). In Merauke, boarding school is recommended to improve the local students’ outcomes. From their study on how to improve education quality in Merauke, Indonesia, Werang, Leba, and Betaubun (2014) recommended developing the local government's boarding school system. The local government boarding school system is aimed to serve students who have difficulty in accessing a school because they live in rural areas. By putting the students in a subsidized boarding school, the students would no longer walk barefoot for long distances in order to go to school. In addition, boarding school would benefit students in terms of equal education, inclusive education, better graduation rates, a more focused education, and the close relationship among student and teachers. 37 The Role of Islamic Values in Indonesian Boarding Schools The role of Islam shapes the boarding schools in Indonesia. Islamic boarding schools are considered to be the oldest Islamic educational systems in the country. The Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) already existed since the colonization era. The Islamic values influence almost all aspects in the boarding schools. One of the Islamic influences in boarding school is in the academic area. In contemporary boarding schools, educators see western knowledge as an integrated Islamic teaching that is important for the students. Tan (2014) argued that in most boarding schools in Indonesia, they integrate the secular teachings (al-umum al-aqliyah) and Islamic teachings (al-ulum al-naqliyah). One of the examples is when the teachers teach creation in biology. The teachers will find a linkage of the creation of the animals, plants, or human beings with the teaching of creation from the Quran (the Islam holy book) and Al-Hadid (the teaching of Prophet Muhammad). In most of the subjects, the teachers are encouraged to infuse the Quranic content so that students will be able to understand the content both from the Islamic and general perspectives (Tan, 2014). The second Islamic influence is in the students’ daily lives. Almost all boarding schools have their charismatic leaders as role models. The charismatic leaders in pesantren together with the teachers shape the students’ characters by giving positive models to the students (Tan, 2014). Also, in the boarding school context, the teachers and staff will be able to control the social interaction among the students in order to build positive characters based on Islamic values and beliefs. In addition, the negative influence that the students receive through online interaction, such as bullies and pornography, will be easily controlled within 24 hours. 38 The third is the influence on the students’ soft skills such as calligraphy skills, computer and technology skills, Islamic leadership skills, and sports skills. One of the Islamic boarding schools’ missions is to create future generations who are knowledgeable both in Islamic and general knowledge (Tan, 2014). In order to achieve such a mission, the boarding schools equip the students with some soft skills, which are useful for them to apply in the community. Most of the boarding schools in Indonesia offer vocational courses including business enterprising, agriculture, leadership, and vehicle repair skills (Tan, 2014). These skills are offered based on the Islamic values, spirit, and methods (Tan, 2014). 39 Theoretical Framework on Parental Involvement One way the school can enhance students’ education is by seeing the kids as their children, and not merely as students (Epstein, 2009). The question is then: How can we increase the partnership between parents and schools? One of the possible answers is by using a framework on parental involvement to guide improvement efforts. Having a framework is similar to when we want to travel to a new place, and we already have our maps with us. Parent involvement frameworks can guide teachers, parents and other parties to understand their roles in building up the partnership (Epstein, 1998). One popular framework that has become the national standard in the U.S.A is Epstein’s Framework of Six Types of Involvement. Epstein Framework of Six Types of Involvement The six types of involvement as a framework of parental involvement according to Epstein (2009) is based on a long process of studies conducted in various schools involving families and educators in high, middle, and elementary schools. Each type of involvement has its different outcomes and challenges, which guide schools and families to improve the partnership. Each school may use single types of involvement based on their needs; yet, it will be more effective if these six types of involvement are used as a comprehensive guideline. The six types of parental involvement are as follows: 1. Parenting Epstein defines parenting as “help[ing] all families establish home environments to support children as students” (p. 16). The simplest example of parenting according to Sanders and Epstein (1998) is that parents understand their role is to assure that their children come to school ready and on time. This can include making sure that students are not tired, not hungry, 40 and not late (Michigan Department of Education, 2014). The school in this case needs to be committed to helping parents in establishing home environments that are supportive for children as students at home. Epstein (2009) suggested some examples for parenting activities such as home visits by school staff, guidelines for parents to create a good atmosphere at home, family support programs related to nutrition and healthy lives, as well as workshops or training that help parents understand their role at home. 2. Communication Communicating with families according to Epstein (2009) could help increase students’ attendance and test scores. Communication in this framework means to create an effective two- way communication between home and school about children’s progress and school programs (Epstein, 2009. The foundation of the successful partnership is communication; when parents and schools are communicating well, they will more likely be able to solve most problems (Sanders & Epstein, 1998). Epstein (2009) argued that positive communication is two-way communication in which both parties (families and school) are committed to building meaningful communication. Epstein (2009) suggested several actions for both parents and schools, such as have a conference for parents at least once a year, help families with diverse languages and cultures, provide students with folders to send to parents weekly or monthly, create online or offline communication, and create a welcome atmosphere for teachers and parents to build mutual communication. In addition to these communication practices, Sanders and Epstein (1998) suggested that schools should empower the community to volunteer as parent liaisons to help the school connect with parents, call parents, visit parents, and approach parents when they are not connected to school. Similarly, Delpit (2006) argued that teachers and school principal need to 41 reach out to the family in order to know such firsthand knowledge from the parents and event community. This practice has proven effective in a USAID project in India, in which the USAID team empowered the youth as a school representative to reach out to families (USAID India, 2015). 3. Parent Volunteering Parent volunteering indicates that parents care about what the school is doing, and parents feel honored because the school values their effort (Michigan Department of Education, 2014). Sanders and Epstein (1998) gave an example from Southland School, in which the school established a parent liaison whose job was to watch the students in the hallway in order to make sure that all students are studying. In this case, schools have a great responsibility to recruit and organize parent help and support (Epstein, 2009). The important thing in this type of involvement is that the schools also need to identify parents who could not serve as volunteers and find alternative ways for those parents to support students in different ways. Epstein (2009) suggests parents and schools do some activities, such as having parents volunteer in school programs based on their skills and interests, for the school to provide a room for parents to volunteer, for the school to provide an annual postcard survey on volunteers, and for schools to create positive school climates for the parents to feel welcomed to be volunteers regardless of their language and cultural backgrounds. 4. Learning at home Learning at home according to Epstein means “provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other curriculum-related activities, decisions, and planning.” (p.16). The Michigan Department of Education (2014) defines learning at home as an integral role of parents in assisting student learning. Sanders and Epstein (1998) 42 contended that when parents are active at home in supporting their children, the students will most likely have better achievement. Epstein (2009) argued that helping kids at home doing homework and other curriculum-related activities, making decisions, and planning is crucial for parents because this activity will boost the students’ interest in learning at home. The schools, therefore, need to be proactive in campaigning this approach so that parents can form a school atmosphere at home. Sample practices of learning at home include: sending parents a report on students’ academic progress, sending parents a policy on homework, sending parents information on how to assist their children with homework, creating interactive homework for parents and students to do together, and helping parents to create fun activities related to school work at home. 5. Decision Making The Michigan Departments of Education (2014) defines decision making as when “parents are full partners in the decisions that affect children and families” (p. 14). The school in this type of involvement is encouraged to develop parent leaders and representatives involved in school decisions (Epstein, 2009). Parents need to be included in almost all school decision making because all school policies will impact their children. When parents and schools are effectively collaborating in schools’ decision making, the school policy will automatically benefit all parties. The schools need to make sure that parents from all backgrounds are involved in the schools’ decision making. Epstein (2009) suggested several activities, including regular parent-teacher conferences; reaching out to parents who never come to the school meetings; creating a network to link school and family; and creating a district council for community engagement. 43 In addition, Hornby (2000) mentioned in her book that in the United Kingdom, parents are called school governors if they are involved in school governing activities. There were several parents who are acting as school governors to help school in decision making. The school governors are mandated by the Education Act in the UK. Unfortunately, in practice not many parents received adequate training from the school on how to serve as school governors at school (Hornby, 2000). Similarly, in Indonesia parents are mandated to be involved in the school decision making, and the school needs to have the so-called school committee which represents parents at school (Karsidi et al. (2013). Unfortunately, in most schools in Indonesia, the school committee is merely functioned as a school partner in making a decision regarding school financial only (Karsidi et al. (2013). 6. Collaborating Collaborating means “identify[ing] and integrat[ing] resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development” (Epstein, 2009, p. 16). Sanders and Epstein (1998) wrote that collaborating with the community means engaging all stakeholders including school staff, families, agencies, individuals, and community groups. The basic idea behind collaborating is that the school alone cannot meet the students’ needs specifically; however when all parties are empowered then it will be easier to fulfill the needs (Sanders and Epstien, 1998). Epstein gives several examples of collaborating with community as follows: giving information on community resources, engaging community and families in school activities, engaging community and families to sponsor some school events, providing community services, and creating alumni activities and events. Epstein’s Framework on Parental Involvement has been widely used both in theory and practice. Research and practice have shown that these six types of involvement are the keys to 44 successful school-family-community partnerships (Epstein, 2009). Schools need to have a clear framework and direction for how they should improve partnership in the building. This framework has been adopted by several institutions such as the Michigan Department of Education, the National Network of Partnership Schools, and the National Education Association. Epstein’s framework has also been adopted by international agencies such as OECD. Therefore, I will use these six types of parental involvement in my study. Parental Involvement Models in Boarding Schools In most boarding schools, the role of parental involvement is lower compared to regular day-to-day schools (Parker & Raihani, 2011). The parents are reluctant to commute to the boarding schools in order to participate in the school activities due to the distance (Dewi, 2015; Azizah, 2013; Parker & Raihani, 2011). In some cases, most parents put high trust on the school to educate their children (Sgro, 2006). Some literature revealed that parents send their kids to boarding schools because they found boarding schools are relatively cheap and are accepting all students from all economic backgrounds (Putra, 2013; Nurhayati & Yasin, 2013). This is because most of the boarding schools (especially in Indonesia) have school-owned enterprises which empower their students to subsidize the school’s need. In addition, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MONE) in Indonesia offers additional support for almost all the Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia (Tan, 2014). Decision making in Epstein's model is one factor that appears to need attention in the boarding school setting. Sgro (2006) found that few parents in boarding schools were involved in school governance. Similarly, boarding school parents have relatively less involvement in supporting children academically at home as well as playing their role in parenting (Sgro, 2006). 45 Students are likely to be at home only when they are on school breaks. This does not mean, however, that parents could not effectively play their role in parenting. Parents are still able to make phone calls to check students’ academics or to motivate children to do their homework. In regard to the communication piece, boarding schools play an important role in reaching out to parents. There are some tools that can be used as communication tools, including mail, electronic mail, newsletters, or school journals. Parents do not need to come to the school physically. The parents can respond to school email, reports, calls, or newsletters electronically (Australian Parents Council, 2015). Volunteering has been reported as the weak area of parental involvement when it comes to boarding schools. In some boarding schools in Australia, however, the schools organize social activities, such as sports or activities related to church, on weekends in order to invite parents to volunteer at informal school activities (Australian Parents Council, 2015). In conducting these activities, some boarding schools in Australia are also aiming to promote the boarding schools to the community. In this case, parents volunteer at school activities but at the same time parents are also collaborating with the community. Azizah (2013) suggested that all education stakeholders need to work harder to assure that even though students live in the dorms, parents need to participate in supporting their children’s education. One way to help increase parental involvement in practice is by adopting a parental involvement framework, such as that developed by Epstein, to use as guidance in evaluating the effectiveness of parental involvement practices in a boarding school. Such a framework could ensure that in the future, the implementation of the parental involvement in 46 boarding school in Indonesia is not limited to financial support from the parents. Rather, schools could incorporate the various forms of involvement by parents as they are framed by Epstein. 47 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY Research Questions This study examines parental involvement in Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia by addressing the following three research questions: 1. In what ways does Epstein’s framework apply to parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia? 2. How are parents involved in their children’s education in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia? 3. What family characteristics predict parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia? Research Design To answer the above research questions, I used a mixed methods study. Mixed methods are considered the third major form of research methods after isolated quantitative and qualitative methods (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, & Turner, 2007). Creswell (2013) defined mixed methods as an approach to research that combines or integrates qualitative and quantitative research data in a study. Furthermore, mixed methods are an alternative method that can address some of the biases and weaknesses of the qualitative and quantitative approaches. By combining both quantitative and qualitative forms of data collection and analysis, mixed methods can neutralize the weakness of each form of data (Creswell, 2013). Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner (2007) summarize the history of mixed methods. They assert that mixed methods try to be in between the extremes of Plato (quantitative) and the 48 Sophists (qualitative). Moreover, they argue that mixed methods consider multiple viewpoints in gathering knowledge and data. Another definition of mixed methods is derived from the pragmatism worldview. Creswell (2013) contended that mixed methods emphasize the research problem and use all approaches available to understand the problem. In this study, I have three research questions, which will be best answered using both qualitative and quantitative methods. To answer the first research question on what ways does Epstein framework apply in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, I used qualitative method. To answer the second question, regarding how parents are involved in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, I used both qualitative and quantitative methods. While, quantitative method was used to answer my third research question regarding what family characteristics predict parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. The qualitative approach stresses data quality rather than quantity; it plays with words as opposed to numbers. Therefore, this method allows a researcher to dig deeper into the data, to build a stronger relationship with the research participants, and to spend more time in the field. Because of the closeness of the observer to the field research, Denzin and Lincoln (1994) define qualitative research as an approach to gathering data in which the researcher is situated in the area of the study. It means that the qualitative researcher is expected to eliminate the barrier and decrease the gap between researchers and the data they study. Patton (2002) defined qualitative research as an attempt to understand the unique interactions in a particular situation. The purpose is not to predict what might occur, but rather to dig deeper into the phenomenon taking place in a given situation. In addition, Glesne (2011) asserted that a qualitative researcher describes and analyze what is seen, felt, and heard by an investigator. There are several techniques in collecting data in qualitative research, including 49 interviews, questionnaires, observations, focus group discussions, and literature reviews. In this study, I used observation and interview techniques to gather data for my first and second research questions. The quantitative approach was used to give additional information on the practice of parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school using numbers. From the perspective of post- positivists, quantitative methods can answer questions of causality and correlation using numbers. The quantitative approach develops numeric measures in a way to understand behavior and phenomena (Creswell, 2013). Also, Remler and Van Ryzin (2011) defined quantitative research as a method that observes the world using numerical data and statistical analysis as its instruments. There are two resources of data in quantitative methods: primary data and secondary data. Primary data is that in which the researcher is collecting information first-hand. Meanwhile, secondary data is already available to be analyzed, such as PISA data, TIMSS data, or TALIS data. In this study, I gathered the data myself. I used questionnaires adapted from Epstein (2009). The first part of the questionnaire was to gather data on parental activities using Epstein’s framework. The second part of the questionnaire was to pull together the information on family characteristics that typically influence students’ outcomes (Chudgar & Shafiq, 2010). Research Site, Researcher’s Role and Positionality I conducted this study from May to September 2017. The research site, Pondok Pesantren Berjaya or Berjaya Boarding School (BBS) is one of the best performing Islamic boarding schools in Tebo district, Jambi province. The school combines the national curriculum with the Islamic-based curriculum. The school has “three in one curriculum”: national curriculum, madrasah curriculum, and vocational curriculum. It means the school graduates will 50 be able to compete to its counterpart which only has one of this curriculum: a public high school with the national curriculum, public madrasa with madrasah curriculum, and vocational school with their vocational curriculum. Therefore, the school has a very busy schedule from 4:00 am to 11:00 pm: Figure 1: The High School Student’s Schedule at BBS As shown in the image 1, here are the schedule details: 3:30 to 8:00 am is the Islamic based and personal activities; 8:00 to 12:30 pm is the public school related curriculum activities; 51 12:30 pm to 17:20 is personal, Islamic based and extracurricular activities; 17:20 to 20:45 is the personal and religious activities; and 21:00 to 23:00is the school activities using Islamic curriculum. Berjaya Boarding School is a comprehensive school that serves the community from Kindergarten to High School level. The school was founded on October 23, 1994. The total number of the students is 1081, and for the high school the total student is 315 students. All students stay in the dormitory, except for the kindergarten students. For the Primary school students, 75 percent of the students live in the dormitory while the 25 percent commutes. Most of the students are coming from middle and lower-middle-class families. The school provides financial assistance for the low-income families. The school monthly tuition is around $50 which cover dormitory, meals, and school fee. The student needs to pay around $350 for a registration fee which covers infrastructure fee, uniform fee, IQ test, and school operational fee. The school also manages its own rubber and oil palm farming which can also help school run the school operating budgets. In this study, I only focus on the high school, or they called Madrasa. The BBS high school has 30 teachers and five staff. The BBS high school was founded in July 15, 2004. The school has been successfully bridged the students from high school to the prestigious universities locally, nationally, and internationally. I was fortunate that my mother knew the owner of the school. Through my mother, I was able to contact the owner’s wife, Ms. Jamal, through the phone while I was still in the US. I then follow up with the academic vice principal Mr. Han whom I know since we were in primary school. I was in grade three when Mr. Han was in his first grade. Mr. Han was the key person in 52 my study. He brought me to meet the high school principal, Mr. Suyat, and the owner/founder of the school, Mr. Jamal, prior to the data collection. In this case, I positioned myself as “being native” (Geertz, 1973; Schneider & Laihua, 2000) because I was born in Jambi province, I am an active civil servant teacher, I am a Muslim, and I can speak the language of the people I observed. That means I did not need to spend any time to learn the culture, language, and traditions of my research participants. However, even though I am a Muslim and understand a little bit about Islamic Boarding School, I have never been educated in an Islamic boarding school context. Yes, I enrolled in the afternoon madrasa for about three years when I was in primary school, but I never lived in a school dormitory. Also, even though my mom knew the school principal of the school in this study, and I knew Mr. Han, I did not know the rest of the teachers. In addition, although this school is in the same district where I used to live, I did not really interact with the parents and the community because my parents’ house was 30 minutes away from the school, and after I graduated from my high school, I lived far away from the BBS. This situation gives me somewhat of an objective perspective on teachers and parents in the Islamic boarding school, while also enabling me to be familiar with context. In addition, in order to avoid potential biases, I made my interview participants diverse based on their gender, distance, types of teachers and parents, as well as the subjects of the teachers. That way, I could give multiple perspectives on participants I interviewed. For the observation, I also observed two types of parents’ activities at school: formal activities and informal activities. For the survey, I randomly sampled parents who attended the parents meeting 53 at the beginning of the school year. These multiple sources of data enabled me to triangulate my findings and reduce potential bias. Participant Selection In selecting interview and survey participants for this study, I contacted the school principal and provided participant criteria so that the principal could help me identify potential study participants. The school principal then requested Mr. Han to assist me with the list of the parents’ participants. From Mr. Han, I had eight lists of parents. One of the parents’ participants did not agree to be interviewed. For my interviews, I interviewed six teachers who varied based on gender and the subject they taught. Within the six teachers, there was one high school principal, and one school owner. I also interviewed seven parents who were varied based on the following categories: female and male respondents, parents who lived in different districts, an active parent, low involvement parents, a single parent, and a parent who lives within a close distance to the school. Here are the profiles of my thirteen? Interviewees, using pseudonyms: 1. Mr. Anas (Parent, August 9, 2017) Mr. Anas is a school principal in a high school in Merangin, Jambi Province. He is also an English teacher at a high school in Merangin. Merangin is a neighbor district of the boarding school where he sends his 11-grade daughter and 7-grade son in this school. Mr. Anas needs to travel to the school for around 3.5 hours. Due to the distance, I interviewed him both through phone and email. 