Penn State College of Education researchers found no correlation between parental help with homework and kids' academic achievement in elementary school.
According to Katerina Bodovski, professor of education, there is no correlation between parental help with homework and children's achievement.
The paper "Parental Help With Homework in Elementary School: Much Ado About Nothing?" was published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education. There was no significant correlation between parental help with homework and student achievement. The association between parental help with homework and achievement was the same for both parents and children.
Ruxandra Apostolescu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Education Policy Studies.
According to Bodovski, parental help with homework has been seen as an effective way to help children succeed in school. Homework is an opportunity for children to learn and for families to be involved in their children's education according to the U.S. Department of Education.
A number of studies have shown a negative impact of parental help with homework on children's achievement. The negative relationship is caused by the fact that parents tend to help struggling children and that their efforts were not enough to overcome the students' deficiencies.
More sophisticated fixed effects statistical models were used to take previous research to a new level. The paper states that the study made two main contributions to the literature of parental involvement in children's education.
The researchers used more sophisticated models to find no effect of parental help with homework on elementary students' math and reading achievement
The potential benefits of parental help with homework may be offset by cognitive loss, adverse effects on home emotional climate and deferred responsibility according to a research paper.
Since one can't assume that parents have a background in education and/or developmental psychology, or that they are familiar with the American educational system, they may not have the skills to care for a child. They might simply offer the correct answer, which negates the benefits of practicing problem-solving.
She said that if the purpose of homework is for the child to practice some skills or knowledge they learned in school, that is lost if the parent is doing the work.
Stress in a family's life may be increased by parents being involved with their children's homework. She cited literature by researchers such as Jessica Calarco, an associate professor of sociology at Indiana University, that suggested that parents may apply more pressure to their children's homework than necessary, or that they may allow behavior that wouldn't be accepted in a classroom. It could cause conflict between the parents and the child.
According to the researchers, parental help with homework may contribute to a sense of deferred responsibility among children.
The children don't get to experience struggle. Elementary school is about the growth in the knowledge but also in the skills of the child.
Parents can help shape their children's academic achievement by setting the stage for success, even though there is no evidence that parental help with homework works. She said that studies have shown that parental practices such as conveying high expectations and discussing school-related matters with their children can be beneficial.
The type of parental involvement that the study addresses is different from parents helping their children while engaged in remote learning.
She said that COVID made parents more involved in school. That is not the same as parental help with homework when their child goes to school.
More information: Katerina Bodovski et al, Parental Help With Homework in Elementary School: Much Ado About Nothing?, Journal of Research in Childhood Education (2022). DOI: 10.1080/02568543.2022.2027830
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