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12 October
2012 Last updated at 14:21
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Parents
not schools boost exam success, study suggests
Supportive parents are key to good exam results says a new study
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A FOLHINHA 44. MAIS ABAIXO, EM JANEIRO 2012 JÁ TINHA DITO MUITO MAIS DO QUE ISTO, E SEM TER FEITO NENHUMA PESQUISA NA UNIVERSIDADE DE HARVARD NOS USA, E EM PALAVRAS COLORIDAS PARA VEREM MELHOR, E SEM TER GASTO UM DIME!
A FOLHINHA 44. MAIS ABAIXO, EM JANEIRO 2012 JÁ TINHA DITO MUITO MAIS DO QUE ISTO, E SEM TER FEITO NENHUMA PESQUISA NA UNIVERSIDADE DE HARVARD NOS USA, E EM PALAVRAS COLORIDAS PARA VEREM MELHOR, E SEM TER GASTO UM DIME!
Supportive parents do more than good schools to
boost children's exam results, a study suggests.
Parents who help with homework and attend school events can outweigh the
effect of weak schools, according to researchers in America.
The team analysed data on more than 10,000 teenagers across the US.
Co-author Dr Toby Parcel, of North Carolina Sate University, said:
"Our study shows that parents need to be aware of how important they
are."
Dr Parcel, a professor of sociology, said parents "should invest time
in their children, checking homework, attending school events and letting kids
know school is important. That's where the payoff is."
The researchers found that pupils whose families were supportive of their
education and involved in school life but attended weaker schools performed
better academically than students who attended effective schools but whose
families were disengaged.
"In other words, while both school and family involvement are
important, the role of family involvement is stronger when it comes to academic
success," explained Dr Parcel.
Random
selection
The researchers say that children gain benefits - social capital - from
both school and their family relationships. They set out to define which was
more important in boosting children's exam results, analysing data on 10,585
teenagers from 1,000 randomly selected secondary schools collated by the US
National Longitudinal Educational Study.
The data includes information on schools' achievement scores, parents'
involvement in homework and school events and students' exam results
The researchers defined the most important factors in the relationship
between parents and children as trust, good communication and active engagement
in a child's academic life.
They also defined effective schools as those with the ability to serve as a
positive environment for learning, involving students in extra-curricular
activities, strong teacher morale and the ability of teachers to address the
needs of individual students.
The researchers say their findings suggest that government social policy
should focus on improving parenting skills rather than focusing solely on
"fixing schools".
"Although investment in school social capital may be beneficial, our
results suggest that investment in family social capital would reap greater
returns."
Social
divides
As well as urging parents to become more involved in their children's
development they suggest the wider introduction of flexible working patterns.
"One possibility is expansion of supportive workplace policies, such
as flexitime, that would allow parents to attend school meetings and
participate in extra-curricular activities with their children without
adversely affecting their jobs."
The authors suggest more support for good parenting practices would help
shrink social divides. They cite previous research which has argued that middle
class and working class or poor children experienced "unequal
childhoods".
"Middle class parents use concerted cultivation, creating a full schedule
of activities for their children to encourage academic development.
"In contrast, working class and poor parents schedule far fewer
activities and instead view child development as accomplishment of natural
growth. They are less likely to actively play with their children, leaving
offspring more time to spend in free play. They also talk with their children
less."
The paper is published in the online journal Research in Social
Stratification and Mobility.
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