54 2. Mr. Guntoro (Parent, July 10, 2017) Mr. Guntoro is a rubber farmer. He has three children, but only his 12-grade daughter goes to BBS. Mr. Guntoro lives 30 minutes away from the school. The school staff identified him to have a low participation in school activities or programs. 3. Mr. Karyadi (Parent, June 5, 2017) Mr. Karyadi is a rubber farmer. He used to be a candidate for the Village Leader in his village, but he did not win the election. He has three daughters, two of whom go to the boarding school. They are six graders and eleven graders. Mr. Karyadi lives really close to the school. He and his community have a good relationship with the school owner. The school identified him as having high participation in school activities and programs. 4. Mr. No (Parent, July 3, 2017) Mr. No is a rubber farmer. He used to be the leader of his neighborhood complex. He has four children, and two of them go to boarding schools. Of these two, one of them – a ten- grade daughter – goes to the Islamic School Berjaya. The school staff also identified Mr. No as a parent who has low participation. He lives 20 minutes driving distance from the school. 5. Mr. Sidiq (Parent, June 15, 2017) Mr. Sidiq is a rubber farmer and a businessman. Both Mr. Sidiq and Mrs. Sidiq have bachelor’s degrees. Mr. Sidiq has two children, and one of them – a twelve-grade daughter – goes to the Berjaya Islamic boarding school. Mr. Sidiq lives approximately 7 miles from the school. 55 6. Mrs. Marni (Parent, June 15, 2017) Mrs. Marni and her husband run agribusiness entrepreneurship. Mrs. Marni has a bachelor’s degree. One of her two children, a twelve-grade son, goes to BBS. Mrs. Marni is the elder sister of Mrs. Sidiq. They (Mr. Mrs. Marni and Mrs. Sidiq) live in the same neighborhood. 7. Mrs. Yantoro (Parent, July 27, 2017) Mrs. Yantoro is a single mother. Her husband used to be a retired public middle school staff member. Her husband passed away in 2016. She has a rubber farm for her living. She has four children. Two of her children are school teachers at the Berjaya Boarding School, and one of them – a ten-grade boy – is a student at the school. Mr. Han, who was also one an interviewee in this study, is Mrs. Yantoro’s son. 8. Mr. Badru (Teacher, July 23, 2017) Mr. Badru is the Quranic memorization teacher. He lives on campus. There are several teachers who live in the boarding schools, Mr. Badru is one of them. His method of teaching is different from others. Because he is a Quranic memorization teacher, he teaches from morning until late at night. His method of teaching is more informal compared to other teachers. He uses both inside and outside the classroom as a place to teach. 9. Mr. Han (Teacher, May 23, 2017) Mr. Han is a vice principal and a civics education teacher. He is the third kid of Mrs. Yantoro. He was just promoted to be a school principal of Vocational School, which has just been established. Mr. Han is the key person who connected me to the school principal, the school owner, parents, and teachers. 56 10. Mr. Jamal (Teacher/Founder/Owner, June 11, 2017) Mr. Jamal is the owner of the school. He teaches Quranic study. He is also known as a charismatic leader in the community. He migrated from Java Island in 1994. In the same year, he established an informal Quranic study at the small mosque near his house. This informal Quranic study has now become a big Islamic boarding school. He is known as a humble teacher. Even though he is the school owner, he does not really have a permanent house yet. His previous house is now used as a dorm for his students. Mr. Jamal and Mrs. Jamal currently live on campus, and they use one of the classrooms as their home. 11. Mr. Suyat (Teacher/Principal, May 27, 2017) Mr. Suyat is the high school principal. In addition to being a principal, he also teaches physics. He is known as a risk-taker leader. His decision is firm that the students and teachers need to be honest in doing the national examination. As a result, there were some students who failed to graduate and needed to redo the national examination. He was not afraid of being fired because of his firm decision. He was also the initiator of the community development program, as well as the three-months evaluation involving parents. 12. Mrs. Gusreni (Teacher, May 27, 2017) Mrs. Gusreni is an Indonesian teacher. She has been teaching for around seven years. She lives 8 miles from the school. She also coordinates several extracurricular activities in the after-school program. 13. Mrs. Jamal (Teacher, May 30, 2017) Mrs. Jamal is the wife of Mr. Jamal, the owner and the charismatic Islamic figure. She moved from Java Island to open the school. The first time she moved from Java to Sumatera, she was not happy at all. She wanted to go back to Java, as she never realized that the area to which 57 they moved was going to be so rural. However, Mr. Jamal always gave her motivation and now she is enjoying her life at school. She teaches Al-Quran and Al-Hadid subjects. She positioned herself as the mother of all students. Finally, the respondents for my survey were high school parents of the Islamic boarding school. I had 79 respondents for my survey, which represents 25 % of the total population of high school students. The parents’ survey was aimed to minimize the bias I will have given the familiarity that I had to the school community and the school context. The survey was held while the parents were participating in a parents/teacher meeting. As a result, the participants in the survey are parents who attended the parents meeting at the beginning of the school year. This survey only represents 25 percent of the high school students who happened to attend the parents meeting at the beginning of the school year. It means that the survey result did not represent 100 percent of the total population. There may be a possibility that the 25 percent parents are those active parents and the parents who did not attend the meeting are those who have lower parental involvement. The disclaimer of this survey finding is that I only reported the survey result of the parents who attended the meeting. Data Collection Observations Observation is necessary to make sense of the condition and phenomenon being studied. Atkinson (1983) contended that almost all social research is a form of participant observation because one cannot study the social world without being part of it. There are two kinds of observation (Patton (2002): (1) non-participant observation, where the researcher is completely separate from the research group (e.g. using video, observing behind a one-way mirror); and (2) 58 participant observation, where the researcher becomes a member of the group and joins in the action. Observation can take place at any point on a scale from fully non-participant to fully participant. Participant observation is an approach to collecting data in which the researchers actively engage in the environment they observe (Atkinson, 1983). Further, Glesne (2011) asserted that through being part of a social setting a researcher could develop trust among the participants as well as see the patterns of the behavior first-hand. I used participant observation in this research. In this study, my goal in being a participant observer was to differentiate myself as an observer rather than as a journalist (Glesne, 2011). That is, instead of observing a phenomenon then leaving, I spent more time and made a close connection with the participants I observed. I divided my observation into two parts: formal and informal parental involvement. Under the consultation with the school principal, I decided to observe two formal activities: End of Year Celebration Program (May 16, 2017) and Parent Teacher Meeting at the Beginning of the School Year (July 7, 2017). I was lucky because I was able to observe both the end-of-year program and the beginning-of-school program. For the informal activities, I observed two activities: parents visiting their children at the school (June 9, 2017) and parents dropping their children off at the beginning of the school year (July 7, 2017). My observation time ranged from one hour to three hour for my observation. I immersed myself in the activities so that I could feel the nuance of the parental involvement in the school. I used field notes to record what activities were occurring, what teachers and parents were saying and doing, as well as what they were discussing. I wrote 59 everything I saw, felt, and heard into my journals as reflective memos throughout the data collection process (Groenewald, 2008). Interviews Interviews are important in qualitative methods because they enable researchers to get first-hand data. One positive thing about interviews is that an interviewer can record everything they see, hear, and feel, which then can be analyzed. Unlike surveys, I can analyze gesture as well as body language, which perhaps will add information. Interviews, according to Fontana and Frey (2005), have several forms: face-to-face interviews (in person) and non-face-to-face interviews like telephone surveys (or through Skype, Google Hangouts, etc.). Interviews can also be in the form of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. In this study, I used semi-structured interviews in order to have semi-formal discussions but still keep the conversations on track. Semi-structured interviews, according to Glesne (2011), use loose structure and open-ended questions to define the area to be explored. As mentioned before, I interviewed teachers, seven parents, and administrators. I conducted the interviews from May to August 2017. The interview for each participant lasted 45 minutes to one hour. Interviews were conducted both at the school and at parents’ houses. I interviewed one parent by phone due to distance. I used both note-taking and a digital recorder to document my interview data. The interview protocols I used were based on the parental involvement framework by Epstein. Please see Appendices A-C for the interview protocols for the teachers, administrators, and parents. 60 Surveys I adapted the survey instrument developed by Salinas, Epstein, and Sanders (2009) and presented in Epstein et al. (2009), which is called “Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnership.” The survey used Epstein’s six kinds of parents’ involvement to measure whether or not parents are actively involved in their children’s education that I already got Dr. Joyce Epstein’s permission to use, adapt, or translate as needed (See Appendix D). The adaptation part of the questionnaire was developed based on my reflections on the interviews and observations I conducted in May and June. That way, I was able to adjust, minimize, and add additional questions as needed based on my reflection on interviews and observations. I administered the survey on July 7, 2017, when the parents had a teacher-parent meeting at the beginning of the school year. The estimated time to finish the survey was 15 minutes. On the questionnaire that I distributed to parents in Pondok Pesantren Berjaya, I also attempted to solicit information on family characteristics that typically predict parental involvement (Chudgar & Shafiq, 2010). These characteristics then served as control variables when looking at the relationship between parental involvement levels as the outcomes in my regression analyses. The family characteristics in this study include parents’ education, parents’ socioeconomic status, parents’ gender, parents’ type (such single parents, complete parents, or guardian), parents’ distance to the school, number of siblings at school, and number of siblings at home (Chudgar & Shafiq, 2010). Data Analysis To answer my first research question, regarding how Epstein’s framework applies to parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, I used deductive coding to 61 make the data more structured. Deductive coding is a type of coding in which the raw data is coded as applying or not applying to certain themes based on previous research (Thomas, 2003). In this case, I used Epstein’s parental involvement framework to generate a list of codes. Thus, in this second analysis, the raw data from the observations and the interviews were coded using Epstein’s parental involvement framework: parenting, communication, parent volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating (Epstein, 2009). Then, I used logic models (Yin, 2003) to see the patterns of parental involvement in these six areas. The reason I used logic models in this study was to match the data I observed and gathered to the existing theory. As a result, I was able to draw a pattern of the six parental involvement activities and analyze which activities had more or less participation by parents in this context. To answer my second research question, regarding how parents are involved in their children’s education at an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, I used inductive coding to make the data less structured. Inductive coding is a type of coding that aims to analyze the raw data and sort it into certain categories or themes that are relevant to the research questions or research interests (Thomas, 2003). In other words, inductive coding tries to create a new model or framework based on the raw data collected (Thomas, 2003). In this first analysis, the raw data from the interview transcripts of parents, teachers, and the school principal, as well as the observations on both formal and informal activities, were coded and categorized without using the Epstein framework. This way, I was able to capture the nuances of parental involvement that are not mentioned in Epstein’s model. Quantitative data analysis was also used to answer my second research question. This time, I used Epstein’s six forms of parental involvement to analyze the survey results. That is, I evaluated how Epstein’s framework was applicable through these data sources. The analysis of 62 the data is expected to see which models of the six parental frameworks have more influence over one another. To do this I summarize the total average of all output (parenting, collaborating, decision making, learning at home, volunteering, communicating, and parental involvement), then I made a bar chart. To answer my third research question, regarding the family characteristics that predict parental involvement at an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, I used the responses to the parent surveys to form parental involvement scores for each respondent on the six dimensions in Epstein’s parental involvement framework. To do this, for each category, the scores were calculated using 1= never, 2= rarely, 3=sometimes, 4=often, and 5=frequently. The total average of each category for a given respondent was their measure on each element of the six elements of parental involvement. The six forms of parental involvement were used as dependent variables in Ordinary Least Squares regression to see what family characteristics predicted parental involvement in this school. The models were: 1 Y PI 2 Y PI = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES+ β4gender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4gender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi 3 Y PI 4 Y PI = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4gender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4gender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi 5 Y PI = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4gender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi 6 Y PI = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4.gender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi 7 Y PI = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4sgender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi 1 There were seven different measures of dependent variables which are denoted as Y PI . The first YPI is the average score for the first facet of parental involvement in Epstein’s model, parenting. The second YPI in this study is the average score for Epstein’s category of 63 communication. The third YPI is the average score of parent volunteering. The fourth Y 1PI is the average score of learning at home. The fifth YPI is the average score of decision-making. The sixth YPI in the model is the average score of collaborating with the community. The seventh YPI is the total average of the six measures of parental involvement from Epstein’s framework. β0 is the intercept, that is, the average parental involvement models score if all other variables are equal to zero. The other measures served as controls. β2P.Educ is the parents’ educational background. β3P.SES is the parents’ socio-economic status. β4s.gender is the students’ gender. Β5P.Type is the type of parents, whether they are single parents, complete parents, or guardian parents. The εi captures other, unmeasured conditions that affect the student's test score. These models are expected to give information on what family characteristics predict parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. Validity To ensure the validity of this study, first of all, I conducted pilot studies for both my qualitative and quantitative methods. To assess whether or not the interview instrument was workable, I interviewed one school teacher and one parent in mid-May 2017. From the pilot study, I received some feedback, and I made some revisions to my interview protocols. Second, to test whether the Indonesian translation of the survey was realistic and understandable, I tested the questionnaire with four students from Indonesia who study at Michigan State University. I used cognitive pretesting to assess whether the respondents understood and could answer the questions (Fowler, 2002). The participants read the survey questions and respond to them out loud (Fowler, 2002). I also invited two parents to do my pre-survey questionnaire. I made some 64 revisions based on the feedback I received both from the students and parents who did my survey pilot study. Third, to familiarize myself with the phenomena and the subject I was going to observe, I also piloted my approach to observations. Before I conducted a real observation, after coordinating with the school staff, I did a pre-observation on a parent visit on Friday, June 2, 2017. 65 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS Before I go into details on answering my research questions, firstly, I would like to present the overall performance of parental involvement in BBS. Overall, based on the parents’ survey, on a scale from 1 to 5, the mean values for five of the indicators of parental involvement were above 3. The highest was Learning at Home, with a mean of 3.92. The second highest was Parenting, with a mean of 3.70. These survey results show that parental involvement at BBS was relatively high. This finding obviously opposed the previous finding that the schools in Indonesia relatively have a low parental involvement (Karsidi et al., 2013; Fitriah et al., 2013; Majzub and Salim, 2011; and Parker & Raihani, 2011). With that in mind, I now present my findings for my three-research question in detail. Epstein’s Models of Parental Involvement My first research question is: “In what ways does Epstein’s framework apply to parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia?” I used my interviews and observation data to answer my first research question. My interview and observation was guided by the parental involvement framework by Epstein: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Parenting The first parental involvement model by Epstein (2009), parenting, was observed and evidenced in this study. Epstien (2009) argued school needs to help parents understand their role in helping the children ready and prepared to the school. There were several forms of parenting involvement by parents and teachers in the school, which included parents visiting and driving students to school, parents giving additional nutrition to their children, and the school helping 66 parents know how to raise kids in an Islamic way and how to deal with behavior problems (Sanders and Epstein, 1998). The first form of involvement by a parent in Pondok Pesantren Berjaya is when a parent sends their kids to the school or when the parents make a visit to the school. According to Mr. Karyadi, the parent who lives near the school, driving kids and or visiting the kids at school are things that parents can do to show support to the students’ education. Mr. Karyadi argued, “The simple example is we as parents drive our kids to the schools. It means we support our children’s education.” At least when parents drive the students to the boarding school, the parents will make contact with either other parents or the teachers. Similarly, Mr. No also stated that he would visit his daughter to make sure that his daughter is okay: So at least every fifteen days I visit my daughter. I want to make sure that she is okay and healthy at the boarding school. I also want to see how her studying is progressing. So, as a parent I need to control and support our children’s education. The second part of the parenting that parents applied in the school is sending additional nutrition. Mr. Karyadi mentioned, “Then we visit our children by bringing some food or meals to share with our children and our children’s friends. These are also examples of involvement.” Mr. Marni and Mrs. Yantoro also made an effort to give additional meals or nutrition to their children. Mrs. Marni said, “Every three weeks, we usually send my daughter additional meals.” While Mrs. Marni visited every three weeks, Mrs. Yantoro visited her son every 15 days: “Yes, I visit my son every two weeks. I will bring some foods for him too. Actually, my son doesn’t really like me giving him some food, but me as his mom I want to make sure he gets the nutrition he needs.” Although sending additional meals for the children is good, Mr. Jamal, the founder of the school strongly recommended parents not to send the food to children too often. Mr. Jamal 67 argued that if parents often send kids food, it means that parents are doubtful about the school’s meal. This seems that the parents are worried so much that their kids will not get enough nutrition they need. Here is what Mr. Jamal revealed, “Parents need to be sincere to send their kids here to this boarding school. So bringing food for their children is okay, but do not do it too often. Because parents gave signal indirectly to us that they do not trust us in providing good meals for students.” I also heard directly about this topic during the parents meeting at the beginning of the school year. When Mr. Jamal gave a talk in front of new and returning parents, he clearly mentioned that if the parents send their kids with additional nutrition not only it will spoil the children, but it will also create jealousy among the students who did not receive additional meals from their parents. Also, Mr. Jamal limits the visit of the parents. The parents can only visit every two weeks on Friday. Mr. Jamal wanted the parents to trust the school and to teach the students to live independently. The third part of the parenting models in this boarding school is that the school helps parents understand how to raise kids in an Islamic way and how to deal with behavior problems. The school helps parents on students’ behavior, students’ psychology, and event with the guidance for students’ future academic step or job. Mr. Anas argued that he benefitted from the school parenting program in which he learned how to raise his children in Islamic ways: “I also received knowledge from the teachers and the Kyai on how to raise our kids in an Islamic way.” Similarly, Mr. Sodiq mentioned that he was invited several times to discuss the school rules, policies, and regulations. Mr. Sodiq said, “So, the involvements include at the beginning of the school year, parents are always invited to discuss the school rules and regulations.” The school also helps parents with defining the students’ talent and skills through psychological testing to guide teachers and parents in raising their kids in an Islamic way. Mrs. Jamal stated: 68 “We have a partnership with a psychologist. Each and every new student will be tested by the psychologist, starting from the kid's’ character, learning types, to the students’ IQ. We can have the result for each student. The result will then be documented, which then be delivered to the teachers and parents. Therefore, both parents and teachers will understand the kid’s learning style and model. Because every student is different, there are some kids who are extrovert and there are some who are an introvert. The psychology test will also give an early indication whether or not the students have an illness, such as asthma or another disease which can spread to other students. Because living in a boarding school, we will make sure that the students are healthy.” In line with Mrs. Jamal, Mrs. Gusreni also mentioned that by having an IQ test, the parents and teachers would have a guide on how to help children move forward. In addition, Mrs. Gusteni asserts that the IQ test also helps teachers to place students in their school major – that is, whether the students are placed in a social science class or a science class. She described, So here in this school, we have a psychology test. The test itself is in a written format. Parents need to be present at school when the test is being administered. From there, the results will be given to the parents. So parents together with teachers and the psychologist guide students to choose their major (social science, natural science, or Islamic Studies). So parents at the end need to approve the major based on the psychology test. Therefore, the role of parents in this school is very important…. So, the psychologist will inform parents for example, “Hey, your son based on the psychology test will be fit to be a medical doctor or be a police officer.” So parents will know what the students interests are, and from there, parents then help their students to reach their dream. In addition, Mr. Karyadi agreed that parents need to be present to guide their children in assisting with their future. He mentioned, “So we as parents have a responsibility to guide our children so that they can be independent, and they will know what to do and what to study upon their completion of the high school.” Similarly, Mrs. Marni was also grateful for the school programs that assist parents and students in navigating the student’s next steps after the boarding school. She said, So, when my daughter was about to graduate from high school, we parents are invited to discuss our kids’ future. The teachers will help us direct our children to where they should go after the boarding school. Specifically, to which university they should pursue for their next education. 