Parenting Approaches, Parental Involvement, and Academic Achievement in US Elementary Schools

Previous research often leads to inconsistent findings on the relationships between parental involvement and academic achievement. This study theorizes three parenting approaches based on parental expectations, evaluations, and networks--"normative parenting," "reactive parenting," and "competitive parenting"--to examine parental involvement and its consequences on academic achievement in the American elementary school context. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K: 2010-11), the results show that compared to normative parenting, competitive parenting is significantly associated with higher levels of parental involvement, while reactive parenting is related to the lowest levels of involvement. Parental involvement does not significantly affect student achievement after controlling for parenting approaches, child, family, and school factors. Interaction analyses suggest that parental involvement may be more effective for reactive parenting. The findings provide theoretical insights into understanding the consequences of parental involvement in examining its relations with educational inequalities.