Parental involvement (PI) in children's education is essential and significantly influences academic achievement, such as improved grades, academic motivation, and enhanced emotional and social development. With increasing demands on modern families, parents have different levels of PI. There was a gap in the literature on the lack of parents' understanding regarding factors influencing PI. Motivational theory encompasses the study of extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting the motivation to achieve a goal, which was the basis of the current study. Research questions for this basic qualitative study were designed to address parental perceptions of their child's academic performance. The problem is not all parents understand the importance of involvement in their children's education. The study explored factors influencing PI in schools and how it affects student achievement. This basic qualitative study used snowball sampling to recruit 17 parents in Southern Georgia selected from Meta after responding to the social media post. Criteria for selection were parents with children in kindergarten or first grade (K-1) who completed the open-ended questionnaires and participated in an interview to collect data. NVivo 12.0 software was used to analyze, interpret, and evaluate data. The study addressed key research questions about parental perceptions of their involvement and the factors shaping these perceptions. Findings revealed parents value engaging in their child's education but often lack effective strategies to enhance academic outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]