This research investigated the influence of parental involvement on the academic achievement of 1,714 Mexican-American 8th-grade students, a subsample of the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS 88). A structural equation model was used to investigate the direct, indirect, and total effects of parental involvement, previous academic achievement, and home rules on standardized achievement tests. Both the student and the parent surveys were used in the study. Results indicate the following: (1) parental involvement does influence positively the academic achievement of 8th-grade Mexican-American students; (2) parents who have a high socioeconomic status and whose children have previously obtained high grades tend to be more involved in their childrens' education and have higher educational aspirations for their children; (3) parents are more involved with female children than with male children; (4) parents' language proficiency does not influence academic achievement but does influence parental involvement; (5) the strongest influence on academic achievement was previous achievement (grades); (6) family rules did not affect students' academic achievement; (7) Mexican-American males had higher overall academic achievement when compared to Mexican-American females; and (8) children whose parents were born outside of the United States had slightly higher math achievement than children whose parents were born in the United States. Suggestions for future research are included. (LP)