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1、外文文献Assets, parental expectations and involvement, and childrens educational performanceAbstractThis study examines the relationships between parental assets with their expectations and involvement of childrens education, and childrens educational performance measured 2 years later. Through the anal
2、ysis of the motherchild data set of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), results indicate that after controlling for family income and other parent characteristics, parental assets were positively related to childrens math and reading scores. Parental assets were also positively assoc
3、iated with their expectations and involvement of school activities. Furthermore, parent expectations partially mediated the relationship between assets and childrens educational performance. These findings imply that in order to improve childrens education, how to enhance parental assets warrants th
4、e consideration of public policy.Keywords: Assets; Childrens educational performance; Parent expectations; Parental involvement1. IntroductionEducational achievement is one of the most important predictors that may contribute to childrens future economic well-being . As such, in the last several dec
5、ades, studies have examined the possible impact of parental characteristics, such as family income and parental education, on childrens educational outcomes (e.g., Axinn, Duncan, & Thornton, 1997; Duncan, Brooks, Yeung, & Smith, 1998; Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994).This research, however, ha
6、s not paid adequate attention to the impact of parental assets on childrens education. For example, most studies on childrens well-being have used income as the only measure of parental economic resources. Within the small but now emerging area of wealth studies, income and assets are treated as two
7、 connected but distinct concepts (Oliver & Shapiro, 1995; Sherraden, 1991; Wolff, 1995). Empirical evidence is also generally supportive of the hypothesis that assets holding has independent effects (Page-Adams & Sherraden, 1997; Scanlon & Page-Adams, 2001). In addition, there are important distinct
8、ions between income and wealth when considering basic empirical patterns. For example, wealth inequality is generally more skewed than income inequality (Wolff, 2000). Given these considerations, it is important to examine the impact of parental assets as an independent indicator of household econom
9、ic status.Furthermore, theoretical perspectives have suggested that one of the important features of parental assets is that it may possibly first help enhance positive parental attitudes and behaviors, then leading, in turn, to positive intergenerational outcomes (Sherraden, 1991; Shobe & Page-Adam
10、s, 2001). Thus, in addition to investigating the direct effects of parental assets, it is also necessary to examine how parental assets affect childrens schooling through parent attitudes and parenting practices.To address these issues, this study aims to investigate the following two major research
11、 questions. First, what is the relationship between parent assets and childrens educational performance, after controlling for income and other parental characteristics? Second, do parental expectations and involvement mediate the associations between parental assets and childrens education?2. Backg
12、round: theory and past research2.1. TheoryA large body of work from an economic deprivation perspective suggests the importance of family economic resources in childrens well-being (Becker, 1991, 1993; Becker & Tomes, 1986). Within this perspective, some scholars make a distinction between income an
13、d assets in terms of economic resources. For example, Sherraden (1991) highlights the importance of assets as more than a flow of income for current or deferred consumption. Assets are important because they can bring economic security, especially in times of hardship or economic stress. Perhapsmore
14、 important, assets may provide a stake and position in the society, change the way people think, and expand the array of available opportunities (Oliver & Shapiro, 1995; Sherraden, 1991).Based on these arguments, assets may directly and indirectly enhance the welfare of offspring, which serves as a
15、theoretical framework for this study. First of all, assets can provide economic security and also are an important cushion during economic crisis, thus possibly reducing negative effects of unanticipated income losses on children. Second, assets accumulation may help improve positive attitudes and b
16、ehaviors, enhance future orientation, and help people make specific plans with regard to work and family (DiPasquale & Glaeser 1999; Rossi & Weber, 1996; Yadama & Sherraden, 1996). For example, Yadama and Sherraden found that savings and house values had positive links with attitudes and behaviors,
17、such as prudence, efficacy, horizons, and connectedness. These attitude changes then may lead to other positive social, economic, and intergenerational outcomes (Scanlon 2001; Shobe & Page-Adams, 2001). Shobe and Page-Adams (2001) highlighted the independent and mediating role of future orientation.
