Parent-school collaboration, perceptual incongruence, and educational performance in Georgia Public Schools

Collaboration is an interactive process that requires coordination between multiple actors. What happens to an organization’s performance when collaborating parties perceive the situation differently? Due to power asymmetries and goal diversities, participants might experience perceptual incongruence in the participation level of other stakeholders. Perceptual incongruence could affect a collaboration network’s trust-building process and problem-solving ability, ultimately harming the organization’s performance. Using the Georgia School Climate Survey (GSCS) and Georgia’s standardized exam results, this research examines the impact perceptual incongruence has on performance in the context of parent-school collaboration through panel regression. The evidence shows that a perceptual incongruence in parental involvement between parents and school employees could harm school performance. This result suggests that managing perceptual incongruence among collaborating members is vital for organizational performance.