Transcription
From day one, parents are told parental involvement is the key to their child's academic success. But is there a point where being involved is more of a hindrance than help?
This is interesting. A study from Duke University and the University of Texas details the best ways to help your child thrive in school. Helping with homework has always been considered a bonus for kids. Well, now a new study finds those advantages start fading in middle school. Curriculum has changed since, definitely since I, you know, learned math.
Researchers looked at data from kids from the time they were in the first grade through the twelfth. They also tracked 63 measures of parental involvement, such as helping with homework, talking about college, and meeting with teachers. Roughly 15% of the time, President Obama was associated with increases in achievement. In about 30% of times, 35% of times, associated with decreases in achievement. 50% of the time, it made no difference.
The researchers also found, across all racial groups, helping with homework was found to lower achievement in reading and math. So what does help? Having expectations of your child to have education beyond high school seems to be associated with achievement across the board. Professor Harris and his colleagues also found that reading out loud to young children makes a difference, as did talking to older students about their college plans. Also, talking about the importance of school is associated with increases in math and reading.
"They just kind of encouraged us to get better and that won't get there."
The study also found that parents can improve their kids' academic performances by as much as eight points on a reading or math test by placing them in a classroom of a teacher with a good reputation. One example for which race did seem to matter: white parents are at least twice as likely as black or Latino parents to request a specific teacher. But really interesting that more than helping with trying to help directly with the homework, you're better off just trying to reinforce how important it is succeed in school, setting the expectation.
Interesting. Yeah, I'll writing all this down. Yeah, right. Boy, here coming out in next month.