Are you activity involved in your child's education? These obligations are drilled into American values.
In the largest study ever conducted by University of Texas at Austin, researchers found that parental involvement does NOT affect academic achievement.
They measured such activities as volunteering in school, helping with homework, and talking to them about colleges. Some of these even backfire! Once your child enters middle school, research indicates that reviewing your child's homework every night can actually bring down test scores. This could be caused by the fact that many parents have forgotten or never truly understood the material children learn in school.
Other essentially useless interventions: observing a child's class, helping a teenager choose a high school class, and especially disciplinary measures such as punishing for bad grades or having strict rules about when and how to get homework done. This kind of meddling could leave kids more anxious than enthusiastic about school.
Some habits do make a difference. Habits such as reading aloud to young kids and talking about college plans and these often take place at home!
Conventional wisdom holds that poor children do badly in school because their parents don't care about their education. The opposite is true! The majority of parents talk to their kids about the importance of education and the hopes they will go to college. Asian parents are not more involved than Hispanic parents.
So why are some parents more effective at instilling achievement values? Some believe greater financial and education resources in the neighborhood and social settings. These kids meet adults with interesting careers. Upper-middle class kids are around family and friends who are doctors, lawyers, engineers who talk about their college days. Asian parents are unique that they are able to convey the value of education in an effective manner.
One proven way to improve test scores is to get your child placed in a classroom of a teacher with a great reputation. So don't worry about not baking for the bake sale or volunteering. Being a pesky parent by getting new text books or a new playground for your child's school may not raise your kid's test scores but it will school a more positive place and possibly create good citizens!
For the complete article, see "The Atlantic" April 2014 magazine.
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