Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School

TLDR

The study examined how parent involvement influences children’s academic and social development trajectories across first, third, and fifth grades using data from the NICHD Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development. Hierarchical linear modeling assessed within- and between-child associations between maternal and teacher reports of parent involvement and children’s standardized achievement scores, social skills, and problem behaviors. Higher parent involvement was associated with reduced problem behaviors and improved social skills, both within and between children, but did not affect achievement scores.

Abstract

Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development ( N = 1,364) were used to investigate children’s trajectories of academic and social development across 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine within‐ and between‐child associations among maternal and teacher reports of parent involvement and children’s standardized achievement scores, social skills, and problem behaviors. Findings suggest that within‐child improvements in parent involvement predict declines in problem behaviors and improvements in social skills but do not predict changes in achievement. Between‐child analyses demonstrated that children with highly involved parents had enhanced social functioning and fewer behavior problems. Similar patterns of findings emerged for teacher and parent reports of parent involvement. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.