69 The last part of parenting in Pondok Pesantren Berjaya is the home-school partnership in dealing with the students’ behavior problem. The school will usually involve parents when it comes to negative behavior problems that students have. If the problem is minor, the school will not involve parents. However, if it is not considered minor, then the school will always invite parents to come to school. Mr. Suyat mentioned that the school through its teacher mentors, subject teachers, religious teachers, and other staff would try their best to deal with the students’ behavior problem. However, when needed parents will always be contacted. He remarked, If we have our students having a problem with their behavior, if needed, we also contacted parents. But we try our best not to bother parents with students behavioral problems. But if we need to call parents, usually parents will talk to me first, then the teachers, then finally we will have parents meet their son/daughter together with other teachers. Similarly, Mr. Han praised parents that trust the school in dealing with students’ misconduct. Mr. Han stated, “Also, when we invite parents for students’ behavior, parents will come 100 percent. Parents mostly trust the school in dealing with students’ behavior.” Further, the school also has strict policy enforcement. When students have violated serious school rules, the school sends the students back to their parents until certain days that have been agreed upon by both parties. Mrs. Jamal argued, “Sometimes, if the students break the school rules and law, I mean serious rules, we send the students home. They may go back to school only when the school has final exams. Other than that, the students need to remain at home.” All in all, based on interview and observation data, parenting is one part that can be seen and that is implemented well in Pondok Pesantren Berjaya. Parents do not hesitate to learn from the school how to raise their kid's in Islamic ways, and the school also happy in assisting parents in guiding the students to excel. 70 Communicating Epstein’s (2009) framework asserts that communication is important in order to maintain a good relationship between home and school. If the school can maintain good communication with parents, then the positive relationship will most probably be maintained as well. At Pondok Pesantren Berjaya, there were three forms of communication that happened between parents and teachers: communication through phone or mail, communication through the formal meeting, and informal communication. The goals of communication in this boarding school included showing support, motivating students, and building teamwork between school and home. Mr. Karyadi revealed that parents are no longer strict with the formal means of communication such as sending an invitation through the mailbox. He argued that this means of communication is not effective due to the distance. Mr. Karyadi mentioned, “So, there used to be parents who were requesting a formal invitation through the mailbox. However, having such a big number of parents, not to mention with the distance for the parents, now parents understand that phone texting will be sufficient as a means of communication and invitation.” Mr. Guntoro however, because he lives close to the school, sometimes still received several forms of invitation through the mail. Here is what he said, When I am invited to come to school I always manage to come. For example, the farewell party, Quranic studies for the community, or parents meeting, or other kinds of invitation. So, sometimes they invite us through the mail or SMS, or ask school staff to invite us personally. In terms of a communication tool that parents use to communicate with their students, the school prohibits students from bringing cell phones. Mr. Guntoro mentioned that he could not call his daughter because the school does not allow students to bring the cell phones with them. However, the school provides a school phone that students may borrow just in case they 71 need to call their parents. Mrs. Marni stated, “Teachers have a communication tool that the students can borrow whenever they want to contact their parents. So, students are not allowed to bring their cellphone.” Parents are also encouraged to visit the school and have in-person communication with teachers. Mr. Badru, who lives on campus, mentioned that his door is always open if parents want to come and visit. “As, you already seen. I am here. My house is open for everyone. Parents can always meet me either at home or school. I mean I live at school anyway.” Mr. Jamal and Mrs. Jamal even gave their cell phone number to all parents, and they encouraged parents to call if they needed some assistance or consultations. Mrs. Jamal said, “I let everyone call me, including parents. I am open for parents to ask me questions or to consult about everything. We also let parents visit their son/daughter two times a week. So, we are very open for parents to communicate with us.” Similarly, Mrs. Jamal contended, For me, yes!. Even I let all parents know my phone number. I will always give my number to parents. So if we found a problem at school, I usually come as a mediator. Or when I am not around, I usually delegate it to other teachers to assist students with their problems. Not only can parents visit the school, the school also made some effort to visit parents even though some parents live a far distance away. Mrs. Gusreni revealed that the school often holds a community gathering that is rotating depending on where the parents live. That way, the school can serve the community by doing da’wah. The school can also gather donations from the parents and the community who live in the area, and the important thing is the school visits parents. Mrs. Gusreni argued, One thing that we always do is holding a big gathering and inviting an Islamic figure to be a speaker. People will always think that we are visiting them to raise a donation. But our main purpose is to visit the students and parents at the same 72 time. So, wherever the students are, we always make an effort to visit them by holding a big gathering in the community. Similar to Mrs. Gusreni, Mr. Jamal mentioned that even though parents did not visit the schoolhouse one by one, the community gathering, which is held in the area where the parents live, has shown the commitment of the school to communicate with parents. He noted, We also have a community gathering which was held in a district where the students were coming from. So we did not literally visit their home one by one, but we visit them in their districts. So we meet parents in a group together with the community surrounding. The school also make use of formal and informal meetings with parents to build effective and positive communication with parents. Mr. Sidiq mentioned that the frequent meetings the school held allowed parents to know other parents and teachers. He said, So, we as parents will know each other because we will meet every three months. We also met at the beginning of the semester, and when we collect our childrens’ academic reports we will meet again. So, within six months we meet at least three times. It means during the whole school year, at least we meet with other parents six times. Mr. Han enjoyed the informal communication that he often did with the parents. He often met parents in wedding parties. Mr. Han stated, “Sometimes we met students’ parents in public places, and we often have informal communication. Parents will always ask how my son/daughter is. Did he/she behave well at school? Very often we meet parents in a wedding party.” Mrs. Gusreni mentioned that the school really committed to having good communication with parents and encouraging parents to visit the teachers. The school even allocated a special budget for refreshments when the parents made a school visit to the teachers’ office. Mrs. Gusreni revealed, “Here in this school we often invite parents. Therefore, we have our special 73 budget for parents when they come visit. So, we provide foods for parents because they traveled from a far distance.” The school realizes that by having effective communication, the parents will feel ownership over the school. Mr. Anas mentioned that by making school visits, he could show to the school and to the students that he is there to support. Here is what Mr. Ahmad mentioned, At least three times in a semester. I want to make sure that I am there to support my children. And I want to give a message to the teachers that I am available whenever they need our assistance. I also like to discuss with the teachers and school staff. Mrs. Jamal even mentioned that if the school does not maintain good communication with parents, the school will not be able to survive like they are right now. Mrs. Jamal stated, “We can survive like what we are right now because we are doing it together. This school was established from the students’ fee.” Similarly, Mr. Suyat valued the collaboration between home and school. He believed by having a positive relationship, teachers and parents could together help students succeed. Mr. Suyat said, “Communicating with parents is very important. So, at school, what we do is to find the student’s talent and potential. And we believe we can’t do it alone.” Therefore, to maintain a good relationship, the school is really accountable for sending the school report to the parents. Mr. Suyat mentioned, “So we want to make sure that we are accountable to our parents. We inform the academic progress to them.” Similarly, Mr. Han mentioned that the report would show parents their student’s progress: “So in our final report/report card it will cover general subjects report, religious studies subjects, and personal development.” 74 Volunteering There were at least three kinds of involvement in parent volunteering at the Pondok Pesantren Berjaya, (1) school events volunteering, (2) school works/construction volunteering, and (3) community development volunteering. The first parent involvement is when the school held an event or a program. Parents, in this case, father and mother, have different roles. For the mother’s side, they will usually help with the kitchen work. The school will usually not cater the food. Mrs. Gusreni clearly explained the school’s effort to empower parents: The female parents will always come to help cooking if we have a big event. We also include our community to help us prepare our food. We are not really catering for food. We empower parents and the community near our school…. For male parents, they usually help with preparing the tent, cleaning up the schoolyard, and with the parking. Similarly, Mr. Guntoro, Mr. Karyadi, and Mr. No had similar opinions on the father’s role when the school had a school event such as a farewell party, school gathering, or public talk. According to Mr. Guntoro, Mr. Karyadi, and Mr. No, the male parents usually will gather together to help the school with the big tents for the attendees, help with the parking lot, help with the facilities during the events, or help with cleaning the school area before, during, and after the event. According to Mrs. Marni, the school doctrine, in which the school belongs to the community, has been a great influence for the parents not to hesitate to help the school. In addition, the parents feel that it is their responsibility to volunteer at the school because the school has been taking care of their children 24 hours. Here is what Mrs. Marni said: The school doctrine is that the school belongs to the community. So, whenever the school has a program or event, we will always help. We do not hesitate to help because all the school staff also do not hesitate to take care of our children 24 hours 7 days. 75 The second form of involvement in parent volunteering is the parents’ effort to help the school with its construction. Building a private religious school in a rural area needs so much energy, effort, and money. Therefore, the school will always encourage the parents to volunteer in helping the school with its school works or constructions. Mr. Han said, “We also invite parents to build our school building, doing concrete work. We give out shifts. 10th-grade students’ parent did their job in the morning shift, 11th-grade parents at noon, and 12th-grade in the afternoon.” In term of parents volunteering in giving some donation, Mr. Anas contended that he gave some construction materials to support the school in building a new school building: “I voluntarily give a donation to the school in the form of materials, such as cement or bricks in addition to the tuition fee when the school plans to build a new building.” The last form of involvement in parents volunteering is community development. Mr. Suyat listed parents who can help the school with transporting students for the community development programs. Mr. Suyat said, “For the community development program, parents will always be involved. We always invite parents who have a car to come and drop the group of students off in the area. The school will provide the gas.” Similar to Mr. Suyat, Mrs. Jamal also mentioned that the parents who have cars are encouraged to help students. By having parents transport the students to the community development placement, parents will actually help the school by being the school representatives as well. Mrs. Jamal mentioned in the interview, “In this program we always ask parents who have a car to participate in driving the students to the area or to pick up the students when the program ends.” From observing both formal and informal activities by parents, I did see that parents were involved in some volunteering program. At the farewell party I attended on May 16, for example, I saw parents were in charge of doing some work overseeing the parking lot. Parents 76 were also distributing a newspaper used as a temporary mat for the attendants who did not have a place to sit. I also received a traditional snack during the events. The male parents who gave the snack mentioned to me that the snacks were not catered. All the snacks were made by the female parents who volunteered in the school kitchen. In summary, parents volunteering at school programs and events is vital to the school’s success. The school cannot run its programs by counting solely on the teachers and staff. Also, by volunteering at school programs or events, I found that parents will feel that they did something for their children’s education. As a result, the parents will feel ownership over the school. According to Mr. Suyat, when parents are involved in some volunteering activities, the parents will feel valued: We have good communication with students’ parents. We do not only involve parents in our events, we also train our students to be event organizers. So, in the end, parents, students, and teachers work together to hold a school event. This will enable us to teach responsibility to the students and parents; when we give trust to them to be responsible for doing something, then they will feel valued by the school. Similarly, from the parents’ perspective, Mr. Sidiq agrees with Mr. Suyat’s opinion on the positive impact on parents’ volunteering. Here is Mr. Sidiq discussing the values behind the volunteering: So, when we are involved in each and every single activity or program, or problem, we will feel that we are part of the schools. Therefore, we feel the ownership of this school. When the school involved us to together shape our student's character, we feel honored and we feel that we are not lonely in helping our children’s success. 77 Learning at home From the interviews with both teachers and parents, there was a strong indication that the school gave clear guidance for the parents to watch and help the students to maintain the school culture while the students are home from the boarding schools. The teachers really value the parents’ role to help the schools maintain the rhythm of reading, memorizing, and learning in addition to the kids’ right to socialize and have play time. This is because many students will assume that the school break is the time for them to retaliate after having such a busy time in boarding schools. As a result, a lot of students were reportedly spending too much time sleeping, too much time doing internet gaming, or having too much time socializing with their friends in their neighborhoods. There are two kinds of involvement in learning at home that parents do according to my interviews: 1) Parents help students learn at home; 2) Parents watch students’ activities. In term of parents helping their kids learn at home, Mr. No made two clear explanation of parents’ role as children’s helper at home: When she went home for a school break, it is our turn to teach them a similar way to when she was at school. So, it is not enough to only depend on the school.... It is parent’s responsibility to participate in our children’s education. I do not agree with many parents who give all education responsibility to the school. In my opinion, parents need to educate, send them to the school, and when our kids are at home, we need to transform as teachers too. Similarly, Mr. Anas, will also provide a positive home environment so that his kids will feel the school atmosphere while at home: “Our family will make sure that when our two kids are at home, they will feel the school atmosphere. So, they will keep continuing their study a little bit. Because I want them to have some break too.” Mrs. Marni gave specific support that 78 her family provides for her daughter in terms of academic support at home. She will help her daughter find some online resources to help her daughter do the school project: Sometimes, my daughter will ask me to find an article on the internet when she has a project or homework. Also, when my daughter needs additional books, we will try our best to provide the book for our daughter. I believe this is considered to be me helping my daughter doing her homework. From the teachers’ perspective, teachers will always remind parents that they also have a similar responsibility as the students’ teachers at school. In other words, when the students are at school, the academic responsibility is mainly on the teachers, and therefore, when the students are at home, the parents will bear the most responsibility for the children’s academics. Mr. Hen, for example, really highlighted what parents should do to motivate their children at home: We as teachers suggested that parents need to spend time for their kids, when they recite Quran, or telling a story about their times at the boarding schools. Even though they do not really understand Quran, parents need to pretend that they understand and praise the kid in order to motivate them to learn more. Similarly, Mr. Suyat contended that there are several parents who may not know yet of their responsibility at home. Therefore, the school teachers need to make some efforts to remind parents that parents have more responsibility in their children’s education. Mr. Suyat stated, We need parents to work with us. Because we also believe education is started from family. Yet, many parents do not realize that yet, due to their low education background plus they are also busy at their works. But we are trying our best to involve parents in educating our students. From both teachers’ and parents’ perspectives, we can conclude that yes, both parents and teachers made some efforts to help students learn at home. The schools made it clear 79 that they will always remind parents that parents can be their children’s teachers at home, and based on the interview above, it is obvious that parents did what the school has regulated. The second important involvement model in term of helping students learn at home is that parents need to watch their child’s activity when he/she is at home. This is aimed at ensuring that, while the students are having the school break, they still maintain the school’s rhythm. Mr. Jamal, the owner of the school, repeatedly received reports that parents let the students make too much time to sleep and to play games. He therefore asserted that the parents help the school to discipline the students at home such as reminding the kids not to have too much amount of sleeping and to remind children to study at home. I always mention to parents who come visit me, or when parents come to visit their children, or when we have parents meeting: that parents need always to watch their kids when they are at home. Because I received so many reports that parents let their students sleep too much. Parents tolerate their children to sleep overtime just because their son/daughter will have very little time to sleep at the boarding school. But you know what, when they come back to school, we will restart from zero again. So, parents, in this case, need to imitate the learning habits that we have here in this school. In line with Mr. Jamal, Mr. Suyat, as the school principal will always ask parents to watch their children when they pick up the students as well as when parents drop the students back to school. He explained, As I said, whenever parents pick up their kids, we always advise them to watch their kids, watch their prayers, watch their studying habits, watch their Quran memorization. When they drop back their kids, we always ask how’s their kids during their break? Most parents will answer, “My kids sleep more than usual, or my kids use their time to play more, because kids thought that is the best way to have time to nap or to play the game, because they will have less time to sleep or no time to play the game at boarding school.” This answer is so common among parents. Mrs. Jamal was concerned about students using a laptop at home. She wants parents to oversee the kids’ activity in order for the students not to misuse the laptop for negative 80 purposes. “The parents need to watch what are their students doing with their laptop. We really encourage parents to watch their students’ behavior at home.” From the perspective of parents, Mr. Sidiq agrees that school and home need to make a good relationship and always to watch students’ academic and behavior activities. He commented, We will try our best to provide a conducive environment when our kids are at home. We also evaluate our children’s recitation of the Quran. We also reminded our children when they forgot to pray five times a day. So, we need to create teamwork between school and home, so when children are at home, they keep continuing their school business. If we do not really care about our children when they are at home, we will ruin our teacher’s efforts to make our children successful. Similarly, Mr. No gave his humble answer when it comes to whether or not he watched his daughter when she was at home: “So, I am just an ordinary dad. Not really educated. So, I tried my best to watch my daughter when she is at home.” Mr. Guntoro, on the other hand, did not really spend too much effort to watch his daughter, because he trusts his daughter that she will use the break time wisely: My daughter, when she was at home for the school break, she understands already that she needs to reduce her time in front of TV, or the use of social media or cell phone. She was really diligent in memorizing Quran, revisiting her subjects she learned at school. So, me I was happy with that, because she already knows what to do and what not. Finally, I was able to collect data on learning at home from my observation at the school’s teacher and parent meeting at the beginning of the school year on July 8, 2017 at 9 am to noon. In my journal, I noted that there were about 300 parents who attended the meeting. Even though the majority of the attendants were the new parents, there were also returning parents who participated in the meeting. The school owner, Mr. Jamal, who is also known as a 81 charismatic kyai in the district, reminded parents many times that he did want to hear the report form parents anymore that when the students are on the school breaks, the parents will let students sleep for such a long time, or parent let students not do academic work. He said it would be difficult for the school to always start from zero again, just because the students forget almost all the school’s habits, traditions, norms, and regulations. Mr. Jamal also suggested to have an in-person, one-on-one meeting if parents need some suggestions on how to help students learn at home. In conclusion, learning at home is not merely to sole responsibility of parents. This model is for both school and home. Teachers or schools need to make a clear expectation to the students and parents that the students need to maintain the academic habits while at home. The parents therefore, need to help teachers in fulfilling the school expectation. From my interview and observation data, I can summarize that yes, both teachers and parents in the school did help students learn at home. Decision Making The Michigan Department of Education (2014) asserted that home is the full partner of the school in making sure that all decision made is for the betterment of the students’ outcome. Therefore, parents need to participate in school decision making. During their interviews, both parents and teachers indicated their belief that the school has the most authority for the school decision making. From the teachers’ point of view, they do not involve parents in the school decision making. However, they always try their best to accommodate parents’ advice or suggestion in different ways. Mr. Han, for example, clearly mentioned that they did not invite parents for the decision-making process, however, they consider parents opinion: “So even though we do not have a formal meeting with parents in our decision-making. But we always 82 value their input and feedback”. In addition, Mr. Jamal, the founder of the school, mentioned that they would survey parents before they decide on the school fee or school’s donation. This is because most of the parents are farmers. The parents’ income depends mainly on the rubber price. When the market price of the rubber commodity is high, the school will most likely have great success on the parents’ donations. Mr. Jamal explained, Even though I do not involve all parents in our school decision-making, we try to be as accountable as possible. We always try to accommodate their need. For instance, we always