Correlations between Parental Involvement in Education and School-Age Children’s Academic Achievement: Increasing or Diminishing Returns over Time?

Abstract

In light of the “double reduction” policy, the question of whether increased parental involvement in education is beneficial or detrimental constitutes a scientific issue that needs to be urgently addressed within the framework of evidence-based education. This longitudinal study investigated how various dimensions of parental involvement in education correlates to school-age children’s academic achievement while examining the moderating effect of family socioeconomic status (SES). As observed, three dimensions of parental involvement in education had respective predictive effects on school-age children’s academic achievement: (1) Personal involvement positively predicted academic achievement, with stronger involvement leading to improved outcomes; (2) cognitive involvement demonstrated an inverted U-shaped correlation with academic achievement, indicating diminishing returns when the involvement was excessive; (3) behavioral involvement exhibited an insignificant predictive effect on academic achievement. Moreover, the personal involvement of lower SES parents showed a strong predictive effect, proving the specificity of the moderating effect of family SES. The findings shed light on policy making, enhancing effective parental involvement in education, and promoting high-quality family education development.

Keywords

parental involvement in education / academic achievement / family socioeconomic status (SES) / school-age children

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2024 Higher Education Press