This book helps to explain whether or not parents are the solution to educational inequality. With some policy makers believing parental involvement is the cure, this book chooses to challenge and argue otherwise. The authors attempt to engage the readers from the beginning, by quoting an epigraph of Barrack Obama which pleasantly sets the scene as he states “responsibility of our children’s education must begin at home”. (p.1)
One of the main strengths Robinson & Harris (2014) point out throughout the book is the fact that they highlight gaps in available literature for example the authors argue that it is unclear within literatures which aspects of parental involvement actually improves achievement. Furthermore a good distinction between
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The authors have used an incredible amount of data and have displayed these all very clearly. However, a limitation to their work is that they have not explained their data enough, and sometimes have left the reader wondering if the findings of the negative outcomes really identify the effects of parental involvement? Nevertheless Robinson & Harris conclude by stating that parental involvement is beneficial if there is correct ‘stage setting’. Parents should create an environment around their children that influences them to achieving academic success. The Authors found “children’s parents who did not necessarily, physically help them at school or at home, rather had high expectations of their children’s which lead to children having no choice but to try and do well” (p.208). Even though Robinson and Harris argue that an increase in parental involvement will not improve educational inequalities, they have highlighted that parents having high expectation for their children which can lead to children doing well this is something which the reader can take with them as it gives a solution that does not require much involvement at all but still affect a child’s ability to academically
We live in a culture where success is increasingly defined by a paycheck and is seemingly as important to the parent as the child. Raising children to be “successful” is increasingly becoming an obsession for upper-middle-class-parents, who encourage certain activities and scores to provide their child with the best chances of attending elite schools. The article focuses on the inherent advantage upper-middle-class parents provide but fails to mention those who the parent’s action affects: their children.
The book Unequal Childhoods describes observations made by Annette Lareau to shed light on the significance of social class and how it affects student’s learning. Lareau presents her observations by highlighting the two dominant ways of parenting that ultimately affect how successful students become as they transition into adulthood. These styles of parenting consist of Concerted Cultivation where parents put through kids through structured activities, and Accomplishment of Natural Growth where unrestrictive freedom and directives are exercised (20-22).
Lareau, in Unequal Childhoods, focuses on socioeconomic status and how that affects outcomes in the education system and the workplace. While examining middle-class, working-class and poor families, Lareau witnessed differing logics of parenting, which could greatly determine a child’s future success. Working-class and poor families allow their children an accomplishment of natural growth, whereas middle-class parents prepare their children through concerted cultivation. The latter provides children with a sense of entitlement, as parents encourage them to negotiate and challenge those in authority. Parents almost overwhelm their children with organized activities, as we witnessed in the life of Garrett Tallinger. Due to his parents and their economic and cultural capital, Garrett was not only able to learn in an educational setting, but through differing activities, equipping him with several skills to be successful in the world. Lareau suggests these extra skills allow children to “think of themselves as special and as entitled to receive certain kinds of services from adults” (39). Adults in the school system are in favor of these skills through concerted cultivation, and Bourdieu seems to suggest that schools can often misrecognize these skills as natural talent/abilities when it’s merely cultivated through capital. This then leads to inequalities in the education system and academic attainments.
In the 1997 article, “Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle over Educational Goals” by David Labaree, Labaree describes three goals that have been at the core of educational conflicts over the years. The first goal mentioned is democratic equality, which is meant to create good citizens and enable educational access to all. The second goal is social efficiency, which creates workers and is viewed by taxpayers and employers as a goal to prepare students for market roles. Lastly is the third goal of social mobility, where individual success for attractive market roles is the main purpose. This primary goal of education has been ever fluctuating. The argument of this essay is that social mobility has now triumphed over democratic equality and social efficiency as the primary goal of education due to parents. This view of social mobility by parents is negative to due its numerous consequences, significantly the growing disparity between the wealthy and the underprivileged, and additionally, the health of children, their behavior, and the degree to which they learn educational material are all affected.
