This study focused on parents' relationships and involvement in their children's lives and the effects on the students' school engagement and school performance. The study used the Wave I data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The data on seventh and eighth grade students' school and family experiences were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The study examined the effect of parents' relationships and involvement on students' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in school and subsequently on school performance. The results confirmed the importance and significance of parents' involvement in middle school students' school engagement and performance. The study has implications for practice and provides empirical support for creating school structures that would foster parents' continued interest and engagement in their children's education.

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Men are underrepresented within the ivory tower. When the intersection of race and gender is examined, enrollment gaps widen even further. Currently, more opportunities than ever before are available for African Americans and Hispanics to attend college; however, their rates of attaining a bachelor's degree are significantly lower when compared to other ethnic/gender combinations. Select personal characteristics (i.e., race, SES) are known to play a role in men's academic achievement. Beyond those, however, are issues of efficacy. The purpose of this study was to determine what efficacy factors predict persistence to graduation of male students when personal characteristics are controlled for. A modified version of the Bandura et al. (1996) theoretical model was used that identified three factors that influence selfefficacy, hence academic success: familial, peer, and self. The findings suggest that race and select parental and peer factors can have both negative and positive effects on the persistence of male students in college.

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