The focus of this correlational study was to determine whether and to what degree a statistical relationship exists between parental involvement and literacy achievement for pre-kindergarten students from poverty-stricken backgrounds. Secondarily, an independent t-test was used to examine if there was a statistical difference between high and low levels of parental involvement. Finally, to examine the relationship between three aspects (home-based involvement, school-based involvement and home-school conferencing) of parental involvement and academic achievement, a multiple regression test was conducted.For most students, parents are their first teachers so it should come as no surprise that parental involvement is generally accepted to be an educational input that affects student achievement (Yan & Lin, 2005). The common wisdom is that parental involvement and strong schools are inseparable. It is not possible to have one without the other.The study sample included parents or guardians and low-income pre-kindergarten students at an urban pre-kindergarten site. Data were gained through the use of the Family Involvement Questionnaire-Early Childhood (FIQ- Fantuzzo, Munis, and Perry, 2002), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Third Edition (PPVT-III, Dunn & Dunn, 1997) and the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening PreK (PALS-PreK, Invernizzi, Sullivan, Meier & Swank, 2004).