Running head: QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
Quantitative Analysis – Article
Parental Academic Involvement Across Adolescence Contextualized by
Gender and Parenting Practices
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QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
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Summary
Purpose of the study
This study was conducted to determine parental involvement in middle school children and
improve academic success as it pertains to higher education goals. The study predominately
focuses on the Hispanic population, specifically Mexican Americans, and the differential between
the maternal and paternal influences on the student’s academic life. Additionally, the researchers
looked at whether there was a correlation between maternal or paternal involvement and the
gender of the student. (Camacho-Thompson et al., 2019).
Description of Participants/Sample
The sample of this survey consisted of 720 families surveyed. The Maternal median age
was 38 years old, the Paternal median age was 40 years old and the median age of the child was 12
years old. The study was longitudinal and consisted of families that self-identified as Mexican and
had an annual income ranging from $5,000 to $95,000. The median income was between $30,001
- $35,000. According to Camacho-Thompson (2019) the participants came from 47 diverse school
communities, using random purposeful sampling.
Research Design
The study tested the bioecological and gender intensification theoretical frameworks. The
Control was the Parental educational values, level attained, generation, and the student’s GPA.
The presented hypotheses were
1. 1.) “that the effects of parental involvement would be differentially strengthened by the
parenting context (i.e., acceptance and harshness)”
2. 2.) “maternal and paternal academic involvement would uniquely predict adolescents’
academic achievement over and above the family’s educational resources” (CamachoThompson et al., 2019).
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Method of Data Collection
Screening was conducted using the following basis at schools that had at least 20 Latino
students:
3. 1.) “the target fifth grader attended a sampled school”
4. 2.) “the participating mother was a biological parent and lived with the child, and
identified as Mexican or Mexican-American”
5. 3.) “the biological father was of Mexican origin”
6. 4.) “the targeted child was not documented as having a severe learning disability that
prevented them from completing the survey”
7. 5.) “no stepfather or boyfriend of the mother lived with the child (unless the boyfriend
was the father of the child)” (Camacho-Thompson et al., 2019).
There were 1085 eligible participants evaluated, and 749 of those 1085 responded to the
first interview. 270 declined the interview, four were unable to complete the interview and an
additional 61 were told they could not participate because the required number of participants was
met. There were eight measures being researched in this survey:
8. parental academic involvement;
9. familial academic context;
10. parental educational values;
11. educational attainment;
12. generational status;
13. parenting context;
14. acceptance and
15. harsh parenting (Camacho-Thompson et al., 2019).
The interviews were conducted over one academic year. Students in 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th
grade had data collected and information regarding parental involvement was only collected during
7th grade. College preparation data was only collected during 12th grade.
Statistical Analysis
The study used descriptive and attrition analysis. Researchers indicated that there was
missing values between 7th and 12th grade so attrition analysis was conducted to correlate data
from prior assessments. ANOVA’s attributed no differences in key predictors based on the
language of the participant.
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Results
According to the research the involvement of the parents in the students’ academics was
positively correlated to higher academic success. The only exception was the correlation between
father and son, which did not have a positive impact on the student’s academic success or
preparedness. There was a correlation between the harsh treatment by parents to daughters in 7th
grade to a lower GPA in that academic year. The ANOVA indicated a difference in gender
showing father involvement to be higher among adolescent boys as opposed to girls in the
participant group.
The exact opposite happened with the maternal involvement with 7th grade boys and girls.
Maternal involvement improved GPA’s among boys compared to the decrease associated with the
father’s involvement in the same academic year. Harshness did not play a factor in academic
success or preparedness of students with association to the maternal parent. (Camacho-Thompson
et al., 2019).
Opportunities
This study could have been improved by including other ethnic or racial subgroups.
However, this would be a much larger population to control and could result in skewed results.
However, this particular study could have been conducted with Hispanic individuals of any
nationality as opposed to only Mexican origins. While the study was based on certain parental
values, further study could be conducted to determine if parental values are unique to their
generation or has been passed down from prior generations.
Threats to Validity
The missing data from 7th through 12th grade is a large threat to validity in this study. This
gives way to basically “guessing” what those students would have achieved or stated during those
formative years.
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Other Original Insight or Criticism
Journaling is a highly valuable tool in educational research and could be used for both
quantitative and qualitative studies. In this case parents and students could journal throughout the
process to see how their initial answers to the survey had changed over the academic years. This
would also reduce the self-reporting of both parents and students and could help reduce the gap of
inconsistencies between the perceptions of the participants.
Implications
The findings of this study could positively impact how the school created policies and
academic programs. Through an understanding of the perception of the parents and students and
how their homelife affects their academic success the school will be able to provide support for
both parents and students in the community.
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References
Camacho-Thompson, Gonzales, N. A., & Tein, J.-Y. (2019). Parental academic involvement
across adolescence contextualized by gender and parenting practices. School Psychology.,
34(4), 386–397. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000319