Is Parental Help With Homework Harmful? Reexamining National Data With Heterogeneous Effects Models

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Parent Involvement in Academic and Social-Behavioral Functioning in Elementary School Settings

Abstract

Conventional wisdom suggests that parents have a positive influence on student learning when they help with homework. However, recent studies using national datasets have shown a negative relationship between parental homework help and student achievement. This study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (1998-99) to examine heterogeneous effects of intensive parental homework help on student achievement by the predicted likelihood a child receives intensive parental help with homework. Results indicate that students of low-income minority backgrounds are most likely to receive intensive parental help with homework and that students who are most likely to receive such support benefit most from it. One implication is that schools may seek to advise parents on effective ways of providing homework help.

Authors

• Daniel Hamlin, University of Oklahoma

• Angran Li, University of Connecticut - Storrs