survey our parents before we ask them for a donation. We will never ask parents for donation when their economic situation is not stable due to the agricultural commodity fluctuation. Some parents also mentioned that the school does not need to invite them to the school meeting if it is about school fee or other things related to money. Mr. Suyat, the school principal, revealed in the interview: Even though we did not involve parents in our decision regarding the school fee, we always try to be accountable by giving a very detailed report of what we propose for parents. So, most of the parents do not want to come if it is about money, most of them will mention we trust you, and just let us know how much we should participate. From the parents’ perspective, there is an indication that schools meet the parents’ expectations that they do not need to get involved in the decision-making authority at the school. Mr. Sidiq for example, trusted the school personnel because so far the school has been so accountable and trustworthy. He stated, “When it comes to the budgeting, we are not involved. However, we really trust them. Because so far, they are accountable.” Similar to Mr. Sidiq, Mrs. Yantoro also mentioned, “Even though I was not involved in school decision-making, especially about school budgeting, I trust the school.” There is an indication also that the parents are not really involved in the decision making because the school does not have the school committee that most of the schools in Indonesia have (Karsidi et al. 2013). Mrs. Marni mentioned that she is not sure if the school has a school 83 committee: “I am not sure, I think they do not have the school committee. Maybe they do, but I do not think the name is the school committee, but I do not think they have one.” In conclusion, decision making is an important element of parental involvement. Involving parents in any school policymaking will help parents increase their ownership to the school. However, based on the interview both parents and teachers confirmed that the school does not have the so-called school committee which almost all school in Indonesia have as a part of the school governing body. Parents in the interview, however, asserted that even though they were not involved in the school decision-making process, they do not feel excluded because they trust the school. Collaborating with the Community Collaboration with the community is one of the school’s cultural strengths, which has been built since the school was founded. The school has successfully created a brand that the school belongs to the community not a certain individual. This school brand has successfully invited the community members to work collaboratively to build the school even though the community does not send their kids to the boarding schools. Mr. Jamal made it clear that even though he is the founder and the owner of the school, he feels that the school belongs to the community: The owner of this school is not me, nor my wife. The owner of the school is the community. Because this school was built by the community. Therefore, I will always consult with the community in each decision I make. I still remember Hajji Busyeri donated his land for this school. So, I value all community opinion and feedback to build this school even bigger. Mr. Jamal has a clear expectation to the community that their feedback and input for the school improvement is really welcomed. Similar to Mr. Jamal, Mr. Han contended that the school would involve the community when it comes to school programs or events: “Also if we 84 have other events/programs because from the beginning we declare this school as a community school. So, the community will be involved in building and or doing the school programs.” In line with Mr. Jamal and Mr. Han, Mrs. Baderu also highlighted that parents and teachers would benefit from their interaction with the community. Mr. Badru said “When parents celebrated Ied Fitr or Ied Adha with us, it also has a positive impact. It means the parents could interact with our teachers personally. They even can mingle with our community near the schools.” Similar to the teachers’ point of view in terms of the community role in helping the school programs, Mr. Guntoro mentioned that parents and the community will often come and help in school programs: “Parents and community are always working together to clean up the school, to prepare event parking, to set up the event tent, and female parents will usually help in the school kitchen.” Similarly, Mr. Karyadi emphasized the role of the community in the school programs: “It is not only the students’ parents who come and help. There are some who are not even sending their kids to the school also voluntarily help the school.” Similar to the idea of Mr. Jamal, Mr. Sidiq also contended that because the school belongs to the community, therefore the community will need to be involved in school events or programs. Mr. Sidiq said “The pioneer of the school is the community. The initiative is also from the community. Therefore, the community is always invited to every school’s events, programs, and activities.” Another perspective came from Mr. No, who mentioned that part of the community service, the parents need to come and interact with the community. That way all parties can be in the same spot in the program which is perhaps bring a new perspective of collaboration among home, school, and community. He described, For the Quranic community gathering (pengajian), we as parents are mandatory to attend this event. So, parents together with the community were gathered together to 85 listen to the charismatic Kiyai. This event is part of the da’wa by the school to the community. Therefore, parents need to be part of this program. Mrs. Marni agreed on the school and parents’ effort on engaging the community. She even stated that the community would give a positive contribution to the school: “So, when we have a farewell party, or if we have a public lecture, or when the school has some visitors from overseas; the community and parents are always invited. So we can either help physically, or with money or other materials.” In terms of contribution, Mr. Karyadi seconds Mrs. Marni’s opinion that the community will help the school develop: Mr. Jamal has a good relationship with our neighborhood. He will not hesitate to ask for help with us, especially those who sent their children to the school. So whenever the school needs help in school infrastructure, most of us in this neighborhood will have the initiative to help. There is a sense of belonging of this neighborhood to the school already. The last form of the community engagement is the community development program designed and initiated by the school. Similar to the community development in most university in Indonesia where the students need to help the community in the rural area. The main aim of the community development program is to serve and educate the community as well as to bring a new and young scholar to motivate the rural community to excel. Mr. Suyat provided a long explanation of a school program that was designed to involve community partnership: Also, part of our community involvement, we have our community development program in which we deploy our 12th-grade students to the community for 21 days. We involve parents in this program; we involve community leaders in order to equip our students with real-life skills…. For the community development evaluation, we also involve the community to assess the student. So we gave assessment guidance to the community volunteers to give a score and comments both individually and as a group. 86 According to Mrs. Jamal, the community development is the program designed not only to serve the community, but also to equip students with the real-life experience. By joining the program, the twelfth graders will be able to apply the knowledge and theories they learned in the classrooms. Mrs. Jamal described, This includes a program which has a very positive impact. The 12th-grade students in their first semester, they must do a community development program (comdev). The comdev program is a program in which 5-6 students are deployed in a very rural area. The program is aimed to equip students with real-life problems, and in order for them to be able to communicate with the real community…. The students can do several community activities in which college students could not do, such as delivering sermon in a mosque every Friday, to lead the communal prayers, and to teach children Quran. The female students join the local Quran recitation for a woman, and they can also teach Pre-K schools. So the female students are ready to be a teacher as well as the Islamic preacher. From my observation, when I did observe the farewell party, the school did not only invite parents, but the school also invited the community. My mother as well as my neighbors who do not have children studying at the Islamic Boarding school still attend the events because they were invited. Similar to my mother and my neighbors, the community attends the gatherings because, in addition to the student's performance and exhibition, the community is interested in listening to the charismatic ustaz who were invited by the schools to deliver some da’wa talks. I observed many people attended the events. The big wide tents that were provided by the school could not hold all the attendees. Some were sitting in the parking lots, some were sitting under the tree, some were sitting near the rubber farm by the podium. All in all, it can be concluded that the collaboration with the community does exist in the school. Both parents and the school staff work hand in hand to engage parents in order to help 87 the school excel. The school is also clearly intended to serve the community through its community development program. The program will also allow its students to apply all they have learned to the real application. Also, the school strongly affirms that the school does not belong to an individual. Instead the school owner is the community itself. Models of Parental Involvement beyond Epstein’s Models To answer my second research question on how parents are involved in their children’s education in Berjaya Boarding School, I used interview results from teachers and parents. After transcribing, translating, coding, and analyzing the interview data, there are at least three common themes for how parents are involved in their children’s education. These four models were not represented in Epstein model which I will discuss later in this chapter. Material support for example, this involvement model will not fit in the six parental models by Epstein: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Similarly, motivational/spiritual support, liaison, and evaluator are hardly fit into the six categories by Epstein. Material Support As mentioned in prior literature about parental involvement in Indonesia, most of the parents define parental involvement as merely supporting the school and their children with school fees or other donations (Fitriah et al., 2013; Majzub and Salim, 2011; Karsidi et al. 2013). I similarly found that some parents describe their participation in school donations, school fees, or any other supporting materials as a form of parental involvement. Mr. Anas, for example, mentioned, “I pay my children’s school fee, and I gave donation to the school.” When I asked him what kind of support he gave to the school and his children, Mr. Karyadi responded, “So, 88 when we paid the school tuition fee. That is also considered parental involvement.” Mrs. Marni had a different perspective on her role in supporting her daughter’s education through providing wireless internet access at home. She explained, “So, in order to help my children academically, we provide wifi in our home. So, when my daughter has a school break, when she needs to conduct research, she can utilize the internet access at home.” From the teacher's point of view, the school really encourages parental participation to go beyond the school tuition fee. Mr. Badru, the Quranic study teacher for example, clearly stated that parent donation is highly recommended: “So this school is open to any kind of donations. There are some parents who send some materials to the schools such as cement, sand, bricks, or other materials. We always thanks and appreciate any kinds of help from parents or community.” Similarly, Mr. Suyat, the school principal mentioned, “We accept any kind of donation from parents. We grow together, when parents grow, the school also grows. And when the school grows, parents will also grow.” Mrs. Jamal had a slightly different perception on parents’ material support. She connected the dot of parents’ tuition fee with rewards parents will receive from Allah. She commented, “So, to the parents who are protesting on the meals menu, we often said that they without realizing it, they are actually already donating to the school. Because all the students’ school fees are rotated to build all school’s infrastructure.” Finally, Mr. Jamal, the owner of the school, stressed that the parents supported the school in the form of material support due to the trust the school gained from parents: “Parents trust us. They give in any kinds of donations, including materials for the building.” Material support is one common involvement that almost all school in Indonesia has for their parental involvement. Parents generally believe that by donating to the school or by paying the school fee they have already made an involvement in the school program. However, 89 sometimes most parents in almost public schools in Indonesia only limit themselves to just being a material support due to lacking information of what does it mean to involve in their children education. BBS however, in addition to the material support, the school and parents work together and perform others model which I will discuss further. The BBS is a private school that greatly depends on the parents’ material supports, and the school has successfully engaged parents and even the community to be the material supporters for the school programs. Spiritual/Motivational Support The parents also provided motivational support, which they considered non-material support. The term “non-material support” initially came from Mr. Anas. When I asked, “In what ways are you involved (or not involved) in your children’ education? Please explain,” one of his forms of support for his kid was non-material support. He then explained what he meant by non- material support: “Non-material here means I give motivation for my children to excel.” Similarly, Mr. Guntoro highlighted that his motivation to his daughter is also a form of involvement: “We use this opportunity to see how she felt, and try to motivate her, and to see how she progresses in the school.” Mr. Sidiq had a more comprehensive explanation of parents as a motivator; he borrowed words from the Indonesian Education founding father, Ki Hadjar Dewantara: Ing Ngarso Sung Tulodo (be a role model), Ing Madyo Mangun Karso (be a goal creator, be an innovator), Tut Wuri Handayani (be a motivator). It means when we are among our kids, we need to be their friends and spark their creativity. When we are behind our kids we need to be able to motivate them to move forward. And when we are in front of them, we need to be a role model. From the three parents above, I can conclude that one form of non-material support that parents can give is a form of motivation to their children. Another form of non-material support 90 from the interview data is dua giver, which means giving prayer for their children’ success. As an Islamic school, the teachers really encourage all parents to send dua because the most important thing that parents can give to their children is the prayer, as Mr. Jamal mentioned in his interview. He explained, “What we need more is not for them to send food for students or teachers. We want them to send prayers for their kids so that kids will feel happy and comfortable here.” Similarly, Mrs. Jamal made it clear that teachers could not make the students smart. The One who can make them smart is God the Almighty with the help of teachers: We and our 135 teachers try our best to deliver the knowledge, but we can’t make our children smart. Who can make our kids smart? It is Allah, the Almighty God. So we need to always pray so that our kids be successful here in this school. Because parents’ prayer is the best support parents can give to their kids. Mr. Yantoro, the school principal, combined dua giver and motivator as the important role of parents that are needed by the school. He explained, So I hope all parents can motivate and send dua to their children who study here in this school. Because our students’ success is not only on school and teachers, but it is also parents’ responsibility. And the best motivator so far is the parents themselves. The last form of motivational involvement is in the form of supporting the kid’s decision regarding the next step after school. Mr. No clearly stated that he would support whatever decision his daughter will make after she graduates: “If she wants to continue to the college level, we will support her. But for now on, I want her to focus on her study at the boarding school.” Similarly, Mrs. Yantoro also gave the authority to her son to decide the next step: “So, I will always support him. I always ask his next step, like where is he going to continue his study.” 91 Evaluator Parents as evaluators is one thing that made this school special. To make themselves accountable, the school staff invites parents every three months to evaluate their son or daughter in front of their teachers and peers. Parents may ask questions, which are randomly selected, in front of the class, or they may ask their own questions for their own son or daughter. Mrs. Jamal, the wife of the school owner, as well as a teacher, mentioned, “The students need to perform all they learned at school, and parents may ask any questions regarding what students have gained or learned. So, at this point, it is not the teachers who assess students’ progress, but it is the parents.” Similarly, Mr. Suyat argued that parents and teachers work collaboratively to assess students’ progress at school. While at the conventional school the students are assessed solely by teachers, this school has an innovative way to also invite parents as the evaluators. Mr. Suyat described: We have our academic meeting with parents every three months. In this meeting, parents are asked to evaluate their own son/daughter. So, teachers will be around. If parents think they need to delegate to teachers, then the teachers will do the evaluation. But the teacher will most likely observe the activity. As mentioned by Mr. Suyat, Mr. Han contended that parents might delegate to the teachers if they were lacking knowledge of the topics they were evaluating: We also thank parents who are willing to assess their own kids every three months. So parents can evaluate what their son/daughter already learned. If parents could not or did not want to assess their kids due to lack of knowledge, then they can delegate to the teachers, but the parents will sit beside the teachers for the oral evaluation. If after the parents did some evaluation they were not yet happy with the result, parents can give feedback to the teachers. Mrs. Gusreni mentioned that parents may leave a note to be given to the teachers. Parents are also allowed to talk in person to the teachers to discuss what have or have not been achieved by the students: 92 We have a parent meeting in which parents can evaluate or assess the student's knowledge themselves. If the parents are not happy yet with the student’s progress, they can then make feedback on a piece of paper to be given to the teachers, something their kids need to improve on. From the parent’s perspective, Mr. Sidiq was very grateful for the chance the school gives to directly watch and measure his daughter competency. He commented, The school has parents meetings every three months. In this meeting, we are allowed to test our children, so we are excited to see the progress of our children…. We are also welcomed to give input and feedback to the school. Parents are also invited to be the assessor or evaluator for their own kids. If the kids can’t answer parent’s questions, it means the kid needs to do a remedial program. The second way parents evaluate their children is by having a similar way of evaluating their children at home. Mr. Jamal argued that parents are expected to evaluate their children when they are at home: “I hope parents can evaluate their kids the way they evaluated their kids here at school every three months.” Similarly, when I asked Mr. No whether he help his daughter learn at home, Mr. No answered: “Yes, because when my daughter went home, her teachers recommend me to test her Quranic skills and memorization. I need to also watch her behavior at home.” Finally, Mr. Anas mentioned the importance of involving himself in his kids’ education. He contended that parents will benefit by actively participating in their children’s education: “By involving myself in our children’s education at school, I can always observe the academic and non-academic progress of my children.” Overall, the school has done a good job in involving parents in academic way. Even though the parents’ opinion was not directly used for the students’ academic report; the school 93 effort in engaging parents in evaluating their own kids is considered important. This effort may be the first approach that is applied in school setting, and therefore could be used as a model in engaging parents in academic way. Not only did this effort make the parents feel the ownership for their children academic evaluation, but it can also be used as direct feedback for both teachers and students’ performance. Liaison One vital role that can help the school build a strong relationship with the community is parents as school liaisons. The role of the parents to help the school communicate and coordinate with the community is essential. Mrs. Jamal clearly mentioned how the school appreciates the parents’ help for the school community development program: “Parents will usually become our liaisons. Parents are most likely to have an easier time being accepted to the community and the village leaders because parents will speak their language better than our teachers do.” Similarly, Mr. Suyat also highlighted that the school would face such challenges in the community if they did not have parents who can speak on behalf of the school to the community the school will serve. This is because the students will be placed in a rural area in in the districts. The students will do some programs which benefits the community both the religious and non-religious program. Parents from the community who speak the language, and who understand more about the local culture is very much needed before the students’ placement. He stated, Also, as part of our community involvement, we have our community development program in which we deploy our 12th-grade students to the community for 21 days. We involve parents in this program because we believe parents will be better accepted than we as teachers. We involve community leaders in order to equip our students with real- life skills. Lastly, another part of the community program by the school is by having a communal speech by a charismatic Muslim Preacher. Parents are strongly recommended to attend the 94 program because the school needs parents as their liaisons when the school wants to serve the community. Here is what Mr. No described: For the Quranic community gathering (pengajian), we as parents are mandatory to attend this event. So, parents together with the community gather together to listen to the charismatic Kiyai. This event is part of the da’wa by the school to the community. Therefore, parents need to be part of this program. When I observed the End of Year Celebration program, I confirmed that the parents had an essential role in helping the school serve the community. The farewell program was not merely attended by the teachers, students, and parents, the school had also invited the community. This program is part of the Da’wa or spreading the Islamic teachings the surroundings, in which the main responsibility of the Muslim. This Islamic school believed the role of sending the massaged of Islam to everyone is the obligation of all Muslims, therefore parents, teachers, and students were involved in this kind of program. Parents, in this case, needs to be the school representatives. As I saw from my observation, parents worked as the program committee, such as to welcome the community participants, to be a parking person, or just merely to talk to the community participants. The BBS and the parents have been showing their determination to help students achieve better outcome. Based on the interview and observations parents did have a significant role at school including as a material supporter, a motivational/spiritual supporter, a motivator, and as a liaison. These four involvements are deemed important as new contributions to the literature that fall outside the well-known involvement framework introduced by Epstein. 95 Definition of Parental Involvement It is interesting to know that the BBS has been implementing five out of six parental involvement forms and even has four more models of involvement. It is now interesting to know how the school and home define parental involvement. There are multiple definitions of parental involvement according to parents and teachers at the Islamic Boarding School Berjaya. The first definition is that parents and teachers work together to support students; the second is that parents give input to the school; and the last definition is that parents are the main source of support for the students. During the interview process, I included a purposeful question that was aimed at identifying parents’ definitions of parental involvement. The first definition is that teachers and parents need to work collaboratively to support student success. According to Mr. Anas, a father from the neighborhood district, children’s education is the responsibility of the parents. However, parents could not have their full time available to educate their children. Therefore, when parents send their kids to the school, parents still need to help the teachers. Mr. Anas stated, “So, our children’s education is all parents’ responsibility. However, in practice, parents have their own limitation such as time limits. Therefore, they send their children to the schools. Thus, parents need to always support the school in advancing their students’ education.” Similarly, another student parent, Mr. Karyadi, also defined parental involvement as some collaborative actions between parents and teachers so that students can learn certain life skills for their future. Mr. Karyadi said: In my opinion parents need to be involved in their children’s education, because all children are the priceless assets to this country. So, parents need to be available to work together with the school to educate and equip them with such life skills for their future. 