Influence of Parents' Self-Feelings and Expectations on Children's Academic Performance

Abstract

The authors examined the degree to which parents' negative self-feelings affect the relationship between their educational attainment and the educational expectations they have for their adolescent children, as perceived by their children. In turn, they investigated the degree to which parents' negative self-feelings affect the relationship between their educational expectations for their adolescent children and the current academic achievement of those children. Results provide preliminary indications that parents' expectations for their children and the transmission of those expectations may be modified by how parents feel about themselves. Those modifying effects are explained in terms of both parents' and students' motivations and behaviors.     

Pathways to Achievement: Career and Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Latina/o Immigrant Parents and Early Adolescents

Drawing on sociocultural and related theories, 4 questions examined career and educational aspirations and expectations among 24 immigrant Latina/o early adolescents and their parents as predictors of students’ grades. First, adolescents’ career aspirations and expectations were correlated, and both parents and adolescents held educational aspirations that exceeded their expectations. Second, most adolescents and parents held congruent educational aspirations. Third, congruence between students’ career and educational aspirations was uncommon. Fourth, parents’ educational aspirations and adolescents’ career–education congruence predicted students’ grades. Discussion highlights students’ ongoing reconciliation between aspirations and academic skills and multiple ways immigrant Latino parents contribute to their adolescents’ future.     

关于中学生家长对中学生性别角色期望的调查

为了解中学生家长对中学生未来性别角色发展的期望,本研究采用性别角色期望调查表调查了1 591名中学生家长,结果发现：中学阶段,男生家长对男生的性别角色期望更趋近于男性化,女生家长对女生的性别角色期望更趋近于双性化。男生家长期望男生在下列特质中高于女生：有幽默感、喜欢运动、胆大、不屈不挠、侠义心肠、豪放、好动、奔放、文质彬彬;女生家长期望女生在下列特质中高于男生：快乐、善良、乐观的、自立、开朗、爱整洁、和气、心细、洁身自好、纯真、文雅、温顺、温柔、文静、贤淑。     

Educational aspirations in inner city schools

This research aimed to assess the nature and level of pupils’ educational aspirations and to elucidate the factors that influence these aspirations. A sample of five inner city comprehensive secondary schools were selected by their local authority because of poor pupil attendance, below‐average examination results and low rates of continuing in full‐time education after the age of 16. Schools were all ethnically mixed and coeducational. Over 800 pupils aged 12–14 completed a questionnaire assessing pupils’ experience of home, school and their peers. A sub‐sample of 48 pupils, selected by teachers to reflect ethnicity and ability levels in individual schools, also participated in detailed focus group interviews. There were no significant differences in aspirations by gender or year group, but differences between ethnic groups were marked. Black African, Asian Other and Pakistani groups had significantly higher educational aspirations than the White British group, who had the lowest aspirations. The results suggest the high aspirations of Black African, Asian Other and Pakistani pupils are mediated through strong academic self‐concept, positive peer support, a commitment to schooling and high educational aspirations in the home. They also suggest that low educational aspirations may have different mediating influences in different ethnic groups. The low aspirations of White British pupils seem to relate most strongly to poor academic self‐concept and low educational aspirations in the home, while for Black Caribbean pupils disaffection, negative peers and low commitment to schooling appear more relevant. Interviews with pupils corroborated the above findings and further illuminated the factors students described as important in their educational aspirations. The results are discussed in relation to theories of aspiration which stress its nature as a cultural capacity.     

Role of Study Skills in Graduate-Level Educational Research Courses

Abstract

Graduate students' predominant study skill strengths and weaknesses were examined, as well as the relationship between specific study skills and achievement in a research methodology course. Graduate students (N = 122) from various education disciplines who were enrolled in 3 sections of an educational research course at a southeast university were administered the Study Habits Inventory (Jones & Slate, 1992). Students responded appropriately to 57.8% of the statements measuring study skills. Although that proportion was significantly higher than that found for undergraduate students in previous studies, graduate students could benefit from study skills training. Study skill weaknesses were identified in the areas of note taking and reading skills. Regression and discriminant analyses led to the identification of specific study behaviors that discriminated higher and lower levels of course achievement. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.     

College aspirations and expectations among new African-American mothers in late adolescence

It is a generally accepted finding in the sociological literature as well as in public discourse that adolescent mothers are less likely than their non-parenting counterparts to graduate high school and to attend college. For several decades, however, researchers have pointed out that the implied causal process from teen motherhood to academic failure has been largely unsupported by empirical research. In fact, scholars have recently argued that motherhood may actually serve as a positive turning point in the lives of young women. Using a sample of young African-American women, this study assesses the degree to which teen motherhood not only affects college aspirations but also expectations. Further, it tests the ability of these effects to explain the well-known educational attainment gap between teen mothers and their non-childbearing peers. Results indicate that, in general, young mothers’ college aspirations are similar to those of non-mothers, but that their generally high aspirations for academic success appear to be effectively countered by their decreased educational expectations.     

