Parental involvement in children's education plays a critical role in student achievement and later life outcomes (Epstein, 1995). There has been a lot of research on the benefits of parental involvement in elementary and middle school. Less research has been conducted on early childhood education, that is, on children from birth to age eight. The limited research that has been conducted demonstrates that parental involvement at the preschool and primary levels is associated with greater reading achievement and lower grade retention through eighth grade (Basile & Henry, 1996). Parental and family involvement provides comfort to children in social and cultural contexts, ultimately improving cognitive development (Pattni-Shah, 2008). Greater parental involvement allows for greater understanding of children's and families' needs, cultural continuity, more effective instruction, greater feelings of appreciation from teachers and parents, and greater learning (Galper, Feeney, & Seefeldt, 2009). Parental involvement in early childhood education offers many benefits while lack of parental involvement, which can result from a variety of reasons, creates shortcomings (see Appendix A). Description of the Teaching Problem Educators face many problems with varying degrees of frequency and urgency. The lack of parental involvement in children's education is a trend that teachers and administrators are seeing in schools across the nation (Finders & Lewis, 1994). However, before this lack of parental involvement can be addressed, it is essential to define “parental involvement” and understand the contributing factors. Parental involvement includes many things: educating and being sensitive to children's problems...... middle of paper ......11, from ProQuest Education Journals. Smith, J., Wohlstetter, P., Kuzin, C. & De Pedro, K. (2011). Parent involvement in urbancharter schools: New strategies for increasing participation. School CommunityJournal, 21(1), 71-94. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. Smith, J. & Wohlstetter, P. (2009). Parent involvement in urban charter schools: A new paradigm or the status quo? National Center on School Choice Conference: Nashville, TN. Walker, J., Shenker, S., & Hoover-Dempsey, K. (2010). Why do parents get involved in their children's education? Professional School Counseling, 14(1), 27-41.Wells, A. (2000). In Search of Uncommon Schools: Charter School Reform in Historical Perspective (Part 3) - Charter Schools as Uncommon Schools. Teachers College Records. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://www.tcrecord.org.