96 In addition, Mr. No even mentioned that he was really engaged in his daughter’s education. Especially, when his daughter was at home, he would make sure that he would help teach his daughter. As a father, Mr. No argued: I am not only supporting my daughter, but I take part in my daughter’s education. So, when she went home for a school break, it is our turn to teach her a similar way to when she was at school. So, it is not enough to only depend on the school. The second definition of parental involvement is when parents give valuable inputs for the betterment of the school quality. This definition was offered by Mr. Han, the vice principal of curriculum. He asserted, “Parents so far have a great impact on giving school feedback and input. A suggestion like ‘lost and found’ and other meaningful inputs from parents are appreciated in this school. We also deal with all constructive feedback from parents relatively well.” Similarly, Mr. Sidiq, one of the student parents, agreed that parents’ involvement might be defined as parents’ role in giving inputs and feedback to the school. Mr. Sidiq argued, So, the involvements include at the beginning of the school year; parents are always invited for the socialization of the school rule and regulations. We are also welcomed to give input and feedback to the school. Parents are also invited to be the assessor or evaluator for their own kids. If the kids can’t answer parent questions, it means the kid needs to do a remedial program. The last definition according to parents comes from Mrs. Yantoro and Mr. Sidiq. Mrs. Yantoro argued that event the small thing that parents give to support their children is part of parental involvement. Mrs. Yantoro contended that sending additional meals for her son and her son’s friend is also considered parental involvement: “I visit my son every two weeks. I will bring some food for him too. Actually, my son doesn’t really like it of me giving him some food, but me as his mom I want to make sure he gets the nutrition he needs.” Mr. Sidiq gave a more 97 specific definition of parental involvement. He quoted the famous Indonesian Educationist’s definition of education and connected it to the definition of parental involvement. Here is what Mr. Sidiq defined as parental involvement: So, parental involvement for me is just what our Founding Fathers defined on our education. Ing Ngarso Sung Tulodo (be a role model), Ing Madyo Mangun Karso (be a goal creator, be an innovator), Tut Wuri Handayani (be a motivator). It means when we are among our kids, we need to be their friends and spark their creativity. When we are behind our kids, we need to be able to motivate them to move forward. And when we are in front of them, we need to be a role model. Based on the above definitions, I can conclude that the parental involvement definition is a collaborative effort between home and school in supporting children’s education. In addition, parental involvement is an effort initiated by all parties including home, school, and event communities. Finally, the overarching goal of parental involvement is for the students’ success. Definition of Parents When asked directly about who “parents” are, participants in the study hae a unique way in defining parents. The home and school at BBS not only define parent as biological parents as how we define parent in conventional definition. In this study however, there at least three definitions of parent including: biological parents, spiritual/knowledge parents, and extended parents. In these ways, “parental involvement” extended beyond the traditional forms of mother and father. Biological Parents and Spiritual/knowledge Parents Some parents and teachers categorized parents into two types, noting that there are two kinds of parents. For example, according to Mr. Suyat, the school principal of Berjaya Boarding School: 98 I need to make it clear, what is the definition of parent here in this school. So, we have two kinds of parents: biological parents and the spiritual parents. Biological parents are your parents, your dad, and your mom. While spiritual parents mean parents who deliver the knowledge to you, your male teachers are your fathers; your female teachers are your mothers. Similarly, Mrs. Jamal, the school owner’s wife, also defined parents into two categories, biological and knowledge parents: “There are two kinds of parents in this school, one is the biological parents, and the second one is the parents who deliver the knowledge or teachers. So, it is very important. Educating children is both biological and spiritual parents’ job.” In line with this, Mrs. Gusreni, the Indonesian teacher, and Mr. Han, the vise principal, argued that teachers or mentors who live in the boarding school should play the role of parents to substitute the role of parents at home such as when the students have questions on homework. Mrs. Gusreni said: That is the room mentor’s responsibility. The room mentor is in charge of the school homework and Quran memorization. This is because, after 3 pm, the room mentor will be helping students if they have homework. It means the teachers here at schools have a parental role, as well. And here is what Mr. Han mentioned about the role of mentors on the students’ homework: “Very often with their teachers. So, for each room, the students have their room mentor teachers. So, students will have more interaction with their mentors to ask specific questions about Islamic contents subjects. Because this school stresses more on Islamic contents.” Extended Families as Parents The third definition of parents is extended families. Mrs. Jamal categorized extended families as parents. Mrs. Jamal argued that the families, including grandparents, uncles, or others, need to support the students so that the students can excel fully. Here is what she mentioned during her interview: 99 One example is, when I met students who were not happy being at Berjaya Boarding School, I would then ask the parents: “Are you really pleased your kid’s studying here in this school, or do you really approve your kids to study here at this school?” “Yes, we do, however, when I eat some good meals, we then remember our kid. What does our kid eat at school?” In this case, I always told the parents that they should not think about that, they should not worry about their kids at all. In the Javanese language, we called it TUMUS. TUMUS is a heart attachment. Meaning when one of the parents, for example, the mother, is not really content, but only father is pleased with their kids being at boarding school. Or even one of the extended family members such as the grandparents, or brother, or sister, or uncle. Then the kid will usually feel the same. In this case, all family members need to be sincere and pleased to let the students study in the boarding school. That way, students will be pleased and feel like home. Based on Mrs. Jamal’s definition of parents, Mrs. Jamal does not exclusively limit the parents as mother and father. But rather, all family members who are affiliated or have a close connection with the kid are considered to be parents. In summary, based on the interviews, “parents” in this study are defined as teachers as spiritual and knowledge parents, biological parents, and extended families. Both parents and teachers confirmed that parents could not be exclusively defined as mother and father only. In the boarding school setting, teachers who live on campus and have a role as a student’s mentor will have a more parental role because the school mentor will help students in dealing with students’ needs after the school hours. Even the extended families such as elder brother, elder sister, uncle, aunty, grandparents who used to live with the students could also be called parents. This is because in the Indonesian context, students usually live with their father and mother plus their extended families. Parents’ Motivation in Sending Their Kids to Boarding School Parents’ motivation in sending their kids to Berjaya Boarding School is also an important part of this study. The previous study mentioned that the boarding school in Indonesia is 100 growing, and therefore identifying parents’ motivation in sending their children to the boarding school will make a contribution to understanding why there are an increasing number of boarding schools in Indonesia. There are three different motivations of parents sending their children to the Berjaya Boarding School. The motivations include: to equip students with the religious and general knowledge, to increase students’ performance morally, and to equip students with life skills. The first motivation is to equip students with both religious and general knowledge. According to Mrs. Marni, the reason she is sending her daughter to the Berjaya Boarding school is for her daughter to learn something which is as important as general knowledge that is offered in public schools. For the most Muslim family in Indonesia, they really want their children to know the teaching of Islamic religion, which is only offered 2 hours a week in the conventional school setting. Mrs. Marni argued, “My motivation is for her to understand not only general knowledge but also to understand the religious content. Our public schools do not offer such sufficient religious education.” Similarly, Mrs. Yantoro mentioned that the religious knowledge that her son has would be beneficial for her when she passes away. Mrs. Yantoro said, “So, my motivation is that I want to have at least one of my children deepening his knowledge of Islam so that he can pray for his parents when his parents die. And he can be an asset to his community too.” Finally, Mr. Suyat has a similar argument to Mrs. Yantoro’s explanation that by having some religious contents, the students will fulfill the most Muslim parents hope. Most if not all Muslim parents believe that when they were buried the God will make them accountable. One thing that can minimize or waive the punishment is by having their kids praying for them. Therefore, in order for the kids to have the knowledge of sending a prayer to the parents when 101 the parents die is by equipping the adequate Islamic knowledge to them. Mr. Suyat said, “In addition, parents are hoping that when they die their son will be able to send them prayers.” The second motivation why parents send their kids to boarding schools is to increase students’ morals. The globalization and social media have offered some positive and negative impacts on students. On the dark side of technology, so many students are trapped in negative behaviors due to social media, playing too many games, watching adult content, or watch other inappropriate contents. Therefore, parents to be really careful and aware of the downside of the social media and technology era. Mr. Sidiq explained in detail his motivation for why he sent his daughters to the boarding school: My motivation was because of the distance. The school is not far from our house. Secondly, because the school is a boarding school, then my kid will have full control by their teachers, like 24 hours. The school has all regulations starting from when the students wake up to when the students go back to sleep at night. We now realize that the religious education needs to be given to our younger generation due to the globalization era including juvenile delinquency and fornication. Because most of the time parents are so tolerant to their kids. As a result, kids are difficult to control. However, in the boarding school setting, teachers will always enforce the rules and regulations regardless. Mr. Anas agreed that boarding school would enable students to increase their morals. Mr. Anas mentioned, “So, I want my children to have good morals through the Islamic studies and teachings. I want my children to know their responsibly as Muslims.” In addition, Mr. Suyat, the school principal, contended that his school would enable their students to protect themselves with the drawbacks of the social media. They see now that Islamic boarding schools offer what parents need in protecting their students from the overwhelmingly negative impacts on social media and internet access. So being in boarding school, the students will be equipped with religious knowledge which can protect and filter any negative impacts on the free globalization era and technology. 102 Finally, parents want to see their kids to have additional life skills which will be useful for their community and their country. Mr. Karyadi hoped to see his kids be valuable to their community: “So, because I want all my daughters to be righteous and able to help their community, their religion, and their country in the future.” Mr. No, the other parent, also mentioned a similar thing: “So, I really want my daughter to understand the national law and Islamic law, so she will be useful for her community and her country in the future.” As a mother, Mrs. Yantoro also highlighted the important life skills that she hopes her son will get from the school: “So that he has a better education. And so that he can improve his life skills knowledge in the boarding school.” Finally, here is what Mr. Suyat said about the boarding school and the valuable life skills: The community believes that the middle school and high school graduates from boarding school will have more skills compared to those from general public school even when they do not continue to the higher level of education…. So we teach our students to be ready to serve the community. Such skills like teaching elementary and middle school students, organization skills, and leadership skills. All in all, parents have diverse reasons on why they send their children to boarding schools instead of public schools. Parents in the interview agree that they want to have additional points that the public schools do not offer. The teachers also assure parents and the community that the BBS will provide skills which parents will never get in the public-school settings. The Islamic school answers the parent's puzzle needs including more positive behavior, more religious content, and more life skills. Parents want to invest a good moral behavior in the middle of the globalization ear in which parents have difficulties to control kids over social media, technology, and other negative social interactions. The BBS school according to the parents have fulfilled their hope to enforce such positive rules and regulations to improve positive behavior 103 for their students. Secondly, parents want to see their children learn the Islamic knowledge more than just two hours a week like those offered in public schools. It is important for the parents because they believed that the success of the parents is when their children have adequate knowledge of both general knowledge and Islamic knowledge. Finally, in addition to general knowledge and Islamic knowledge, parents want to see their children to have life skills which will be useful for their kids even though they do not continue to the higher education level. The basic knowledge such as computer skills, calligraphy skills, Islamic leadership skills, and teaching skills will be additional values for the student to find a job or to make create own entrepreneur business. Family Characteristics Predicting Parental Involvement in Berjaya Boarding School The third research question of this study is “What family characteristics predict parental involvement in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia?” To answer this question, I use multiple regression with parent survey data using Epstein’s (2009) six models of parental involvement and one model for the combination of these six models in which the scores given by the respondents were totaled across the models. Among the 79 parents who completed the survey at Berjaya Boarding School, Table 1 shows that decision making has the lowest mean score compared to other parental involvement models, which indicates that participating parents see this as the least prevalent of the parental involvement practices at this school. The highest mean score was learning at home (3.91), then followed by parenting (3.7), communicating (3,2), volunteering (3.01), collaborating (2.81), and finally decision making (1.53). This result was consistent with the interview and observation result that the decision making is difficult to observe at Berjaya Boarding School. 104 Table 1. Mean, standard deviations, and pairwise correlations of constructs Measure Mean SD 1 1. Parenting 2. Communicating 3. Volunteering 4. Learning at Home 5. Decision Making 6. Collaborating 3.70 3.19 3.01 3.92 1.53 2.81 7. P. Involvement 3.03 ***p<0.01;**p<0.05; *p<0.10 0.65 0.76 0.93 1.24 0.36 0.78 0.50 2 -- 0.37** 0.16 0.12 0.38** 3 -- 0.24** 0.33** 0.59** 4 -- -0.92 0.61 5 -- 0.32** 6 -- -- 0.47** 0.35** 0.11 0.21 0.33** 0.60** 0.66** 0.78** 0.57** 0.35** 0.68** 7 -- Table 1 also reports the correlation matrix of all dependent variables I use in this study. The table indicates that almost all variables are significantly correlated. Parenting and communicating have a relatively strong association (r=.47). The correlation between communicating and volunteering is moderate at .35. The correlation between volunteering and collaborating is relatively strong at .59. While if we see the correlation for Parental Involvement variable with all other variables have relatively strong correlation (parental involvement and volunteering with the highest correlation at .78, while parental involvement and decision making has the lowest correlation at .35). Next, I analyzed the data based on six parental involvement models by Epstein’s to see which family characters influence the performance of each involvement model. To do so, I put all family characteristic variables with involvement models in one table (see Appendix G). I then conducted stepwise regression. First, I included all variables, and then I dropped the one that had the least amount of explanation. Then I did the same step until I only had three dependent variables which significantly explained the relationship between family characteristics and parental involvement. After that, I created a correlation matrix for these three variables: highest education in the family, parental income, and farmer. 105 Table 2. Mean, standard deviations, and pairwise correlations of constructs Measure Mean 1. Highest Education 2. Parent Income 3. Farmer 0.57 0.43 0.81 SD 0.498 0.498 0.395 1 -- 0.033 -0.225* 2 -- 0.290** Table 2 shows that Farmer and Highest education have a negative correlation; it means that the farmer family has lower education compared to the non-farmer counterpart. However, even though farmer parents have lower education, they have relatively high income. It is interesting in the table that there is no correlation between parent income and highest education. Additionally, Table 2 shows the mean values for these variables. The highest education has 0.57 mean which indicates that 57% of the parents were either High School graduates or University graduates, while 43% of the parents were either Primary School or Junior High school graduates. The standard deviation of the variable is 0.498, which relatively is medium variation on parent highest education. On the Parent Income the mean is 0.43, it means that 43% parents selected “<1.9 million rupiahs”, while the rest of the parents are those who earn less than 1.9 million rupiahs. The standard deviation the parents’ income is 0.498 it means there was a relatively medium variation on parent income responds. Lastly, Farmer variable indicates that most of the parents who responded to the survey were farmers (81%), with 0.395 standard deviations. 106 3.319*** -0.361** 0.146 -0.448** 0.076 2.059 3.119*** 0.087 0.087 -0.221* 0.045 1.168 Table 3. Multiple Regression Results across all Parental Involvement Framework Measure Parenting Communicating Volunteering Learning at Home Decision Making Collaborating with Community Parental Involvement Intercept Highest Education Parent Income Farmer R2 F 3.662*** 0.127 0.270* -0.187 0.058 1.542 ***p<0.01;**p<0.05; *p<0.10 3.627*** 0.014 -0.038 -0.526** 0.080 2.178 2.946*** 0.105 0.277 -0.146 0.026 0.661 3.672*** 0.594** -0.232 0.005 0.063 1.670 1.487*** 0.041 0.098 -0.022 0.021 0.538 107 Parenting The dependent variable of our first model is Parenting. The mean of the total average of the parenting was used as the dependent variable. Results of the multiple regression analysis including all variables as predictors (shown in Appendix G) confirmed that parent and family characteristics (parents’ education, income, gender, type, distance, and number of siblings) significantly predicted the level of parenting, R2=0.236, F=2.096. There are three statistically significant unique predictors of parenting. They are parental income (0.37), such that every one level difference in parental income predicts a 0.37-point difference in parenting. The second significant predictor of parenting is farmer (-0.45), which means that a parent who works as a farmer shows, on average, a score on parenting that is -0.45 points lower than that among parents whose job is not in a farming sector. The last significant predictor of parenting in this study is the number of kids at home (-0.21), such that for every additional kid that parents have at home parents will have a score on parenting that is -0.21 points lower. In Table 3, which shows the results of the stepwise regression including only the significant predictors, however, there was only one significant variable predicting parents, parent income (0.270), while farmer and the number of kids at home were no longer significant. The effect size on table 3 is also smaller compared to the effect size on the table shown in Appendix G (R2= 0.058, F= 1.542). Communicating The second parental involvement model is communicating. As Table 3 indicates, 8% of the variance in the communicating model can be explained by the predictors of family and parents’ characteristics. It looks relatively small compared to the effect size in Appendix G (13%). Similar to Appendix G, Table 3 indicates that the farmer variable is the only significant 108 predictor. The parents whose background are farmers perform lower (-0.526) than their non- farmer counterparts when it comes to communicating with the school. Volunteering Table 3 shows that there was not any variable has significant effect on volunteering. In Appendix G however, there was one variable which is a significant predictor for the volunteering model. Parental income has B= 0.389. It indicates that every one level difference of parental income will predict a difference of 0.389 points on volunteering. In other words, the parents who has more wealth will most likely volunteer to the school. Learning at Home Similar to the previous model, learning at home model was significant, R2= .063, F= 1.670. In this case, 6% of the variance in learning at home can be explained by the predictors of family and parents’ characteristics. While in appendix G none of the individual variables was statistically significant, in table 3 we can see that parent highest education has a significant impact on learning at home. Parents who have higher education are most likely help their children learning at home 0.594 higher compared to their counterpart who have a lower educational background. Decision Making Overall, the model was significant, R2= 0.12, F=0.93. However, none of the family characteristics were statistically significant predictors for the decision-making model in both models (table 3 and Appendix G). 109 Collaborating with the Community Table 3 also shows that the model appeared to be able to predict collaborating with the community with R2= 0.076, F= 2.059. Parent highest education carriable is interesting in this case. While in the previous model parent who have higher education are more likely perform better in helping children learning at home; this time, parents they have lower performance in collaborating with the community (-0.361). Perhaps, parents who have higher education seems to have more condensed schedule and activities and therefore minimize their opportunity to work with the community. The second significant variable here is farmer. The farmers farmer tend to have lower collaboration with the community (-0.448) compared to their non-farmer counterpart. A little bit different with table 3, Appendix G has two variables that have statistically significant predictors on collaborating with the community models. The first variable is farmer (-0.56) which means that parents with farmer background will perform 0.56 lower in terms of collaborating with the community compared to their non-farmer counterparts. The second variable is kids (number of kids at home). The model shows that for everyone kid difference in the number of kid in the family, the volume of collaborating with the community will differ by 0.32 points. Parental Involvement (The combination of the six models) The last model is the combination of all six models. Table 3 indicates that the model is able to predict the parental involvement level at the Berjaya Islamic School with 0.16 R2 and F=1.3. Both table 3 and Appendix G have one significant predictor of parental involvement. Consistent with the previous models, parents with a farmer background will perform 0.36 lower compared to their non-farmer counterparts. 110 In conclusion, family characteristics in this study did predict the level of Epstein parental involvement models. There is some variable which repeatedly coming as a significant predictor of the dependent variables. Farmer variable for example, this variable has been a significant predictor for parenting, communicating, collaborating with the community, and parental involvement. Another variable is parent income, it seems that the richer the parent the more likely parents will do better in parenting and volunteering. Lastly, the number of children at school has also predicted the level of parenting and collaborating with the community. I will discuss more about this phenomenon in my next chapter: Discussion and Conclusion. 