GENERAL RESEARCH ON PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

RESEARCH FINDINGS TO DATE

(This is copied word for word from an ERIC Digest of research on parent involvement in schooling during middle childhood. Click here if you want to read the whole article. It is not required but it won't hurt you, and it is only a few pages long.)

Years of practice wisdom, theory, and related areas of research (i.e., the importance of the home literacy environment, parental stimulation of children's language development, security of the parent-child attachment relationship, and parent involvement in preschool and early intervention programs) strongly suggest that parents' involvement in their children's formal schooling is vital for their academic success, even though the research evidence is less than conclusive. While methodological limitations are prevalent in the majority of parent involvement research (described below), the sound studies that do exist have consistently found strong parent involvement effects. Moreover, the cumulative knowledge from existing studies suggests the importance of several other specific types of parent involvement, including the following:

provision of a stimulating literacy and material environment high expectations and moderate levels of parental support and supervision appropriate monitoring of television viewing and homework completion participation in joint learning activities at home an emphasis on effort over ability autonomy-promoting parenting practices

There is mounting evidence that each of these parent involvement variables facilitates children's academic achievement.  

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