Universal Journal of Educational Research 7(6): 1356-1362, 2019 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2019.070603 Influence of Parent-teacher Communication on Academic Performance of Pupils in Public Primary Schools in Ainabkoi Sub-county, Kenya Petrolina Kaptich 1 , Henry Kiptiony Kiplangat 2,* , Jennifer Munyua 1 1 Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya 2 Kabarak University, Kenya Copyright©2019 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract This paper is an outcome of a study that was conducted to find out the extent to which communication between parents and teachers influence pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in Ainabkoi Sub County, Kenya. Communication as portrayed in this paper can take the form of conferences/ meeting, telephoning writing notes, and face to face dialogue between parents and teachers. Founded on the theory of six types of parental involvement by Joyce Epstein’s, the study adopted ex-post facto research design. A target population of 2404 Class 8 pupils and 61 class teachers was considered from which 331 class eight pupils were selected using stratified simple random sampling technique. Census approach was employed for the class teachers. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used to collect data. Quantitative data was then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in form of percentages, means and chi-square while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic framework. There was a positive and significant relationship between parent-teacher communication (X 2 =10.087; p=0.039) and academic performance. Parent-teacher communication is therefore a positive predictor of pupils’ academic performance in primary schools. Such communication should be enhanced to make better the academic performance of pupils in the final examinations. Keywords Ainabkoi, Parent, Teacher, Pupil, Communication, Academic Performance 1. Introduction The No Child Left behind Act (Tittle 1 part A) of the US Government emphasized the significance of parental involvement in children’s academics instructing schools to engage in regular two-way communication involving student academic achievement and various school activities [1]. Due to the pressure from administration applied by partially funding schools for successful parental involvement programs [2] and adoption of multiple reforms that incorporate parental involvement as one of their integral parts, schools across the United States have been working on designing and implementing various parental involvement initiatives in hope of improving student academic performance. In Nigeria, Fajoju, Aluede, and Ojugo [3] correlate parental involvement to academic achievement of primary using ex-post facto research design. In their study, they establish a significant influence of parents being involved and often communicating with teachers on the pupils' academic achievements. However, they attribute this influence to only affecting three core subjects hence; Mathematics, English Language and Science. The involvement of parents getting in their children’s school work through frequent communication with the teachers was therefore highly recommended. 1.1. Theoretical Framework Epstein’s model (2002) as cited in Bower and Griffin [4] described how children learn and develop through three overlapping “spheres of influence.” These were: Family, school and the community. These three spheres form partnership to best meet the needs of the child. Epstein defines six types of involvement based on the relationship between family, school and the community: parenting skills, communication, volunteering, learning at home, and decision making as well as collaborating with the community. Epstein emphasized that all of these six types of involvement must be included to have successful partnership. Pupils who have support from the parents at home show better performance at school, while students