111 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Why Boarding School This study found a similar finding to the previous research on why parents send their children to boarding school. The literature mentioned that there were at least two reasons why students in Indonesia study in Islamic boarding school. The first reason according to Nurhayati and Yasin (2013) is because parents want to equip their children with not only general knowledge but also with the Islamic values. The second reason according to Tan (2014) is because of the boarding school’s commitment to go beyond the Islamic teachings and offer life skills for the students’ future career. Similarly, the present study found that the parents valued the school because the BBS obviously offered not only general knowledge but also religious content knowledge. Mrs. Marni, Mrs. Yantoro, and Mr. Suyat were convinced that the school would always try their best to provide the students and parents the best quality of public and religious content. Their schedule starts with the early morning prayers at 3:30 in the morning and continues with academic and nonacademic activities until 11:00 pm. Parents and teachers in Berjaya Boarding School also highlighted the importance of morals that the students need in the school. As students and teachers live on campus; the teachers will be able to monitor the student's activities 24 hours a day. Mr. Sidiq brought up the issues of juvenile delinquency and fornication. Mr. Sidiq argued that he and his daughter benefit from the fact that the school always monitors the student's activity for 24 hours a day. In addition, the school also limits the use of cell phones for the students. The students can only use teachers’ or the school’s phone in order to contact their families. Also, according to Mr. Suyat, the teachers 112 are trained to educate the students on how to filter the use of social media. The BBS is committed to protecting their students from the social media bombs and negative influence of teenagers such as bullying and other juvenile delinquencies. Lastly, the school goes beyond the teaching of academic and religious content. Similar to the previous findings on a boarding school in Indonesia, Berjaya boarding school also offers its students with life skills which will benefit the students for their future. Mr. Suyat, the school principal, argued that the school offers what public schools do not offer such as teaching skills, Islamic leadership skills, calligraphy skills, information and technology skills, and Islamic organizational skills. These skills have been proven effective even though the students have not yet graduated from the school. When the twelfth graders are deployed in the community development program, the community really values the student's effort in serving the community. The local community even rates Berjaya Boarding School’s community development as better community service compared to the college students’ community development. These findings help us understand why increasing numbers of parents are sending their children to the Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. The parents do not only want to see their children learn the general and Islamic content knowledge, but they also want the school to help students with their morals and their soft skills. The BBS could offer skills and character education which could not be offered by public or other private schools in the community. This finding supports the previous study (Kementrian Agama Indonesia, 2011) on why the Islamic Boarding school in Indonesia is growing nowadays. 113 New Model of Parental Involvement I agree with Epstein (2009) that there are three groups of stakeholders for children’s education: home, school, and community. These three components should collaborate and have intensive and positive communications in order to achieve one common goal: student success. The BBS has surprisingly implemented a positive connection among these three components. Not only did they implement Epstein’s six models of parental engagement, the school also promoted four other models beyond those created by Epstein. Those models are six models from Epstein: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, collaboration with the community, plus four six expanded models: material supporting, motivational/spiritual supporting, evaluating, and liaising. This makes for a total of ten parental involvement models. Table 1 represents a new expanded model of parental involvement. It lays among three contexts of school entities: home, school, and community. These three elements are the vital units for successful parental involvement. Involving parents need to cover these three areas, because they are interconnected. Among these three areas, there are involvement models which are in, between or among the three. The involvement models with black colors are those from Epstein model. The pink colors represent the new expanded models found from this study. While the red one is the model which was not observed during the study at the Berjaya Boarding School. This illustrates that there are some models that intersect between or among the models. Thus, creating a strong partnership among home, school and community is highly recommended in order to deploy these models. 114 Figure 2: Parental Involvement new model. Across Epstein’s original six models and the four new models suggested in the present study, there are three total models of parental involvement that focus on what happens at home: material supporter, learning at home, and spiritual/motivational support. It means that learning at home is one activity that parents and students could do collaboratively while students are at home. Material supporter and spiritual/motivational support are models that parents can do while they are at home. These supports are very important because students will still need motivational support even though at school they already have teacher mentors. Given the busy schedule of the boarding schools, the parents need to balance the academic activities and leisure time while the students are home during the school breaks. Finally, to promote sustainable and high-quality 115 education, home needs to support children’s education financially through school donations and fundraising, which are material forms of support. Across all ten models, there is only one model of parental involvement in the community setting: collaborating with the community (Epstein, 2009). This model means that parents and the school need the community to help the students be successful. Mr. Suyatno’s and Mrs. Jamal’s argument that the school needs to serve the community by having community development for twelfth-grade students does reflect Sanders and Epstein (1998)’s idea that the school alone cannot meet the students’ needs. In addition, Mr. Jamal’s positive doctrine that the school belongs to the community supports Epstein (2009)’s idea that the school needs to identify and integrate all resources and services from the community. The parents’ role in the community could be to function as a liaison for the school while the teachers and administrators’ role is more as community leaders to help connect both school and parents to the community. The community should benefit from the active involvement of the school and parents. In BBS’s case, the community is benefitting from the services that the school provides, especially for those who have the students conducting community development. Additionally, for the Islamic boarding school context, the community is benefitting from the Islamic lectures and talks provided by the school. Having an active collaboration among community, home, and school will result in a strong school atmosphere, which in the end will improve the quality of the students’ outcomes. Across all the models, there are three models of parental involvement in the school context: volunteering, decision making, and evaluator/educator. Volunteering, decision making, and evaluator require an active role from the teachers and staff in order to engage parents’ participation. Parents in this case need to also be proactive to help school personnel manage the school activities and programs. Decision making from Figure 2 is colored red, because the study 116 found that the decision making has not yet been implemented successfully in BBS. It does not mean that the BBS could not implement it; I believe that BBS has a big chance to engage parents in decision making because so far BBS has been effectively implementing the other models. Finally, these parental involvement models are not only exclusively designed for biological parents (father and mother). In the Islamic boarding school context, especially in this study in which teachers were also considered as parents, this model therefore will also be relevant if it is used by teachers. Teachers, therefore, need to position themselves as both parents and educators. In other words, teachers need to be flexible about when to choose to fulfill their role as parents and when to change their role to be only teachers. In addition, as mentioned previously extended family are also considered as parents. Thus, this model is also applicable for the extended families such as grandparents, older brothers and sisters, and uncles or aunts. The Berjaya Boarding School can be a model for other boarding schools on how to engage parents at schools. So far, the BBS has been able to engage the parents and community in positive ways regardless of the parent's distance. Even though decision making was not really observed during the study, the other nine models have been implemented considerably well. The above model is considered to be one approach to increasing parental involvement in the school context. Decision Making at Berjaya Boarding School: Is it the issue of trust or is it the issue of leaving the parents? I found that the decision-making model of parental involvement has been difficult to observe based on the interviews, observations, and survey results from this study. All parents I interviewed unanimously mentioned that they were so far not involved in the school decision 117 making policy. The teachers also mentioned that parents were not invited to the school meeting on decision making. Unlike almost all school in Indonesia that have school committees, the BBS does not have a School Committee. The school does have some parents meetings, but they are not under the school committee meeting nor parent teachers' organization (PTO). There are three possible theories on why parents are not involved in the school decision making at the BBS. The first possibility is that the school values the parents in their decision-making process in some other way. Even though the BBS did not involve parents for school policy decision making, the school, however, may involve parents in other kinds of decisions. The school invites parents to the school to be the evaluator for their own son/daughter, which could be considered as the school’s effort in engaging parents in academic decision making. In addition, as liaisons for the school, the parents often help the school decide the areas in which the students need to be deployed for the community development program, or which community leaders the school should be contacting. These examples mean the school did value the parents’ opinion in the school decision making, even though parents were not sitting in a formal board meeting to help the school make school policy. Also, even though the school does not have both PTO and school committee, the school has several programs that allow parents and teachers to communicate periodically such as school visits every two weeks, Islamic lecturers that open for both parents and community, or the parents meeting that the school uses to socialize the school program. Some of these communication opportunities have elements of decision-making embedded. The second possible theory is that the BBS somewhat values the parents in their decision- making process. The first reason is that because even though the school does not invite parents for the school policymaking, the BBS teachers were conducting an informal survey on the current economic situation when it comes to the proposal of the school fundraising or school 118 donation. This is because most of the parents are rubber farmers who depend on the fluctuation of the rubber price. If the rubber price was dropping, the school would decide to lower or even postpone the school donation request program. This means that the school values finding out the parents’ condition before they make a school policy. The second reason is that the school would always socialize what they already decided. As mentioned by both teachers and parents, the parents are invited to the school policy orientation and socialization. From the interview, it is obvious that the parents put a high trust to the school personnel, and the school maintains the trust by promoting the good quality of the school and the graduates. The third theory is that the school does not value parents for the school decision making process. This is because, unlike other schools, the BBS does not have the school committee. The possible reason was that most of the parents live far away from the school. Therefore, it was difficult to have parents to be in a school committee. However, the distance should not be a reason for the school not having a school committee. Because if the school was able to involve parents in the other five of Epstein’s models, the school needs to be able to engage parents in school decision making too. From the above three theories, I conclude that the second theory will be the best fit given the data I received. The school certainly did not invite parents to come to the school decision meeting formally; however, the school appeared to really value the parents’ opinions and situations. In the interview, Mr. Han and Mr. Suyat argued that when the school invites parents for the school policy socialization, the teachers let parents show their opinion whether or not the parents agree with the school decision. In addition, the school would always conduct research on parents’ economic conditions before deciding any school decision regarding the school fee or donation. Finally, even though the parents are not involved in the school policy decision making, 119 the parents have a high trust in the school. The community and the parents trust the school because the school has been proven for at least 20 years to serve the community in a very positive way. Schools however, must try to involve parents in decision making. The study revealed that the school has not yet involved parents in decision making. While the school has performed positively in other parental involvement models, the school needs to work to involve parents in school decision making. The first step that the school may do is to form a school committee. The school committee is an organization which is commonly available in both private and public schools which main role is to help with school decision making (Fitriah et al., 2013; Karsidi et al., 2013). The involvement so far in schools in Indonesia found in Fitriah et al. (2013)’s study was mainly on parents’ involvement in school committee meetings. Fitriah et al. (2013), however, argued that involvement in the school committee only was not adequate because there are other forms of involvement that parents and schools need to promote. This means that if the BBS can engage parents in decision making, then the school will have a better performance in parental involvement. Challenging the Narrative of Parental Involvement in Indonesia The Berjaya Boarding School has been a good representation of the Indonesian boarding school that does not have conflict in engaging parents, even though the parents do not live near the school. Before I conducted the study, I had a pre-assumption that the parental involvement models by Epstein (2009) would be difficult to observe. The school, however, has stunned me because from the six models, there was only one model that was not applied. Based on the interview, survey, and observation data, I can see that both teachers and parents value the collaboration between school and home. The school owner even declared to the community that 120 his school does not belong to him nor his family; instead, the school belongs to the community. The school, which was established on October 23, 1994, has grown rapidly and currently serves the community from pre-school to high school. In 2017, the school also established a new branch for vocational high school. The school owner, Mr. Jamal, asserted to me that he could not have made all of this progress alone. Mr. Jalam mentioned that the development of the school is the community investment. Therefore, the school will try to involve the community in every school program or event. I concur with Mr.Jamal’s arguments on involving the community because based on at least two activities I observed the community was indeed involved. The school has performed five out of six parental involvement models. The school even goes beyond Epstein’s model. The evaluator model, for example, engaging the parents to evaluate students’ performance is probably the first example of this type of parental involvement applied both in Indonesia and in the US context. So far, for students’ evaluation, parents were merely receiving information or reports from the school. The BBS, however, allowed parents to evaluate their own son/daughter and follow up with a conversation with their teachers’ about whether or not the parents are satisfied with their children’s performances. This approach according to the school principal has been effective in improving the teachers’ and students’ performances. The findings in this study challenge previous studies on parental involvement in Indonesia. The studies conducted by Karsidi et al. (2013), Fitriah et al. (2013), Majzub and Salim (2011), and Parker and Raihani (2011) asserted that the practice of parental involvement in Indonesia is considered low due to the lack of understanding of both home and school. The present study did not find this to be the case at all. This study also challenges the study from Parker and Raihani (2011), which argues that the responsibility of educating children at school is 121 merely on teachers. Once again, the present study did not find this. In addition, the present study revealed that the school invited parents to evaluate their own children at school every three months. The parents, regardless some challenge they faced, they were involved in maintaining the school’s standards when the students are in their breaks at their parents’ house. This paper also revealed that the narrative that parental involvement in Indonesia is limited to the school funding is not true as well. The parents in this study not only helped with the school fee and fundraisers but also engaged in several other school engagement programs. Also, in order to increase parents’ visits to the school, the BBS allocated a special budget for refreshment if parents visit the school. This study also acknowledges that given the school is a private Islamic school, it means that the parents are unique compared to the majority of parents in Indonesian public schools. Parents and students at BBS voluntarily choose this Islamic Boarding School, while parents in public schools may not voluntarily choose and have the same motivation as parents who send their children to the BBS. Therefore, the fact that there is a different parents’ motivation in sending their children to the school may affect the level of parental involvement in this study. The school brings new hope on the effort of school and home collaboration. The BBS has proven that even though students live far away from their parents, the school and parents can still actively engage in supporting the student’s education. The distance is no longer the constraint and excuses to not engage parents in parenting, communicating, helping students learning at home, volunteering, school decision making, and collaborating with the community. In other words, the schools in Indonesia have similar chances to also engage parents for the students’ success as schools elsewhere. The BBS has been proven on the interview, observation, and 122 survey data that the school has reflected on Epstein’s parental involvement framework and even goes beyond the six frameworks. The Notion of Inequality in the Practice of Parental Involvement Even though the school has been positively engaging parents in the students’ education, the study also revealed that the practice of parental involvement in BBS has inequality implications. These inequality and inequity implications would be a threat in the future if the school does not tackle these issues as soon as possible. The issues include the inequality of the high SES parents when they visit their son/daughter (high SES status tend to visit more and bring additional meals through the visits), the practice of inequality of volunteering from the parents who have more resources, inequality of parental involvement practices if the parents are farmers, and the gap in parental involvement practice based on the number of siblings in a family. Inequality has been an issue that the school owner highlighted both in the interview and during the parents’ teachers meeting I observed. There is a clear indication that the wealthy families were worried that their kids would not get sufficient nutrition from the school. Therefore, when they visit their children, they would bring additional foods. However, this phenomenon has brought a new issue of jealousy. Some students whose parents do not bring meals or even visit them will feel down when they see their counterpart with their parents and additional meals. The first barrier is the socio-economic status. The school principal, Mr. Suyat, mentioned that he would request parents who have cars to volunteer driving the students to the community development program area. It means the parents who did not have a car had less opportunity compared to those who had the car. The survey results confirmed that parents who were low SES 123 would have more likely less chance to be involved in the volunteering and parenting models. In addition, the interviews raised the issue of parents who can or cannot provide adequate resources and facilities that support students to learn at home during the school holidays. Mr. Sidiq and Mrs. Marni clearly mentioned they both of them could afford the internet access (wifi) at home and additional books if their children need some resources at home. The low SES parents might not be able to provide the same resources as Mr. Sidiq and Mr. Marni in assisting their children learning at home. There is also an important fact that the parents whose background is farmer have lower involvement compared to their non-farmer counterparts. The survey result indicated that parents whose job is farmer tended to have 0.45 lower parenting; would most likely have less communication with school by 0.64; most likely performed 0.26 lower in collaborating with the community, and on average, parents will perform 0.36 lower in parental involvement compared to the non-farmer parents. The possible reason why farming parents have lower participation in education is that the parents might be busy with the farming activities. In addition, the farmers were already tired after having a long day on the farm which hindered them from coming or making contact with the school. The other reason might be the economic issues. Given the unstable income that the rubber farmers had, the parents probably had to find an additional job to earn money for the family. This situation might reduce the parent's motivation to volunteer, communicate, or engage in other kinds of parental involvement. In addition, if the parents have several kids in the household, they might also have an excuse not to actively engage in students’ education due to other siblings at home or other schools. The survey results in this study revealed that a one-person difference in the number of siblings in the family is related to a score of 0.312 124 lower collaboration with the community, and every one increase of sibling in the family will result in 0.21 lower performance in parenting. Alternative Approaches for Inequlity Practice in Parental Involvement In response to the practice of inequality of parental involvement as well as the absence of the decision making model in this Islamic boarding school, I offer two approaches: Culturally Responsive School Leadership and Inclusive Leadership. Culturally Responsive School Leadership Teachers and school leaders need to have such multicultural knowledge in response to the diverse students in the school, in this regard the low-income family and the rich family. Delpit (2006) asserted that school staff needs to respond in a culturally appropriate way in solving an inequality issue at school. Further, Delpit (2006) argued that by increasing the relationship between school and home, between teachers and students, and between staff and parents will increase a mutual understanding from both parties which at the end helping home and school communicate effectively and efficiently. Khalifa et al. (2016) defined culturally responsive school leadership as a collaborative approach to the entire school environment that promotes a “welcoming, inclusive, and accepting” atmosphere to all students. The focus on this approach is for school leaders due to the important role of the leaders in the school (Khalifa et al., 2016; Gay, 2000). School leaders are the most knowledgeable persons in the school, and therefore they can make a deep impact on teaching, learning, and other school-related activities. The word responsive is chosen because we need such approach that responds effectively to need of more welcoming schools that celebrate diversity. 