Parental involvement in Algerian exam classes: a tale of two middle schools

Abstract Parental involvement is a critical issue across societies, mainly in the educational setting.This study endeavours to investigate the level of the involvement of parents in their children’s education in exam classes, particularly in order to obtain the Certificate of Middle School Education in rural and urban spheres. This study seeks to examine the extent to which parental engagement and commitment can make a difference in the academic life of children who undertake official exams. Two classes of fourth year middle school took part in the research by filling in an attitudinal questionnaire, and two head teachers took part via a semi-structured interview. The obtained results indicate that parents are involved to some extent in their children’s education in rural areas in contrast with parents in urban ones, who are more involved. These findings are attributed to the geographical variable and the availability of resources and the socioeconomic status in both settings. There is no disparity at the level of homework assistance, time management at home and parental aspirations for children’s future education.