A Stable Home Background With Parents Essay

Parents in the lower and working social class tend to believe that they can never be too involved in their children’s education. (Pew) This provides an interesting contrast because based off of another survey parents in this class are the least likely to read out loud to their children. This is likely a matter of time management. Parents in this class are often working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. These children spend a majority of their childhood in the care of extended family, seeing as most of these families live in poor neighborhoods and childcare is not readily available or affordable. But these parents still feel that their kids should be doing well in school, education is an important part of being able to get better jobs, and if the parents want their children to be able to socially move up in the society than they will be more likely to want to be involved in their children’s education. Based on a survey conducted it was also found that parents of this social class

Many parents have multiple children, while working a nine to five job, attending family activities and meetings, and staying on top of bills and home duties. Family life can get hectic and parents may not take the time to realize their importance in their children’s academics. Some parents may be too busy, and others may simply not care, but their involvement in their children’s life is essential. Whether parents or children realize it, involvement of parents in children’s lives positively affects their child’s academic success at all grade levels, including elementary, high school, and even college.

While both styles of parenting have their benefits and weaknesses, the educational system of the United States is built predominantly on middle class values and Concerted Cultivation. Consequently, this may negatively affect how children who aren’t familiar with this upbringing navigate their already complex academic and home lives. This imbalance within the student population can put some students farther ahead and at the same time neglect students who don’t have the resources they need to keep up with their peers. Lareau refers to this as “transmission of differential advantages to children”. She states the benefits the advantages that middle-class homes typically offer:

Collective research focusing on family-school partnerships provide an extensive examination of parent involvement. Smith et al., (2011) referred to parent involvement as school, family, and community partnerships for the purpose of shared expectations, responsibilities, interests, and correlating influences of family, school, and community. Epstein’s (2008) framework of parent involvement approached parent involvement typologies from an institutional perspective; the framework for this literature review was conducted with a parental perspective that may positively affect academic achievement among students in 6th – 12th grades attending high poverty, rural schools. An explanation of Epstein’s six categories of parent involvement follows:

How does parent involvement affect children’s academic success in low socioeconomic areas? Does socioeconomic status and parental involvement play a major role in the academic success of teens? Many reasons can contribute to the low level of success of some teens. The thrilling memoir, The Other Wes Moore, provides readers with two scenarios, one resulting in success, and one resulting in failure. Teen’s who are raised in low socioeconomic areas, and who have a minimal level of parental involvement, tend to perform poorly in academic settings.

The authors raise the importance of using scientific methods of inquiry in non-scientific fields in drawing valid conclusions. This is exemplified by the negligible influence that actions taken by parents have on children's' academic outcomes. Utilizing data from the U.S. Department of Education, the authors examined the correlative relationship between a child's academic success and a plethora of variables related to the child's life; race and economic status of the parents, birth weight, and hours of television watched, to name a few. The authors concluded that the variables most directly correlated with academic success were what the parents were, such as how intelligent they were, and less what the parents did, like reading to children. This conflicts with what normative reasoning would argue: of course parenting should affect a child's outcome. However, the authors used regression analysis, which artificially holds constant every variable except the two they wished to focus on, and it displayed a different story. This illustrates the difference between the analyzing the world as it is and analyzing it with previously held notions of how it should

It is not hard to understand then how disadvantaged children may not aspire to complete school or attend University due to the unfamiliarity of the concept and lower family expectations. Economic disparity plays a large role in school outcomes wherein greater affluence can provide families with a wider range of education choices and activities to enhance curriculum understandings. In the scenario it is noted that Dexter’s parents want him to do well in school however they are constrained by economic realities. Poor families have less choice in their lifestyle and education selections which can impact on outcomes. Decreased access to resources such as books, educational materials, high quality early education and learning opportunities diminish their ability to start school on an equal footing with more affluent children. As well the poorest families struggle to find good schooling opportunities and have to accept what is offered to them (Ewing, 2013, p. 84). These factors are not so easily addressed at the school level and will require serious changes at the State and Federal levels to negate the influence of

The book Unequal Childhoods explains a study conducted to prove the significance of social class. Annette Lareau presents the study highlighting two primary ways of parenting that ultimately affect how successful the child becomes as they transition into adulthood. These styles of parenting include Concerted Cultivation which is where parents put through kids through structured activities, and Accomplishment of Natural Growth which is emphasized through freedom and directives. While both styles of parenting have their benefits and their weaknesses, the educational system of the United States is built predominantly on Concerted Cultivation and middle class values, which in turn may negatively affect how children prepare for their transitions into adulthood. This imbalance in education can put students farther ahead and at the same time neglect children who don’t have the resources they need to keep up with the other students. There are a multitude of variables involved with helping students reach their full potential and become successful. Some of the big factors to a student’s success include the student 's socioeconomic background, how they “fit” into the educational system, how strong their relationships are with other people, and their ability to access resources. Creating an education that can accommodate students from all different backgrounds will empower students to reach their full potential.