125 Khalifa et al. (2016) also identified all community backgrounds that need to be advocated in term of the practice of school discrimination. In my research study, I some subtle practice of inequality among students of low socioeconomic status. Even though Khalifa et al. (2016) only focused on the inequity and inequality among students in the school, in this study, I will also add the practice of discrimination against parents intentionally or unintentionally. This study found that parents whose background are farmer tend to have less involvement compared to their non- farmer counterpart. To fight the inequality and inequity practice at school, Khalifa et al. (2016) suggested valuing all visible and invisible culture of all community, critically self-reflects on leadership behaviors, develop culturally responsive teachers, promotes culturally responsive and inclusive school environment, and engage all school community regardless their background. Further Khalifa et al. (2016) emphasized that the school leaders not only need to fight the inequity and marginalization practice but they also need to “identify, protect, institutionalize, and celebrate all cultural practices from the students (Khalifa et al., 2016) and in this case I would add all community beyond students. Also, Ladson-Billing (1995) indicated that the student's success greatly depends on the teacher's approach to adapt with the student's background including the way they communicate with students, the way they use the teaching materials which fit the student's culture, and the way they approach students. Similarly, the school needs to promote the similar approach for students. The BBS has a subtle problem on how to engage parents whose background is a farmer. Farmer is considered to be the majority parents occupation in this school. It means the school needs to use the culturally responsive approach to better engage farmer parents. To do so, the school principal may adapt the school programs and events with permit farmers to involve with such low cost. Also, the 126 school needs to also adjust the time and schedule for parents to attend the school engagement programs. In this case, afternoon or evening would work for farmers, since most farmers will go to the rubber farm early in the morning to noon. The school also needs to make a serious action on students who do not get frequent visits from the parents, or students who did not receive any additional meals from parents. This is considered to be a serious practice of discrimination if the school could not handle this problem properly. Both school principal and the school owner through the interview acknowledge this problem, and they already make such reminder to parents, but it seems their approach has not yielded positive result. The BBS may adopt the culturally responsive school leadership approach by [1] identify the reason behind parents and students who repeteadly gave additional meals during parents visit; [2] using their local languages and cultures, communicate with both parents and students on how other students may feel when they do not get similar meals box from their parents or even when they were not visited by their parents; [3] adivising parents instead of giving meals to their children, they may donate extra money so that other students also get additional meals; [4] train teachers and staff with responsive cultural pedagogy so the students will understand the drawbacks of the inequity and inequality practices at school; and [5] use parent and community voices to deal with the issue of additional nuturion for the students. Inclusive Leadership While Culturally Responsive School Leadership stressed dealing with any inequity problems at school culturally, inclusive leadership is aimed to engage all elements at school to work collaboratively in tackling any school problems. Inclusive leadership sees leadership as not a solo role at a school, rather it is seen as a communal action (Ontario Principals Council, 2012). Inclusive leadership assures that all voices are heard and each individual matters. Inclusive 127 leadership does not believe in charismatic leadership or gifted leadership, instead it empowers all parties based on their talents and interests (Ontario Principals Council, 2012). The BBS so far has been implementing a good approach in including parents in various parental involvement models. The BBS however, has not been able to engage parents in a school decision-making process. Yes, it is true that the school did some surveys before making a school decision, but survey alone is not enough. The school needs to involve parents in any school policy decision making that affects students and parents. One approach that can be implemented is to form a school committee at school immediately. The school committee is a school board in which members are mostly parents representatives. The school committee is mandated in the Education Law in Indonesia, and therefore, almost all schools in Indonesia have the school committee. My argument is that while the school was able to engage parents in five models of parental involvement by Epstein and four other models of parental involvement, the school therefore supposedly should be able to engage parents in school decision making. Regarding the indication of inequality practice on parental involvement at school, inclusive leadership will also be a great fit to overcome the problem. Inclusive leadership as mentioned above believes that each and every one at school matters, therefore the school could not allow such inequality practice to happen at school. It means the school could engage all parents in dealing with the practice of inequality such as when an upper-middle class family brought some additional meals for their children. BBS will need to embrace all parents in such meaningful ways so that parents instead of bringing foods individually, they may add an additional donation in a form of money so that the school could increase the quality of the meals for all children. For other practices in which parents from lower-middle income families tend to have less opportunity to volunteer. In this case, the school could create volunteer lists and job 128 descriptions that accommodate parents based on their needs and capabilities. That way, all parents will feel welcomed and included. The Role of Islamic Values in Parental Involvement It is obvious that the school reflects Islamic teachings in every aspect of their education and schooling, including the practice of parental involvement. For the first model of parental involvement, parenting, the value of Islamic teaching is apparent. Teachers and staff infuse the Islamic values on how to raise the children, which follows two major guidebooks of the Muslims, the Al-Quran and Al-Hadid teaching. When the school invited parents to the school events, such as parents and teachers meeting, orientation, community lecturing program, or farewell party, the school would always bring the message of the parenting based on the values of Islam. In addition, parents and teachers are also working collaboratively in dealing with behavioral problems. Also, the structure of the BBS on Islamic activities such as the five times obligation prayers, additional recommended prayers, as well other Islamic activities such as reciting and memorizing Al-Quran and Al-Hadid are deemed effective in increasing the positive behavior of the students. Lastly, the positive scrutiny on the using of technology and social media both on campus and at home yielded a positive result on preventing the negative impacts for the students’ behavior. The second model, communicating, is also influenced by Islamic values. The notion of silaturahmi (maintaining a good relationship with others) and respecting guests is shown in the school. By allocating the special budget for parents who visit, the school reflects the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad Saw on respecting guests: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should serve his guest generously” (Bukhari: 6135). The school showed a commitment to 129 provide such a positive environment and atmosphere for parents who visit the schools. This effort reflects Islamic teaching on honoring guests. Silaturahmi is also evident in the school. Silaturahmi is visiting others for the sake of God, Allah. The school is not only accepting parents, but the school is also visiting the parents by having the big gatherings in the community where the kids and parents live. Having two-way communication is also part of Islamic teaching, as in Hadid narrated by Anas Bin Malik: “I heard Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) saying, ‘Whoever desires an expansion in his sustenance and age should keep good relations with his Kith and kin” (Bukhari, 2067). This is a clear indication that the school follows the Islamic teachings by visiting or being visited by parents. So, the practice of visiting parents is not only to improve parental engagement, but it is also conducted to please Allah. In regards to the third model, learning at home, one message that was unanimously given to parents from the teachers at BBS is that the parents will watch the students’ prayers activities, which includes five times prayers, recommended prayers, reading and memorizing Quran, as well as activities in the local Masjid when students were on their school breaks. The teachers really wanted the parents to at least maintain the minimum activities at BBS so that when the students came back to the boarding school, the students would no longer feel strange with all those religious services. The study also found that parents help students provide additional resources to support students at home such as computer, books, and internet access. Some parents also mentioned that when their students are at home then the academic activities become their responsibilities. The activities ranging from helping with the homework, providing resources, to watching their children learn. 130 For the fourth model, volunteering, the school owner mentioned in the teacher-parents meeting that one of the biggest motivations for parents to volunteer was that they want to seek the rewards from Allah. Parents will not only help their children, teachers, and the school, but they also help Allah, and at the end, they believed that Allah would give rewards for them. Mr. Jamal also inspired parents that there is a race and or competition with other parents to volunteer at the school. Of course, the competition would be in a positive way, and could be done collaboratively. This motivation should be a good model to be implemented to other schools in Indonesia in which the school principal or teachers would encourage parents to volunteer in order to seek God’s rewards. In the Indonesian education context, religion subject is a mandatory subject and is on the curriculum. Besides, one of the five pillars of Indonesia is believing in one and only God. Therefore, bringing the motivation to race in seeking God’s mercy would be considered an alternative solution to improving parents’ volunteering. In terms of decision making, the interviews suggest that most parents put high trust in the school. Mr. Sidiq, for example, mentioned that he did not mind that the school did not involve parents in the school decision-making process because the school so far has a very good reputation. The school also socialized all decision they made and would welcome all input from parents. Finally, the school also did some careful research before making a school decision that affects parents and students. This is one of the basic principles of the Muslims. In Arabic, the saying “sami’na wa’ato’na” means we hear and we obey. Toward the trustworthy leaders, Muslims will get rewards if they listen and obey the decision from their leaders. Lastly, collaborating with the community was the sixth model of parental engagement. To this end, Mrs. Giarti once mentioned that the school often held a program intended to visit the parents and students who live in the community and to make a dakwah (spreading the message of 131 Islam). The Islamic lecture or talks that were held from one community to other communities were not only intended to be collaboration with the community but they were also intended to deliver the message of Islamic teachings to the community. Also, the community development by the twelfth graders was to serve the community for Islamic purpose. The students were supposed to deliver the program, such as teaching kindergarten or elementary students, and delivering Friday sermon. Such community development programs were intended to spread the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Implications for Practice School Principals The implication of this study for the school principal is that the school leaders have a very important role in the successful practice of parental involvement. There are at least three main roles of the school principal in K-12 settings: instructional leader, administrative leader, and community leader. The school principal could improve parental involvement using these three roles combined with the new parental involvement models in this study. The first role is a school principal as an instructional leader. There are four models which match with the headmasters’ role in engaging parents: parenting, learning at home, evaluator, and spiritual and motivational supporter. As a leader who is in charge of teaching and learning, school leaders are not supposed to work with teachers and students only. He or she needs to proactively approach parents in helping them raising their children or helping parents with information about parenting. The school principal needs to also be able to make a strong relationship between school and home so that the teaching, learning, and evaluating activities could happen both at school and at home. Also, as an instructional leader, a school principal needs to engage parents in giving spiritual and motivational support for their children. Finally, 132 the role of an instructional leader is not always exclusively attached to the school principal. The teachers can also play their role in engaging parents by coordinating with the school principals. Teachers are actually in the front line of this role as instructional leaders. The second role that a school principal can deploy to increase the parent's participation in education is an administrative leader. One highlight of the findings of this study is that the BBS challenges the current narrative on the school principal role in Indonesia which merely limited on bureaucratic roles. Previous studies highlighted that parents’ role in most schools in Indonesia is limited to paying the school fee or school fundraising (Parker & Raihai, 2011). The present study found that, yes, the BBS engaged parents in raising school funds, but through its school leaders the school also goes beyond this administrative job. Another thing that other schools may adopt from the BBS is that the school has positive communication with parents. The school opens the doors for parents to visit every two weeks, the school provides guidance books for students and parents, the school provides a telephone number for students and parents to communicate, even the school owners and teachers welcome parents to call or text them in person. Besides, given the communal tradition of the community around the schools, the teachers and parents also often meet on informal occasions such as wedding parties. As revealed by Mr. Han, teachers and parents usually talk a little bit about students’ progress in the wedding parties. The third role for principals is a community leader. The BBS slogan that the school belongs to the community needs to be adopted by other schools in Indonesia or even beyond. This slogan is powerful and has strong implications for parents and community. I can see from my observations and interviews that teachers really value the parents and community, and the parents really value the school. Moreover, the spirit of working together, commonly known as gotong royong inherited by the Indonesian people, makes the school leaders’ jobs easier because 133 the communities have understood the importance of collaboration and volunteering in achieving the common goals. The community development program initiated by the school principal in BBS needs to be able to be translated and adopted by other schools, especially for the boarding school context. Because the essence of schooling is to prepare our new generation to be functioning in the community in the future. Therefore, the school leaders need to be available in supporting the next generation to be the future leaders. All in all of these three leadership roles is also important to combat the inequity issue found in this study. As mentioned earlier, culturally responsive school leadership is a leadership quality that can fit to all of those three roles. As a bureaucratic leader a school principal need to identify and address all the family background information for them to better help and communicate with both parents and students. As an instructional leader, a headmaster needs to have culturally responsive pedagogy in order to infuse the equity and equality issue into the curriculum as well as to teach students without devaluing their background (Gay, 2010 & Gooden & O’Doherty, 2015). Teachers While the school has a school meeting, the meeting so far was intended as a means of socialization or a means of teaching parents about Islamic Education. There is not any intentional meetings which are aimed to engage parents in school curriculum making, school policymaking, or school reforms. The best approach so far that the school has already performed was engaging parents in students’ oral evaluation process. This approach, however, is only on the academic side, and it only works for the parents’s own child. The school needs to create a better and more varied way to increase parents’ participation in school decision making. The school can, for example, engage parents to attend a parents-teachers meeting on curriculum, academic plans, or 134 other academic meetings. That way parents will feel more school ownership. To promote the parent-teacher conference, teachers need to take a significant role in communicating to parents the importance of the parent-teachers meeting. Referring to the culturally responsive school leaders approach all elements, including teachers matter in order to create a more welcoming school atmosphere. In this case, Khalifa et al. (2016) suggested that teachers need to understand their students and parents thoroughly including their background, cultures, and traditions. That way, teachers will be easily accepted by both students and teachers. Having a more culturally responsive pedagogy, leadership, and approach is deem important for teachers who teach students from all background who live in the school complex 24 hours. Teachers need to also increase the communication skills and to increase relationship with parents. This is important because teachers will be the frontline in interacting with parents, students, and the community. Parents Mrs. Jamal and Mr. Jamal’s argument about being sincere in sending their child to BBS brings a deep message to parents and students. Being sincere in this case means that the parents do not need to worry too much about their children at school. The school has already served the community for more than twenty years. A lot of parents are worried about the meal and nutrition, resulting in parents sending additional meals for their child. This phenomenon will lead to jealousy of other children whose parents could not afford to send additional meals biweekly. This condition obviously created subtle discrimination against low SES parents and students. Even though parents are so far actively engaged in helping the school in parenting by adding additional nutrition for their children, this approach needs to be reduced. The parents who 135 bring additional meals to the school have so far created a practice of inequality among students. While the students whose parents are wealthy enough will benefit from parents’ additional meals, the students from the lower income families will feel demotivated because they may feel that their parents do not pay attention to them. The parents may instead donate to the school in any capacity so that the school is able to give better nutritious meals to all students. That way, there will be no more jealousy among students. Finally, giving trust to school in making school decision is good, but having involved in the process is more important. Parents, in this case, should try to get involved in decision making by for example demanding the school to give them the opportunity to the school decision process. Parents may also demand the school to activate the school committee which has a central role for the parent representative participate in policymaking. That way parents will feel more pride and confidence as a result of taking part in the policymaking process. Directions for Future Research I believe this study, Parental Involvement in Islamic Boarding school in Indonesia, raises some opportunities for future research. First, my study focused on a particular context in an Islamic Boarding School, but I believe this study would be able to bring more implications for both theory and practices if it is being done in a wider variety of schools. My study was focusing on a private Islamic school in which parents are self-selecting into this kind of school. Therefore, the parents would most likely have better motivation compared to those in public schools. I believe a future study will even be more powerful if it is conducted not only in one boarding school setting. Instead, a future study can be set as a comparative study between religious boarding schools and non-religious boarding schools, or among public schools, non-religious 136 boarding schools, and religious boarding schools, or it can be done among Islamic boarding schools in the rural, suburban, and urban settings. Regardless, some type of comparison across contexts would be useful in future research on parental involvement in Indonesia. The study could also be conducted using the eyes of students. My study was only involving parents, teachers, and administrators. There is a wide possibility to also engage students as research participants. It would be worthwhile to also listen to the student's perspectives on their parents’ involvement in their education. It would also be interesting to see students’ perspective on whether studying in Islamic boarding school was their decision or their parents’. Finally, the future study will also be worthwhile if it is conducted for a larger sample for the parental involvement survey. This study was only involving 79 parents in high school. Even though it has represented 25% of the total population of the High School parents, the data will be even richer in the if it can gather at least 75% of the total population. Conclusion In conclusion, research has indicated that parental involvement is considered to be effective and efficient. Parental involvement is effective because it can increase students’ achievement, students’ behavior, students’ graduation, and students’ future career options. Parental involvement is efficient because it does not require a lot of money. However, involving parents and communities to help schools raise kids is not an easy job. It is true that it takes a village to raise a child (an ancient African proverb). In this case, the schools need to be more accommodative, parents need to know their roles, and policymakers should create a suitable policy to increase the quality of the relationship between home and school. More importantly, it is beneficial to use a parental involvement framework as guidance in increasing parental 137 involvement. Using a parental involvement framework, especially the one from Epstein (2009), is expected to enable home and school to re-conceptualize the roles, the expectations, the challenges, and the obstacles of parental involvement in the actual school lives. Moreover, the parental involvement framework by Epstein has been widely adopted by several institutions such as the Michigan Education Department and UNESCO, as well as several education departments in different states in the U.S.A. The Epstein Framework combined with the new models found in BBS would be a good alternative for schools in the Indonesian context to promote better parental involvement in education. This means that schools need to be proactive to engage parents, and parents need to actively communicate with schools. Parents also need to be good role models at home. Nonetheless, what if students live far away from their parents, like in boarding schools? Since boarding schools regulate students to stay in the school dorms, the role of the parents will obviously decrease. While on the one hand, parent involvement has been reportedly effective for improving students’ performances; on the contrary, parental roles in boarding schools are not as frequent as in non-boarding schools. Many types of research suggest the effectiveness of boarding schools for students’ success (Maphaso & Mahlo, 2014; Marin et al., 2015; Putra, 2013; Nurhayati & Yasin, 2013; & Curto & Fryer, 2012). However, the research about parental involvement among parents whose children attend boarding schools, especially in Islamic boarding schools, has been lacking in Indonesia (Sgro, 2006; Tan 2014). Importantly, this study on parental involvement at BBS begins to fill that gap. The BBS has challenged the previous research on parental involvement in Indonesia. The BBS has proven that distance is no longer an excuse for parents not to engage in the school activities and programs nor for the teachers to feel reluctant to involve parents at schools. The 138 Berjaya Boarding School brings new hope to the efforts on school and home collaboration. The BBS has proven that even though students live far away from their parents, the school and parents can still actively engage in supporting the student’s education. The boarding system is no longer the constraint and excuse to not engage parents in parenting, communicating, helping students learning at home, volunteering, joining the school decision making, and collaborating with the community. The BBS has event gone beyond the Epstein models, as the school also represents wider involvement by engaging parents as liaisons, spiritual motivators, and material supporters. Even though BBS has been implementing parental involvement relatively well, the school needs to be aware of inequality in the parental involvement practices. The inequality practices include (1) the upper middle-class families have more resources to be offered when they visit their son/daughter every two weeks, while the low Socio Economic Status (SES) families might not bring additional meals to their children; (2) the rich families could provide internet access at home, while the poor families will not be able to afford internet access at home; and finally (3) the low SES families will have less opportunity to volunteer at school events such as to provide a ride for the community development program and/or contributing to school infrastructure materials. One alternative approach as suggested by Khalifa et al (2016) is by implementing the culturally responsive school leadership in which all school elements need to create a welcoming and an inclusive atmosphere to all students and parents regarding their backgrounds. Lastly, BBS needs to still work hard on engaging parents in school decision making. If they can perform five of the parental involvement models from Epstein (2009), the home and school should be able to work on decision making as well. Engaging parents in decision making 139 is considered important because it will affect parents’ sense of belonging to the school. More importantly, parents’ involvement in decision making will help the school eliminate practices of exclusivity, inequality, and inequity because the parent's voices would be valued by the school. 140 APPENDICES 141 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS Adapted from: O’Neil-Kerr (2014) and Hunter (2009) 1. Please tell me about yourself. 2. Do you have brothers or sisters? 3. Why do you study in this boarding school? 4. Who is responsible for taking care of your education? 5. How do you define parental involvement? 6. In what ways are your parents involved in your education? 7. What causes your parents to be (or not to be) involved in your education? 