The Broken Compass: Parental Involvement with Children's Education

by Keith Robinson, Angel L. Harris

Overview

It seems like common sense: children do better when parents are involved in their schooling. But does the evidence stack up? The Broken Compass puts this question to the test across socioeconomic groups, and the surprising finding is that no clear connection exists between parental involvement and improved student performance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674725102
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	01/06/2014
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 11.90(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Keith Robinson is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Angel L. Harris is Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies at Duke University.

Table of Contents

1 The Role of Parental Involvement in Children's Schooling 1

2 Parental Involvement and Social Class 26

3 Implications of Parental Involvement at Home by Social Class 44

4 Implications of Parental Involvement at School by Social Class 62

5 Academic Orientation among Parents at Home by Race 85

6 Effectiveness of Parental Involvement at Home by Race 114

7 Parental Involvement at School by Race 129

8 Implications of Parental Involvement at School by Race 153

9 Parenting and Poor Achievement 179

10 Setting the Stage for Academic Success 199

11 Conclusion 220

Appendix A Sources of Data 235

Appendix B Methodology 241

Appendix C Descriptive Tables 257

Appendix D Guide of "Effects" by Race 271

Notes 273

References 279

Acknowledgments 305

Index 307

Editorial Reviews

This book is provocative, empirically powerful, and challenges one of the most deeply believed (but generally unsupported) tenets about schooling and student outcomes—the critical importance of 'parental involvement.'

— William A. Darity, Jr., Duke University

In the largest-ever study of how parental involvement affects academic achievement, Keith Robinson, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Angel L. Harris, a sociology professor at Duke, mostly found that it doesn’t. The researchers combed through nearly three decades’ worth of longitudinal surveys of American parents and tracked 63 different measures of parental participation in kids’ academic lives, from helping them with homework, to talking with them about college plans, to volunteering at their schools. In an attempt to show whether the kids of more-involved parents improved over time, the researchers indexed these measures to children’s academic performance, including test scores in reading and math. What they found surprised them. Most measurable forms of parental involvement seem to yield few academic dividends for kids, or even to backfire—regardless of a parent’s race, class, or level of education…They did find a handful of habits that make a difference, such as reading aloud to young kids (fewer than half of whom are read to daily) and talking with teenagers about college plans. But these interventions don’t take place at school or in the presence of teachers, where policy makers exert the most influence—they take place at home.
— Dana Goldstein The Atlantic

From the Publisher

In the largest-ever study of how parental involvement affects academic achievement, Keith Robinson, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Angel L. Harris, a sociology professor at Duke, mostly found that it doesn’t. The researchers combed through nearly three decades’ worth of longitudinal surveys of American parents and tracked 63 different measures of parental participation in kids’ academic lives, from helping them with homework, to talking with them about college plans, to volunteering at their schools. In an attempt to show whether the kids of more-involved parents improved over time, the researchers indexed these measures to children’s academic performance, including test scores in reading and math. What they found surprised them. Most measurable forms of parental involvement seem to yield few academic dividends for kids, or even to backfire—regardless of a parent’s race, class, or level of education…They did find a handful of habits that make a difference, such as reading aloud to young kids (fewer than half of whom are read to daily) and talking with teenagers about college plans. But these interventions don’t take place at school or in the presence of teachers, where policy makers exert the most influence—they take place at home.

The Atlantic - Dana Goldstein

This book is provocative, empirically powerful, and challenges one of the most deeply believed (but generally unsupported) tenets about schooling and student outcomes—the critical importance of 'parental involvement.'

William A. Darity