The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) is the third in a series of longitudinal studies sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. The NELS:88 is being conducted in several waves, beginning with a base year experience of approximately 25,000 eighth graders. This report profiles the family characteristics and the level of involvement reported by the parents of 1988 eighth graders, using the base year survey and dropout data from the first follow-up. About 93 percent of the parents of the first year sample were interviewed to provide information about home life and family experiences. The parent component is not, however, a representative sample of eighth graders' parents. Their inclusion is linked to the student participants. This study examined child-directed involvement, including activities such as parent-child discussions and school-directed involvement such as parent-teacher association membership and volunteering in the school. There was some indication that parent involvement was related to whether or not students scored below the basic level in reading or mathematics proficiency, but there was a strong relationship between parent involvement and whether or not a student dropped out of school between the 8th and 10th grades. There are 26 tables and 18 figures presenting study findings. (SLD)