预期收入、风险与教育选择——来自北京六所高校的经验证据

在教育经济学研究领域,传统的教育选择研究文献往往假定个体只考虑教育收益,忽视了投资风险的真实存在。已有文献对教育选择行为的预期假定存在较大差异,强加在个体身上的假定可能导致对教育选择行为的不正确推论,而使用个体主观预期数据替代这些假定能更准确地分析个体教育决策行为。采用2007年在北京六所高校所做的"研究生教育态度的调查",利用预期收入、风险数据对北京高校大学生的研究生教育选择问题进行的实证研究发现,预期收入对选择研究生教育有显著影响,而风险对教育选择的影响却不尽相同:收入风险对于教育选择的影响不明显,主观风险对选择研究生教育则有负效应。此外,还发现就业率是大学生决定是否进一步接受教育的重要因素,所学专业就业率越高,选择继续接受研究生教育的愿望越小。上述研究结果暗示,政府相关部门应定期公布劳动力市场数据,便于大学毕业生对收入和就业状况形成合理预期,从而对未来的教育作出理性选择,有效发挥人力资本的作用。     

The role of parent expectations on adolescent educational aspirations

Parental expectations have long been studied as a factor in increasing adolescent educational aspirations, often linking these expectations to parental level of education and involvement in academic endeavours. This study further explores this relationship in a statewide Midwestern sample of parents and their adolescent children. Regression analysis and independent samples t‐tests were used to predict adolescent aspirations and compare groups. Results suggest that adolescent educational aspirations can to some degree be predicted by parental expectations. Parents reported high expectations for their children despite low levels of personal educational attainment. However, these high expectations were buffered by a reported unfamiliarity with college requirements and an expressed concern about college affordability and limited awareness of financial aid opportunities. Limitations and suggestions for future research and intervention are discussed.     

Context of academic achievement: lessons from Hong Kong

Vygotsky speculated that parents play an important role in the intellectual development of their children, and that this role includes the transfer of expectations related to their children's academic achievement. Consequently, different parents can produce different contexts of academic achievement for their children. The participants were 215 Primary 5 and 6 students from four primary schools in Hong Kong, and their parents. Students were administered a test of working memory and their academic achievement was indicated by their school‐assessed mathematics and language achievement scores. Parents reported their expectations of their children's academic achievement, the extent of their home and school involvement, and their educational and income levels. Correlational and sequential regression analyses showed that different schools yielded different contexts of academic achievement. The results support the hypothesis that parents, and especially parental expectations, play an important role in children's academic achievement, and that within Hong Kong different schools can be characterised by different contexts of achievement.     

Are boys that bad? Gender gaps in measured skills,grades and aspirations in Czech elementary schools

This article examines gender gaps in academic performance (grades in mathematics and reading) between boys and girls of ninth-grade elementary schools in the Czech Republic. Our analysis is based on 2003 data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, encompassing the academic performance and family background of ninth-grade pupils. Similar to research on other countries, we find that girls strongly outperform boys in grades in Czech language, but that this gender gap is not explained by measured ability in reading nor on family background or student attributes. We also find gender bias in mathematics grades, after controlling for measured ability and other factors. Girls are also substantially more likely than boys to apply to secondary grammar schools, as well as aspire to a college education, even after controlling for measured ability. We put forward a number of theoretical perspectives that shed light on the possible causes of these empirical findings.     

异地高考政策认同对随迁子女教育期望的影响机制探究

异地高考政策作为高考改革的一项重要内容,是否有助于随迁子女形成良好的教育期望?针对11个地区中8-11年级随迁子女的抽样研究表明:异地高考政策认同与其教育期望之间存在显著正相关。异地高考政策认同对随迁子女教育期望的影响及作用从微观层面来看,能够增强个体学业成绩对其教育期望各维度的正向影响;从中观层面来看,能够增强家庭社会资本对其教育期望部分维度的正向影响,能够削弱学校阶层隔离对其教育期望部分维度的负向影响;从宏观层面来看,能够削弱社会歧视知觉各维度的负向影响。因此,随迁子女异地高考政策认同对其教育期望存在着“正义补偿”“以考促学”及“城乡融合”等作用机制。如果这些随迁子女得到了社会公共政策的有效支持,有幸形成良好的教育期望,或许在阶层再生产逻辑之侧并行着社会流动的渠道。     

Closing the Achievement Gap: Examining the Role of Cognitive Developmental Level in Academic Achievement

The achievement gap in mathematics between African American and Caucasian students has been observed for several decades, though previous research has been unable to fully explain why the gap exists. Using a sample of 56 kindergarten and first grade students, this study examined the role that cognitive developmental level plays in the achievement gap. Results indicated that African American students scored significantly lower than the Caucasian students on a test of mathematical achievement. Furthermore, proportionally more African American students remained in the preoperational stage of development as compared to their same-age Caucasian peers. Finally, after controlling for cognitive developmental level, the achievement gap between the two groups became statistically indistinguishable, suggesting that cognitive developmental level mediates the relationship between ethnicity and mathematic achievement.     

