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Connection Collection

Annotation from the Connection Collection

You are viewing a record from the Connection Collection, a searchable annotated bibliography database. It links you with research-based information that you can use to connect schools, families, and communities.

Title:Age-related patterns in student invitations to parental involvement in homework
Author:Walker, J. M. T., & Hoover-Dempsey, K. V.
Year:2001
Resource Type:Conference Proceedings or Presentation
Publication
Information:
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.
Connection:School-Family
Education Level:Elementary, Middle, High
Literature type:Research and Evaluation

Annotation:
This study examined ways that students invite their parents to be involved in homework. Categorizing these invitations as affective or cognitive, the researchers found some interesting associations. Affective invitations include greater valuing of parental help and frequent explicit help-seeking. Cognitive invitations include lower levels of homework performance and more difficulty with day-to-day homework. Findings indicated that across grades, students' affective invitations were at similar levels while cognitive invitations became more frequent. For older students, affective invitations appeared to invite parent involvement, but cognitive invitations did not. Levels of parent participation dropped markedly over the grade levels studied. This cross-sectional study explored 5th, 8th, and 11th gradersÕ self-reported invitations to parental involvement in homework through use of a questionnaire. Achievement was assessed by year-end report cards. Authors suggest that older students may not be receiving the parental help with homework that they desire, and younger students are getting help without asking. Despite an overall decline in homework involvement by parents across grade levels, an active homework relationship persisted and appeared to be a result of affective elements. The study did not examine specific parent-child homework practices, and the sample came from a relatively homogeneous population in a rural setting.

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