Parents, especially mothers, have been increasingly positioned as a central determinant of children's educational outcomes. Analysing articles from a Canadian parenting magazine, this study explores and compares understandings of what it means to be an involved parent in a child's education during two time periods: 1993-1995 and 2013-2015.…

"The Jessie Books" are a seven-book series complete with a dedicated website. Each book features a 5-year-old girl named Jessie who happens to live in a city with her two moms. Each book features Jessie as an ordinary young girl engaging in familiar, life-enriching activities. Across "The Jessie Books," the community of…

Research Findings: To extend findings that are mainly based on North American studies with English speakers, we studied 989 Chilean mothers from households of low socioeconomic status and their prekindergarten children, posing 2 questions: (a) Do mothers' self-reported practices about literacy development predict early literacy outcomes over and…

The child population in the United States is rapidly changing and diversifying--in large part because of immigration. Today, nearly one in four US children under the age of 18 is the child of an immigrant. While research has focused on the largest of these groups (Latinos and Asians), far less academic attention has been paid to the changing Black…

This study investigated changing patterns of child rearing in Saudi Arabia, using a sample of 62 older generation mothers and their daughters who were themselves mothers. Findings showed social and cultural changes reflected in the transition from the extended to the nuclear family and in the increase in educated mothers. (Author/LMO)

Determinants of young children's mathematics skills (home environment, socioeconomic status, and maternal cognitive test scores) were statistically analyzed. Analysis of data from subsamples of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth indicated that all three factors, but particularly home environment, had significant effects on young childrens'…

In an attempt to identify parent-child interaction patterns that might differentiate bright from below-average elementary students, 16 high achievers and 16 low achievers were paired with their mothers and then videotaped whilst engaged in 3 sets of task situations, which involved copying of Block Design models and categorization of words and…

Examined how the implementation of a family literacy program for parents in a new immigrant Hispanic community provided knowledge about specific ways to enhance children's literacy learning at home. Surveys of participating mothers indicated that involved families had richer literacy knowledge and skills, used more literacy practices, and had a…

Eight school-aged boys with learning disabilities (LD) with a discrepancy between verbal and performance IQ and with more language difficulties were less successful on a mother/child problem-solving task. Their mothers exhibited lower communication clarity in their instructions to the children than the mothers of the eight boys with LD who did not…

The relationship between maternal employment and maternal and paternal parenting styles is investigated in this study. Subjects included 117 two-parent families with elementary school children. Responses were obtained from 111 mothers and 24 fathers. The survey was conducted by a telephone interview lasting 10-15 minutes in duration. Questions…

This study, completed in two stages, was undertaken to empirically determine whether home variables make a significant difference in the learning difficulties and school performance of children in an Indian setting. Participants in Phase I were 30 second-grade children between 6 and 9 years of age who were of normal intelligence and showed…

The 116-item parent questionnaire is designed for parents of elementary school children. It is intended to be used with the child's mother, or the person acting as the child's mother. The questionnaire consists of a section devoted to demographic variables and scales measuring 14 parent variables: (1) parent's achievement aspirations for the…

Aspects of a theoretical model of the socialization of ethnic identity were tested for 45 6- to 10-year-old Mexican-American children and their mothers. As predicted, socialization indices functioned as a mediator of the influence of ethnic family background on children's ethnic identity. (SLD)

Three dimensions of parent style--autonomy support, involvement, and provision of structure--were studied using 64 mothers and 50 fathers of children in grades 3 through 6. Focus was on defining parental influences on children's school-related adjustment and performance. The three aspects of home environment were differentially associated with…

This study investigated the interrelationships among status, situational and process variables describing the child's home environment and the relationship of these variables to the child's concurrent cognitive-perceptual performance. Parent interview and child test data collected for 1212 predominantly low-income urban and rural study children (8…