Parental educational involvement conceived as the arrangement of contingency operations

This study explored the utility of a conception of parental educational involvement as the arrangement of contingency operations that normatively change: the frequency of children’s school‐related behaviour, the reinforcing potency of stimuli produced by studying, and children’s tendencies to request parental intervention. A child‐report measure of parental contingency use was developed and administered to 1520 schoolchildren (Grades Four to Six). An exploratory factor analysis revealed three internally consistent dimensions of parental practices: use of punishment and negative reinforcement contingencies; use of positive reinforcement contingencies; and non‐responsiveness to children’s requests for educational intervention. Frequencies of use of punishment/negative reinforcement contingencies and of parental non‐responsiveness were inversely correlated with use of positive reinforcement contingencies and with teacher’s reports of children’s achievement. These scales might therefore identify parents whose current educational practices are likely to be less than optimally effective, so that they might be helped to intervene more beneficially in their children’s academic affairs.     

关于黎族家庭的教育期望调查

教育期望,是对未来所接受教育的类型、层次、规格、水平及质量的预料或预想。父母对子女在教育方面有各种各样的期望。文章从学业及未来职业两个方面探讨黎族家庭对子女的期望。     

江苏省家长教育卷入调查研究

本研究采用心理量表的研究方法,对Walker,J．M．T．等人父母卷入的量表进行编译,在江苏省3市4所小学进行测量,以探讨江苏省父母教育卷入的程度因素之间的影响。结论：（1）江苏省家长的教育卷入水平总体偏高。（2）母亲比父亲在认知上拥有更多的效能感。（3）父母卷入程度与子女成绩显著相关,卷入越高,子女成绩越好。（4）家庭收入显著影响父母的角色建构与知觉。（5）江苏家长较高的认知卷入水平与实际上的卷入水平并不匹配。     

高校学生学业成就评价研讨——兼评国内外研究与实践

学业成就评价是教育评价的核心内容,科学的学业成就评价对反映教学的真实情况、提高教学质量和促进教学改革至关重要。从国外学生学业成就评价研究与实践的成果来看,我国的高校学业成就评价还存在不少现实问题,特别需要建设一个完善的学业成就评价体系,尤其是在评价工具的编制、评价方法的拓展、相关数据的分析等方面需要做出更多的努力,才能对我国当前高校的教育管理质量有所助益。     

Parental Involvement and Students' Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis

The idea that parental involvement has positive influence on students' academic achievement is so intuitively appealing that society in general, and educators in particular, have considered parental involvement an important ingredient for the remedy for many problems in education. The vast proportion of the literature in this area, however, is qualitative and nonempirical. Among the empirical studies that have investigated the issue quantitatively, there appear to be considerable inconsistencies. A meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the quantitative literature about the relationship between parental involvement and students' academic achievement. The findings reveal a small to moderate, and practically meaningful, relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement. Through moderator analysis, it was revealed that parental aspiration/expectation for children's education achievement has the strongest relationship, whereas parental home supervision has the weakest relationship, with students' academic achievement. In addition, the relationship is stronger when academic achievement is represented by a global indicator (e.g., GPA) than by a subject-specific indicator (e.g., math grade). Limitations of the study are noted, and suggestions are made for future studies.     

Parental practices and educational achievement: social class,race, and habitus

A large, nationally representative database of American elementary school students was used to quantitatively assess the complex ways in which race intersects with social class, affecting parenting strategies that in turn produce various educational outcomes among children. The determinants and consequences of parental practices associated with middle‐class families – what Lareau terms ‘concerted cultivation’ – among White and African American students were examined. The findings reveal that cultural differences in child‐rearing occur along class, race, and gender boundaries.     

A Structural Model of Educational Aspirations

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model to predict educational aspirations of Canadian adolescents. Participants were a national sample of 4,034 students from grades 8–13 (2,037 males, 1,973 females). Results of a modified structural model included three sets of influences: a) a background factor comprised of parental occupation and education; b) a family involvement factor consisting of parental personal and school-based involvement with adolescents; and c) a personal factor with school marks, school and course perceptions, extracurricular reading and parental educational expectations as indicator measures. Educational aspirations was the main outcome variable. Results indicated that the personal factor had a strong direct influence on educational aspirations ( = 1.17, p < .001, R² = .76). The effects of the background and family involvement factors on educational aspirations were mediated through the personal factor. Additional analyses performed in order to test the relationships obtained in the model, revealed several significant interactions amongst the three predictor factors and educational aspirations. The findings emphasize the importance of efforts to enhance the educational aspirations of adolescents through targeted change of modifiable environmental and personal factors.     

试论改革完善学校管理机制

随着社会公众对教育需求的快速增长,作为教育阵地的学校,在管理上要更具科学性和创新性,使学校管理形成以人的发展为本,服务、服从于人的全面健康发展。本文主要就完善学校管理机制,创新教育教学管理制度,提高教学管理质量,以适应市场的需求等做一些探讨。