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. 2021 Sep;49(7):2679-2703.
doi: 10.1002/jcop.22644. Epub 2021 Jul 4.

Parent and teacher educational expectations and adolescents' academic performance: Mechanisms of influence

Aprile D Benner  1 , Celeste C Fernandez  1 , Yang Hou  2 , Chelsea Smith Gonzalez  1
Affiliations

Parent and teacher educational expectations and adolescents' academic performance: Mechanisms of influence

Aprile D Benner et al. J Community Psychol. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

The current study investigated how parents' and teachers' educational expectations both directly and indirectly shaped young people's academic outcomes in a nationally-representative sample of high school students (Education Longitudinal Study; N = 9654 adolescents). Higher parent and math teacher expectations in 10th grade were associated with better 12th grade math scores and higher grade point averages, math course-taking sequence, and educational attainment two years post-high school. High parent expectations generally magnified the particularly strong positive effects of high math teacher expectations, and there was some evidence of variation in links between adult expectations and outcomes by both student race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Parents' educational involvement at school, teacher-student relationships, and school-parent communication mediated the links between adult educational expectations and academic outcomes.

Keywords: academic achievement; parent educational expectations; parental involvement; teacher educational expectations; teacher-student relationships.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Conceptual model linking adult expectations, family/school processes, home-school connections, self-concept, and academic outcomes.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Interaction effects between teacher and parent educational expectations on adolescent academic outcomes for math achievement test scores, math course-taking sequence, cumulative high school grade point average, and educational attainment. Note. Parent expectations are presented for the range of actual values (−4 to 2); teacher expectations are presented for +/−1 SD beyond the mean. Both variables were grand-mean centered. N = 9,654.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Interaction effects between teacher and parent educational expectations on math course-taking sequence by race/ethnicity. Note. Parent expectations are presented for the range of actual values (−4 to 2); teacher expectations are presented for +/−1 SD beyond the mean. Both variables were grand-mean centered. Interactions were significant for Asian American and White students.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Interaction effects between teacher and parent educational expectations on math course-taking sequence and GPA by SES. Note. Parent expectations are presented for the range of actual values (−4 to 2); teacher expectations are presented for +/−1 SD beyond the mean. Both variables were grand-mean centered. Interactions for math course-taking sequence were significant for high SES students. Interactions for GPA were significant for low SES students.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Standardized coefficients for the path model linking adult expectations, interpersonal processes, and academic outcomes. Note. Model fit: χ2 (253) = 3,114.27, p < .001; CFI = .89; RMSEA = .034 [CI: .033 - .035]. N = 9,654. Only significant paths are shown. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
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References

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