Quality of Parental Homework Involvement: Predictors and Consequences

• In Event: Issues of Parental Involvement in an International Context

Abstract

This paper examines predictors and consequences of the quality of parental homework involvement using data from a sample of 5043 fifth and eighth graders. Parental homework involvement quality was conceptualized as a multidimensional construct and measured by four dimensions: parental control, parental support, parental structure, and parent–child conflict about homework. Low-achieving students and students low in academic effort reported more parental control and higher levels of conflict about homework. High parental homework control and high conflict were in turn associated with lower academic achievement one year later, indicating a vicious circle of negative homework practices and outcomes. The opposite pattern held for positive forms of parental involvement. Little empirical support was found that parental homework involvement depends on family background.

Authors

• Hanna Dumont, University of Potsdam

• Ulrich Trautwein, Universitat Tubingen

• Gabriel Nagy, Tuebingen University