8. Do your parents benefit from being involved in your education? If yes, in what ways? If not, why not? 9. Does your school benefit from your parents being involved in your education? If yes, in what way? If not, why not? 10. Does the school encourage your parents to participate in your education? Please explain. 11. Do your parents establish a positive environment for you to support your education? In what ways? 12. Do your parents frequently communicate with schools and visit you? Please explain. • How often do your parents visit or call you? • When was the last time your parents came into school? 13. Have your parents volunteered in school activities and programs? Please explain. 14. Do your parents help you with your homework? Or ask you about your homework? Please explain. 15. Do your parents participate in your school’s decision making? In what ways? 16. Do your parents participate in the community program to support your schools? 17. What are your expectations of your parents’ involvement in your education? 142 ***The Indonesian translation*** Wawancara untuk Siswa/i 1. Boleh bercerita sedikit tentang Anda (adik-adik)? 2. Apakah punya saudara (adik/kakak)? 3. Mengapa Anda belajar di Pondok Pesantren ini? 4. Siapakah yang mengurus pendidikan Anda? 5. Peran orangtua dalam pendikan anak menurut Anda definisnya bagaimana? 6. Dalam bentuk apakah orangtua Anda membantu proses pendikan Anda? 7. Apa yang menyebabkan orangtua anda terlibat (atau tidak terlibat) dalam pendidikan Anda? 8. Apakah orang tua Anda merasa bahwa mereka harus terlibat dalam pendidikan Anda? Jika iya bagaiaman bentuknya, jika tidak mengapa? 9. Apakah sekolah Anda merasa orangtua adalah bagian penting dalam membantu kesuksesan Anda di sekolah? Jika iya, bagaimana bentuknya, jika tidak mengapa? 10. Apakah keterlibatan orangtua meberikan manfaat untuk kesuksesan anda di sekolah? Mohon dijelasakan 11. Apakah orangtua Anda memberikan dukungan positif dari (di) rumah terhadap pendidikan Anda? 12. Apakah orangtua anda sering berkomunikasi dengan sekolah, atau mengunjungi Anda di pondok? a) Berapa sering orangtua Anda mengunjungi, menelpon, atau sms Anda? b) Kapan terakhir kalinya orangtua Anda datang ke ponpes/sekolah? 13. Apakah orangtua anda pernah berpartisipasi secara sukarela membantu dengan kegitatan/program sekolah? Mohon dijelaskan! 14. Apakah orangtuamu membantu mengerjakan PR? Atau menanyakan tentang PR Anda? Mohon dijelaskan! a. [promp] siapa yang biasa membantu mengerjakan PR Anda? 15. Apakah orangtua Anda ikut terlibat dalam memutuskan kebijakan sekolah, seperti terlibat dalam komte sekolah? Mohon jelaskan! 16. Apakah orangtua Anda berpartisipasi aktif dalam kegiatan sosial kemasyarakatan di lingkungan sekolah? 17. Bagaiamana harapan Anda tentang peran orang tua untuk mendukung pendidikan Anda? 143 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE TEACHERS AND SCHOOL Adapted from: O’Neil-Kerr (2014) and Hunter (2009) PRINCIPAL 1. Please tell me about yourself. 2. How long have you been teaching/being the school principal? 3. In your opinion, why do the parents send their kids to this school? 4. How do you define parental involvement? 5. In what ways are the parents at this school involved in their children’ education? 6. What causes your students’ parents to be (or not to be) involved in their children’s education? 7. Do you and your students’ parents benefit from being involved in the school? If yes, in what ways? If not, why not? 8. Do you benefit from your students’ parents being involved in your school? If yes, in what ways? If not, why not? 9. Do you encourage your students’ parents to participate in your students’ education? 10. Do your students’ parents establish a positive environment for your students to support their education? In what ways? 11. Do parents frequently communicate with school and visit you? Please explain. • How often do your students’ parents contact you? • When was the last time your students’ parents came into school? 12. Have parents volunteered to school activities and programs? Please explain. 13. Do parents help their children with their homework? Or ask their children about their homework? Please explain. • Because they live in the dorm, who helps students if students need help with the homework? 14. Do parents participate in your school’s decision making? In what ways? 15. What kind of parents participate in meeting? (refer to variables in the paper) How many parents usually join the meeting?. 16. Do parents participate in the community program to support your schools? 17. What are your expectations of your parents’ involvement in your school? 144 ***The Indonesian translation*** Wawancara untuk Guru dan Kepala Sekolah 1. Boleh bercerita sedikit Pak/Bu tentang Bapak/Ibu? 2. Bagaimana definisi peran orangtua dalam pendidikan menurut Bapak/Ibu? 3. Bagaimanakah bentuk peran orangtua yang selama ini Bapak dan Ibu dapati di sekolah ini? 4. Apa yang menjadi penyebab Orangtua murid terlibat (atau tidak terlibat) dalam pendidikan anaknya di sekolah ini? 5. Menurut Anda, apakah orangtua merasakan keuntungan dari keterlibatan orangtua di sekolah? Jika iya bagaimana, jika tidak mengapa? 6. Apakah Anda merasakan keuntungan dari keterlibatan orangtua di sekolah? Jika iya bagaimana, jika tidak mengapa? 7. Apakah anda menganjurkan orangtua murid untuk aktif terlibat dalam pendidikan anak mereka baik di sekolah maupun di rumah? 8. Menurut Anda, apakah orangtua Anda menciptakan suasana yang kondusif (parenting: anak siap sekolah, makanan, rumah kondusif) di rumah sehingga mendukung pendidikan anak ketika mereka pulang ke rumah saat liburan? 9. Apakah orangtua pernah berkomunikasi dan bertemu dengan Anda di sekolah? (communicating) a) Seberapa sering orangtua murid menghubungi Anda? b) Kapankah terakhir kali wali murid datang ke sekolah? 10. Apakah orangtua murid Anda berpartisipasi secara sukarela untuk kebigatan-kegiatan di sekolah? Mohon dijelaskan? (volunteering) 11. Apakah orangtua membantu mengerjakan PR siswa? Atau menanyakan kepada anak mereka tentang PR di sekolah? Mohon dijelaskan! (learning at home) a) Karena siswa tinggal di pondok, siapakah yang membantu siswa dalam mengerjakan PR jika siswa ada yang kurang jelas tentang PR mereka? 12. Apakah orangtua Anda berpartisipasi dalam membuat keputusan di sekolah? Berikan contoh jika ada! (decision making) 13. Apakah orangtua Anda berpartisipasi dalam kegiatan di lingkungan sekitar sekolah? Berikan contoh jika ada. (collaborating) 14. Apa harapan Anda untuk keterlibatan orangtua di sekolah? 145 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS Adapted from: O’Neil-Kerr (2014) and Hunter (2009) 1. Please tell me about yourself. 2. How many children do you have? (prompt: how many in this boarding school?) 3. What is your motivation for sending your kid to this boarding school? 4. How do you define parental involvement? 5. Do you think you are involved in your children’s education? 6. In what ways are you involved (or not involved) in your children’ education? Please explain. 7. What made you to be (or not to be) involved in your children’s education? Please explain. 8. Do your child’s teachers and/or principal encourage you to be involved in your children’s education? Please explain. 9. Do you think anything is missing given the fact that your child/children do not live with you? 10. 11. (If the parents respond that they think they are involved in their children’s education) How do you benefit from being involved in your children’s education? 12. Do you think that you build a positive environment at home to support your children’s education when they go home? How so? 13. Do you communicate with schools and visit your child? Please explain. a. How often do you visit or call your child? b. When was the last time you visit the school? 14. Have you volunteered in school activities and programs? Please explain. 15. Do you participate in your child’s school’s decision making? If yes, in what ways?, If no, why not? 16. Do you participate in the community program (around school) to support your schools? 17. What is your expectation of your involvement in your kid’s education? Please explain. 146 ***The Indonesian Translation*** Wawancara untuk Orangtua 1. Boleh bercerita sedikit Pak/Bu tentang Bapak/Ibu? 2. Bapak/Ibu punya berapa anak? Ada berapa yang sekolah di sini? 3. Apa motivasi Bapak/Ibu menyekolahkan putra/putri Bapak/Ibu di sekolah ini? 4. Menurut Bapak/Ibu, Peran orangtua dalam pendikan anak itu definisnya seperti apa? 5. Menurut Bapak/Ibu, apakah Anda meresa terlibat dalam pendidikan Anak Anda? 6. Boleh diceritakan dalam bentuk apa keterlibatan Bapak Ibu, atau ketidak teribatan Bapak Ibu? Mohon dijelaskan! 7. Apa ynag memotivasi Bapak/Ibu untuk berpartisipasi (atau tidak berpartisipasi) dalam pendidkan Anak di sekolah? 8. Apakah guru di sekolah atau kepala sekolah mendorong Bapak/Ibu untuk berpartisipasi dalam pendidikan Anak?Mohon dijelaskan 9. (Jika orangtua menyebutkan bahwa mereka terlibat dalam pendidikan anak) Bagaimana Bapak/Ibu merasakan manfaat dari ikut berpartisipasi dalam pendidikan Anak di sekolah? 10. Apakah Anda merasa bahwa Anda menciptakan suasana kondisif di rumah untuk mendukung kenyamanan belajar Anak selama mereka berada di rumah? 11. Apakah Anda berkomunikasi dengan sekolah dan mengunjungi Anak Anda? Mohon dijelaskan! a) Seberapa sering? b) Kapan terakhir kalinya Anda berkunjung? 12. Apakah Anda berpartisipasi secara sukarela dalam kegiatan sekolah? Mohon dijelaskan? 13. Apakah Anda berpartisipasi secara sukarela dalam pembuatan keputusan di sekolah? Jika iya dalam bentuk apa? Dan jika tidak mengapa? 14. Apakah Anda berpartisipasi secara sukarela dalam kegiatan masyarakat di sekitar sekolah? 15. Apa harapan Anda dari keterlibatan pada pendidikan anak anda di sekolah? 147 APPENDIX D: PARENT SURVEY Adapted from Salinas, et al. in Epstein (2009) Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Pp. 324-329. In Epstein et al. (2009). Instructions: Please circle one response for each question. 1-7 Y PI = β0 + β2P.Educ + β3P.SES + β4sgender+ β5P.Type + β6dis+ β7sib.S+ β7sib.H εi PI How often does each of the following happen? 1 2 3 4 5 Join school workshops and receive information from your school on child and adolescent development. Obtain information from your school that is clear, usable, and linked to your success in school. The school asks your parents for information about your goals, strengths, and talents. Welcome a school visit or attend neighborhood meetings to help them understand your school and to help the school understand your family. Receive age-appropriate information on developing home conditions or environments that support your learning. Receive print or non-print communication from your school. The school contacts your parents regarding your academic or behavioral progress. Participate in a formal conference with other parents at least once a year. Obtain clear information about the curriculum, national and school examination, school and student results, and report cards. Use space in the school to volunteer and meet with other parents. Participate in annual survey to identify their interests, talents, and availability to match with the school and classrooms needs. Provide flexible volunteering opportunities and schedules that enable your parents to participate in school activities. You are trained as school volunteers so that they can use their time productively. never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently 148 P a r e n t i n g C o m m u n i c a t i n g V o l u n t e e r i n g The school encourages you to be involved with the school in various ways (e.g., assist in classrooms, monitor halls, lead talks or activities, serve as audience, extracurricular coordinator, etc). Participate in a parent organization Serve as members of school council, school committee, and other school bodies. Participate in organized, ongoing, and timely ways in planning and improving school programs. Participate in school decision-making. Work with your school to deal with conflict openly and respectfully. never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently never never rarely sometimes often frequently rarely sometimes often frequently never rarely sometimes often frequently D e c i s i o n M a k i n g C o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h t h e C o m m u n i t y never Receive a resource directory on community agencies, services, and programs. The school encourages or assists you in locating and using community resources. Work with local business, industries, libraries, parks, museums, and other organizations on programs to help your school enhance student skill and learning. never Participate in an after-school program with support from community businesses, agencies, and volunteers. never never rarely sometimes often frequently rarely sometimes often frequently rarely sometimes often frequently rarely sometimes often frequently Celebrate national and religious big days. Demographic Information: What is your gender? ____________ Female _________________ male What is the highest level of education of the parents completed? Father _______ primary school graduate _______ junior high school graduate _______ high school graduate _______ University graduate _______ high school graduate _______ University graduate Mother _______ primary school graduate _______ junior high school graduate How much is your monthly income? ______ < 1.9 million ______ > 1.9 million What is your occupation/job?: ____________________ 149 What is your status? ____ single parent _____ two parents ______ guardian How many children you have?: _________ How many children you have in this school?: ___________ What is your district: __________ How many hours (driving) from your home to school? ____________ 150 ***Indonesian Translation of the Survey*** Survei untuk Orangtua Wali Questionnaire ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peranan wali murid di Pondok Pesantren. Hasil dari questionnaire ini akan digunakan untuk memenuhi persyaratan kuliah Doktoral (S3) Dion Ginanto. Petunjuk: Mohon lingkari/tanda silang salah satu pilihan untuk masing-masing pertanyaan. Seberapa sering hal-hal berikut terjadi? 1 2 3 4 5 Mengikuti pertemuan di sekolah untuk mengetahui informasi proses belajar mengajar, perkembangan anak didik, serta evaluasi/ujian Anak didik. (Parenting) Sekolah bekerjasama dengan Bapak/Ibu untuk menggali tentang tujuan, minat, dan bakat anak Bapak/Ibu bersekolah di Pondok pesantren (termasuk mendapat informasi dari Psikiater/Psikolog). (Parenting) Menghadiri rapat yang dapat membantu Bapak/Ibu memahami sistem/aturan pondok pesantren dengan lebih baik yang secara bersamaan membantu sekolah memahami keluarga Bapak/Ibu. Termasuk di dalamnya informasi tentang lauk pauk, kamar, wali kamar, dll. (Parenting) Bapak/ibu menjenguk putra/putri Bapak di Pondok Pesantren. Termasuk mengantar atau menjemput di Pondok Pesantren. (Parenting) Bapak/Ibu dihubungi oleh pihak sekolah untuk mengikuti kegiatan sekolah atau memberi informasi lainnya, baik secara langsung/tatap muka, melalui telfon, atau melalui sms. (Communicating) Sekolah mengubungi Bapak/Ibu berkaitan tentang akademik dan tingkah laku anak Bapak/Ibu di sekolah, dalam bentuk raport atau informasi lainnya. (Communicating) Berpartisipasi dalam sebuah seminar/pertemuan formal dengan orangtua lainnya paling sedikit sekali dalam setahun. (Communicating) Bapak/Ibu mengunjungi ustaz/guru di kampus, atau sebaliknya dikunjungi oleh staff/guru di rumah Bapak/Ibu. (Communicating). Menerima informasi dari sekolah tentang prestasi baik akademik maupun non-akademik anak Bapak/Ibu dan Anak didik lain. (Learning at home) Bapak/Ibu mengawasi kegiatan belajar atau mengaji ketika Anak Bapak/Ibu pulang ke rumah (learning at home) 151 Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering San gat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Bapak/Ibu membatasi/mengawasi pemakian gadged, handphone, atau alat elektronik lainnya ketika anak Bapak/Ibu di rumah (learning at home) Bapak/Ibu dan keluarga Bapak/Ibu menciptakan suasana yang nyaman untuk belajar ketika Anak Bapak/Ibu liburan atau pulang ke rumah (learning at home) Ikut berpartisipasi dalam membantu kegiatan-kegiatan sekolah secara voluntir (sukarela), seperti kerja bakti, sambatan, rewang, dll. (Volunteering) Guru atau staff pondok pesantren menghubungi Bapak/Ibu agar Bapak/Ibu ikut serta dalam kegiatan sekolah seperti pengajian, buka puasa bersama, tabligh akbar, bakti sosial, dll. (Volunteering) Sekolah menyediakan informasi dan kesempatan untuk berpartisiapasi dalam membantu kegiatan- kegitan kelas dan sekolah. (Volunteering) Sekolah menganjurkan Bapak/Ibu untuk berpartisipasi dalam berbagai kegiatan (misalnya, membantu kegiatan kelas, menguji, mengawasi kegiatan siswa, menjadi supporter dalam kegiatan olahraga, membantu kegiatatan ekstrakurikuler, membantu kegiatan perlombaan, membantu kegiatan pengajian, dll). (Volunteering) Ikut serta dalam kegiatan Komite Sekolah (komite yayasan) bersama wali murid lainnya. (Decision Making) Menjadi anggota komite sekolah atau kepanitaan lainnya. (Decision Making) Berpartisipasi dalam penentuan kebijakan (rapat) sekolah (misalnya, uang pembangunan, uang semester, uang bulanan, dll). (Decision Making) Ikut serta dalam memecahkan permasalahan atau konflik di sekolah dengan terbuka dan musyawarah mufakat (Misalnya apabila ada siswa yang bermasalah atau nakal). (Decision making) Memperoleh informasi dari sekolah tentang layanan di luar sekolah, misalnya tentang universitas, SNMPTN, atau lowongan kerja. (Collaborating) Bapak/Ibu dianjurkan oleh sekolah untuk mengakses informasi dari luar sekolah seperti dari alumni, mahasiswa, pengajian, atau balai desa. (Collaborating) Bapak/Ibu bekerja sama dengan usaha kecil dan menengah di desa, balai desa, pemerintah daerah, HIMARI (Himpunan Mahasiwa Rimbo Bujang), kyai/ulama, atau pengajian untuk mendukung program sekolah. (Collaborating) Bersama-sama anggota masyarakat mengadakan atau menghadiri kegiatan nasional dan keagamaan di 152 Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Tidak pernah Jarang Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Tidak pernah Tidak pernah Jarang Jarang Kadang- kadang Sering Kadang- kadang Sering Sangat Sering Sangat Sering sekolah (Misalnya Tujuhbelasan, Isra’Miraj, Maulid Nabi, Halal-Bihalal, dll) (Collaborating) Informasi Demografi: Mohon untuk memberi tanda contreng ( √ ) _______ SD _______ Perguruan Tinggi Istri _______ SMP _______ SMP Apa jenis kelamin Bapak/Ibu? ____________ Laki-Laki _________________ Perempuan Pendidikan terakhir Bapak/Ibu (Orangtua Wali) Suami _______ SD _______ SMP _______ SMA _______ Perguruan Tinggi Berapa kira-kira penghasilan Bapak/Ibu perbulan? ______ Kurang dari 2 Juta Rupiah ______ Lebih dari 2 Juta Rupiah Apa status Bapak/Ibu? ____ Duda _____ Menikah ______ Orangtua Angkat Mohon untuk memberikan jawaban singkat pada pertanyaan-pertanyaan berikut: Berapa jumlah anak Bapak/Ibu?: _________ Ada berapa Anak Bapak/Ibu yang bersekolah di Pondok Pesantren ini?: ___________ Kabupaten dan Propinsi Bapak/Ibu: __________ Berapa jam Bapak/Ibu menempuh perjalanan dari rumah ke Pondok Pesantren ini? ____________ Apa pekerjaan Bapak/Ibu?: ____________________ 153 APPENDIX E: OBSERVATION NOTE-TAKING FORM Date/Time Place Aims : __________________________________________________ : __________________________________________________ : __________________________________________________ Activity (Formal/Informal) : __________________________________________________ My Comments/ Questions What Happened Record names/types of activity and mentioned whether it is formal or informal parents’ activities. Then take a note on what parents/teachers/administrators/community does and says. Reflection: _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ 154 APPENDIX F: RESEARCH PARTICIPANT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM FOR INTERVIEW 1. Purpose of the Research: ▪ You are being asked to participate in a research study of “Parental Involvement in an Islamic Boarding School in Indonesia.” ▪ You have been selected for this study in consultation with the school principal. ▪ In this study you will be asked 14-16 open-ended questions. The researchers hope to learn: [1] How are parents involved in their children’s education in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia?, and [2] Do students with more involved parents score higher on their national examination? ▪ Your participation in this study will take about 30-45 minutes. ▪ You must be at least 18 years old to participate in this research. 2. YOUR RIGHTS TO PARTICIPATE, SAY NO, OR WITHDRAW: ▪ Participation in this research project is completely voluntary. You have the right to say no. You may change your mind at any time and withdraw. You may choose not to answer specific questions or to stop participating at any time. Whether you choose to participate or not will have no affect on your grade or evaluation. 3. COSTS AND COMPENSATION FOR BEING IN THE STUDY: • You will be compensated a gift card ($15) for participating in this study. 4. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS:) • • If you have concerns or questions about this study, such as scientific issues, how to do any part of it, or to report an injury, please contact the researcher (Dion Ginanto, email: ginantod@msu.edu, phone 517-512-2490) or the researcher’s faculty advisor at Michigan State University (Dr. Kristy Cooper Stein, email: kcooper@msu.edu, phone 517-353-5461). If you have questions or concerns about your role and rights as a research participant, would like to obtain information or offer input, or would like to register a complaint about this study, you may contact, anonymously if you wish, the Michigan State University’s Human Research Protection Program at 517-355-2180, Fax 517-432-4503, or e-mail irb@msu.edu or regular mail at Olds Hall, 408 West Circle Dr Rm 207, East Lansing, MI 48824. 5. DOCUMENTATION OF INFORMED CONSENT. Your signature below means that you voluntarily agree to participate in this research study. ____________________________________ Signature ________________________ Date 155 APPENDIX G: FULL TABLE OF MULTIPLE REGRESSION Table 4. Multiple Regression Results across all Parental Involvement Framework (Full) Measure Parenting Communicating Volunteering Learning at Home Decision Making Collaborating with Community Parental Involvement Intercept Education (Father) Education (Mother) Parent Income Female (Student) Parent Type Non Timura Parent Distance Farmer Number of Kids at School Number of Kids at Home R2 F 4.31*** -0.04 -0.87 0.37*** 0.28 -0.4 0.17 -0.12 -0.45** -0.21** 0.21 0.236 2.096 3.817*** 0.134 -0.126 0.021 0.197 -0.232 0.263 -0.066 -0.636** -0.108 0.046 0.133 1.039 3.321*** 3.786*** 1.560*** -0.223 -0.124 0.389* -0.024 -0.64 0.185 -0.163 -0.279 -0.024 0.29 0.099 0.744 0.355 0.02 -0.12 0.405 -0.138 0.581 -0.152 -0.175 0.056 -0.224 0.063 0.453 0.091 0.056 0.125 0.071 -0.068 0.168 -0.079 -0.071 -0.072 0.055 0.12 0.932 3.846*** -0.036 -0.231 0.17 -0.005 -0.164 0.018 -0.028 -0.558** -0.312*** 0.307 0.155 1.244 3.440*** 0.046 -0.089 0.159 0.154 -0.274 0.231 -0.102 -0.361** -0.11 0.11 0.158 1.279 ***p<0.01;**p<0.05; *p<0.10 a A pseudonym for the district where the school is located 156 APPENDIX H: LETTER FOR THE SCHOOL Dion Ginanto Ph.D Candidate, Educational Adminsitration, Michigan State University 1270 Garden City Rd, Apt 1808-140 East Lansing, MI 48825 : Dion Ginanto Kepada: Yth. Bapak/Ibu Kepala Sekolah/Pimpinan Pondok Pesantren/Madrasah Raudhatul Mujawwidin Di Rimbo Bujang Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb., Dengan hormat, teriring salam dan doa semoga Bapak/Ibu dalam keadaan sehat walafiat, sehingga dapat melakukan proses kegiatan belajar mengajar di Madrasah dengan lancar, amin. Sehubungan dengan pembicaraan melalui telefon dengan Umi Dewi, perihal ijin untuk mengadakan penelitian di Pondok Pesantren, maka dengan ini, saya: Nama Status : Mahasiswa Pasca Sarjana di Michigan State University bermaksud untuk meminta ijin kepada Bapak/Ibu kepala sekolah/pimpinan Pondok Pesantren Raudhatul Mujawwidin di Rimbo Bujang untuk melakukan penelitian dengan judul “Perang Orang Tua pada salah satu Pondok Pesantren di Indonesia.” Demikian surat ijin ini kami buat, atas ijin dari Bapak/Ibu diucapkan terimakasih. East Lansing, 12 Maret 2017 Hormat saya, Dion Ginanto Disetujui oleh [Approved by] Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Raudhatul Mujawwidin H. Suyatno, S.Pd (Kepala Sekolah) 157 APPENDIX I: JOYCE EPSTEIN PERMISSION LETTER To: Dion Ginanto From: Joyce Epstein Re: Permission Granted This is to give you permission to use, adapt, or translate, as needed, the Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships. I understand that your study of parental involvement will be conducted at a school in Indonesia, as part of your doctoral program at Michigan State University. The setting for your study is unique and will be of interest to other researchers. Please note that the Measure (provided in Chapter 9 of our Handbook for Action was designed as a “team activity” as an annual assessment for schools’ Action Team for Partnerships that are strengthening their programs of family and community involvement using our framework of six types of involvement. It was not designed for individual reports in large samples. Thus, we do not have reliability statistics on this measure. However, other graduate students have used the Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships with individuals in their dissertations. They report high internal reliability statistics for the full scale and subscales in the measure. You will have to check this in your own study using a statistical program (such as SPSS-Scale) to report reliability statistics for your study sample. All that we ask is that you include full reference to the Measure on the survey and in your references. The correct citation is: Epstein, J. L., et al. (2009). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action. Third edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Best of luck with your project. Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D. Director, Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) Research Professor of Education and Sociology 2701 North Charles Street, Suite 300 Baltimore, MD 21218 Phone: (410) 516-8807 Fax: (410) 516-8890 Email: jepstein@jhu.edu Web: www.partnershipschools.org 158 APPENDIX J: IRB APPROVAL 159 REFERENCES 160 REFERENCES Amatea, E. S. (2009). Building culturally responsive family-school relationship. Boston, MA: Pearson. Atknison, E. (2004). Thinking outside the box: An exercise in heresy. Qualitative Inquiry. 10, 111-129. Astone, N., & McClanahan, S. (1991). Family structure, parental practices and high school completion. American Sociological Review. 56(3), 3009-320. Australian Parents Council (2015). Parent and family engagement in boarding school context. Executive Summary Report. Australia. Azizah, Nur. (2013) Dukungan orangtua bagi anak yang belajar di pesantren. Parental involvement for boarding school students. 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