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:
Educational Researcher by Gloria Ladson-Billings looked into the ratio between education and achievement and what the gap was between them and how to fix it. According to an interview with strict economist Professor Emeritus Robert Haveman of the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Economics he makes it clear by stating that “ In order to reduce the debt or gap in one being achievement you must then close the gap of the other being education” Ladson-Billings also goes on to recognize the parallel between not only your economic status when it comes to education but how well your parents did before you among many other things including your health along with your overall well being playing a factor into your education ( Ladson-Billings, Oct 2006, P 5). Additionally the first teachers of a student are their parents whom in the home are responsible for teaching their children the basic fundamentals they must adhere to within society in order to navigate throughout life.Thus giving them many opportunities to experience cultural and life development (Wilburn, Smith & Hill-Carter, 2013, P 242). This research ties into chapter three of our book where education is discussed and one such topic that Michael’s remarks upon would be annual family incomes and how depending on what is made shows what the students of the
An obstacle I have witnessed in my school is the lack of parental involvement. Throughout this year, I believe the parents' investment in their children education has been disheartening. I can say in my own classroom, nearly one-third of student’s parents have no idea how they are doing in school academically. About one-sixth of student’s parents don’t sign daily agendas or notes that are sent home. Only about one-fifth of parents consistently attend school programs. My biggest concern is that too many parents are disengaged. Parent involvement can indeed make a difference in a child’s education. Students would perform better academically and behaviorally if their
Impoverished parents tend to live in towns with underfunded school districts. They are unable to give their children the proper resources to exceed. Those children go on to struggle to a livable wage, some of them even turning to crime to make ends meet. The government attempting to shorten the gap of children growing up in poverty and those growing up in the middle class. Bargain (2012) describes a few ways the government can make a difference for spending on children. The government can give cash to parents to spend on kids, which has been shown to be ineffective as only a small portion goes to the kids. More effectively, the government can create subsidies for children’s products, which has been shown to increase spending on children. Cascio (2013) speaks about how to close the education gap. Creating cash incentives for schools to increase test scores through programs such as No Child Left Behind has been shown to have some effect on helping bridge the educational gap. However, not enough is being spent to make a large enough
While socio-economic status encompasses a wide range of interconnected issues perhaps the greatest indicator of a child’s success at school is their parent’s school achievement. Dexter is already at a disadvantage starting school because neither of his parents progressed further than year ten. It has been demonstrated that the more education a parent holds the better their child will do in school and follow through into Tertiary education (Ewing, 2013, p. 83). In fact, a report published in The Guardian newspaper shows that a father’s education level directly impacts how successful his children will be in school. Fathers that failed to achieve in school have children who are over seven times more likely to have diminished school outcomes
Department of Education called the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS); ECLS sought to measure the academic success of a randomly selected group of American schooled kindergarten students through the fifth grade (162). From this study, Levitt and Dubner came to the conclusion good parenting “techniques” have to do more with the parents themselves and less with the parent’s actions (177). Data collected from this study suggests that the success of a child is more dependent of who the parents is than what the parent does for the child. Even though it may seem parenting is not fully in the parents control, it is actually the
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.
Firstly, the book pinpoints on the high levels of inequality associated with our Education System. Markedly, the author was inspired by the experiences that a group of ten of his students faced as they progressed through the system. Paradoxically, a look at the American Education System depicts a system with many entry points that serves the interest of every child in a balanced way.
Written eighty years ago, these same ideals of parental involvement in education ring true today and are the basis for educational goals in involving parents in their child’s education.
The purpose of attempting to improve parental involvement is because research has found parental involvement to be predictive of the students’ commitment and performance in school. “When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer, and enroll in higher level programs” (Van Rockel).
It is apparent throughout research parents have a high impact on the outcomes of adolescent emotional regulations and the behavior during adolescents (Feldman, 2011; Jabeen, Haque, & Riaz, 2013; Millings et al., 2012). Jabeen et al. (2013) states "parents play a crucial role in the social and emotional development of children" (pg.85). This part parent's play can be effected as stated above and the fluidity of parenting styles and their effects on adolescents should be observed. Through research looking at performance in school by Areepattamannil (2010), finds that supportive parenting yields higher achievement in school and is nearly as close in relationship to socioeconomic status.