In a family, it is the relations between children and parents as well as siblings. A child’s success depends on both the physical presence of adults and attention given to the child by adults. The High School and Beyond sample shows that students who have two parents, one sibling, and a mother who expects college education have the lowest percentage of dropping out of school at 8.1%. On the other hand, students who have one parent, four siblings, and no college expectation have a whopping 30.6% of dropping out. This is caused by the absence of the single-parent as he or she is most likely working. In addition, having more siblings means that the parent’s attention is split and each child receive less consideration. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the second category has a higher dropout rate because they have less social capital.

Parent involvement in schools is positive to the extent that the child is encouraged and getting help on their homework when they need it. If the child is neglected the influence that they need from their parents, they would think that there would be no use to study and get good grades. The letter from a ”Concerned Mother” and the article, ”In Defense of Helicopter Parents” by Lisa Belkin from the New York Times, show evidence of parent influence being beneficial to a child. The influence of parents will help encourage their children to not give up, causing their determination to grow. Parent involvement from an early age will affect how they grow up academically.

Education and schooling in the United States is an interesting concept. I have always suspected that there are disparities between the quality of education a student receives, and the outside influences that act upon the student in both positive and negative ways. I was fortunate enough during my academic career that I had parents and a social situation that allowed some of the best opportunities for a good education. In the course of events I was afforded the opportunity to attend a private school, get money for a college education via the Army, and always had parents that were involved with my education, ensuring that I meet their expectations. As I look at the education system as a whole in our country, a commonality is seen the socioeconomic (SES) status of a student and the quality of education they receive. I saw this in my own perspective knowing that by attending a private school, I was being offered an education that other peers might not have. However, I also believe that a person’s individual drive and family involvement play a vital role in the education system as well. I know many students that attended the same school as I did, but without a good family structure or involvement, that failed academically in school. On the other side of the spectrum, I also know students that came from disadvantaged schools but had a good amount of family involvement and personal accountability in their own academic careers. These students succeeded, where many of

Hello everyone! Welcome to our first meeting for the production of “A Solid Home”. I am very excited about what we can create together and I want us to be able to get started right away. For this production, our guiding concept is going to be “Death can be livelier than life.”

In the article entitled “A Generation Struggling: Rich Kids are Losing” Dr. Brian Carr explains that parents are a big factor in their child’s education. First, Carr shows that both rich kids and poor kids have problems such as troubles with drugs, alcohol, and anxiety. The writer expresses that the kids who are already looking for colleges may have troubles with teen-like things, and these kids’ parents may steal or act delinquent. In addition, he points out that kids who lack parental guidance or get stressed out easily usually have problems in their behavior. Moreover, he emphasizes that parents who expect good grades are often blocking the advance of their son or daughter. This causes parents to get

A New Wave of Evidence was a study performed by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. It synthesized a decade's worth of studies on parental support. The common thread throughout all of the studies was that parental involvement in a child's early life led to higher grades, higher attendance, and more adaptive behaviors by the supportive parents children. This report only echoes a previously stated notion. Parental support will have a positive effect on a child's life. While in most cases this true, too much parental support can be detrimental to a child's activities. Altogether, a child who has been supported by their children will likely have higher grades in school and show higher levels of

More recently, the United States Department of Education, by submitting the 1996 proposal for National Education Goals, addressed the issue of parental involvement. The official U.S. government stood by the research of three decades that “parental participation in schooling improves student learning,” (U.S. Department of Education). Based on government research, family involvement programs don’t always need additional money to be successful, but leaders should stretch their own creativity to expand the programs that encourage community and family support. Parental involvement is found to be beneficial through high school, not stopping after elementary school, and parents that evolve as leaders should be encouraged to continue their role in their child’s education. The most successful parent leaders are found to play four roles in their child’s education: those roles are teacher, supporter, advocate and decision maker. The teacher-role supplements the child’s education at home, the supporter contributes his/her skills to the school, the advocate helps children receive fair treatment at home, and the decision maker participates in joint problem-solving with