18、 They suggested that assets might help people first shape hopes and plans, which in turn led to positive social and economic outcomes. According to this view, parents with assets may perceive a brighter future for their children than those who do not hold any assets. This may positively affect paren
19、ting behaviors and investment and thus affect childrens educational attainment.2.2. Assets and childrens educationIn the last decade, as more attention has been given to wealth as an aspect of household economic status, some empirical studies have examined the impact of household wealth on childrens
20、 education. These studies have focused on investigating direct effects of parental assets on childrens well-being. For example, Mayer (1997) found that investment income and inherited income explained more variance in childrens educational test scores and achievement than did total family income. St
21、udies also reported that children were more likely to graduate from high school if they lived in households where parents were homeowners (Aaronson, 2000;Green & White, 1997; Kane, 1994).Several recent studies have examined possible independent and distinct effects of assets from income on childrens
22、 education. For example, Conley (2001) indicated that parental net worth had a strong effect on the postsecondary schooling of childrennet of income and other measures of socioeconomic background. Williams (2004) found that, controlling for many other factors, parental wealth (net worth, account own
23、ership and stock/IRA ownership) was positively associated with educational achievement of children. Williams also found that the effects occurred even among very income-poor families. Similarly, Zhan and Sherraden (2003) found that low-income single mothers assets (home ownership and savings) were p
24、ositively associated with childrens educational attainment. Furthermore, this study found that income was associated with educational achievement when assets were not in the model; however, the relationship between income and childrens education disappeared when assets were included.2.3. Parental ex
25、pectations and childrens educationParents with higher expectations for their children are more likely to set higher standards for heir childrens schooling and social functioning than parents with lower expectations. They are also more likely to transmit the values of doing well in school and of gett
26、ing along well with eachers and peers. Consequently, as conceptualized in some literature (Reynolds & Lee, 1991;Reynolds & Walberg, 1992), parent expectations may be viewed as a dimension of the home environment that directly as well as indirectly influences childrens behaviors and achievement.Empir
27、ical literature provides consistent support for the positive relationship between parent expectations or aspirations toward their children and their childrens educational achievement ( Axinn et al., 1997; Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995; Hanson, McLanahan, & Thomson, 1997;Reynolds & Gill, 1994; Smith, Be
28、aulieu, & Seraphine, 1995). For example, the study by Smith et al. (1995) found that parental expectation of their childrens college attendance was a strong and positive predictor of actual subsequent college attendance of their children across urban, suburban, towns, and rural areas. Furstenberg an
29、d Hughes (1995) found similar results among African-American teenage mothers and their children.In most of these studies, parent expectations and aspirations are viewed as independent traits. The influence of parental assets on their expectations and the mediating effects of expectations on the link
30、 between parent resources (especially parental assets) and childrens well-being have rarely been examined.2.4. Parental involvement and childrens educationStudies have suggested that parental involvement of childrens activities may signal the route through which a parents skills and motivations are
31、transferred to children and should be positively associated with childrens cognitive and other development (Becker, 1993; Hill & ONeill, 1994).Findings from empirical studies, however, are not consistent. Recent studies indicate that while overall it appears that parent involvement in school was ass
32、ociated with academic outcomes, parent involvement in the home was not (Barnard, 2004; also see a recent meta-analysis by Fan &Chen, 2001). The different operational definitions of parental involvement in these studies may partially contribute to the inconsistent findings (Fan & Chen, 2001).Several
33、studies have also noted the differential effects of parental expectations and parenting behaviors on childrens education. They indicated that parental expectations and attitudes, rather than specific behaviors such as involvement in school activities, better explained childrens academic outcomes (Fa
34、n & Chen, 2001; Reynolds & Gill, 1994).2.5. This studyUsing a nationally representative sample, this study examines how parental assets of a group of children affect parent expectations and involvement at school and at home, and childrens academic achievement measured 2 years later. Through longitud
35、inal data analyses, this study will contribute to the literature by specifying the relationship between parental assets and childrens academic outcomes, and by investigating possible mediating effects of parental expectations and involvement on the relationships between parental assets and other par
36、ental characteristics with childrens educational performance.3. Data and methods3.1. SampleData were extracted from the motherchild data set of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79). In 1979, 12,686 individuals between 14 and 22 years of age, including an oversample of minority and econ
37、omically disadvantaged white youth, comprised of the original NLSY. From 1979 through 1994, respondents were interviewed annually and interviewed biennially thereafter. In 1986 and every 2 years afterwards, a number of assessments were administered to the original female participants and to their bi
38、ological children. By 2000, 11,205 children were born to the 6283 NLSY female respondents (Center for Human Resources Research, 2001).The study sample included children who were between the ages of 5 and 12 years in 1998 and resided with their mother in survey years 1998 and 2000. Data related to pa
39、rental assets, expectations and involvement, and other parent characteristics are from survey year 1998, and data on childrens academic performance are from year 2000 when these children were between 7 and 14 years old. To meet the assumption of statistical independence, one child was randomly selec
40、ted from families who had more than one children who met the selection criteria. After listwise deletion of cases with missing data, the final sample included 1370 children.3.2. Measures3.2.1. Parental assetsThe independent variable, parental assets, was measured as the values of net worth in 1998.N
41、et worth was calculated by subtracting total value of debts (debts of home, business, credit cardand others) from total values of assets (assets of home, business, bank accounts, real estate, stocks , and all other assets). Because the distribution of this variable was quite skewed, the natural log
42、of this measure plus a constant was used in regression models.3.2.2. Parental expectations and involvementOne possible mediating variable, parental expectations, was measured by the mothers response to the question, “Looking ahead, how far do you think (your child) will go in school?” Measurements r
43、anged from one “Leave high school before graduation”, to five, “Take further training after college”. Because the distribution of this variable approached normality with a slight negative skewness (-0.58), it was treated as a continuous variable in the analyses.Another possible mediating factor, par
44、ental involvement, was measured with two variables, parent involvement of school activities and parent supervision of childrens homework at home. Parent involvement of school activities was measured by asking children that in the first half of the school year, how many times that either of their par
45、ents attended school meeting, spoke to teacher and counselors, attended school events, and volunteered at school. Responses for these questions ranged from 0=Never to 4=Once a week or more. A composite variable was created by adding these items together (scores ranged from 0 to 16, =0.66). Because t
46、he distribution of this variable approached normality with a slight positive skewness (0.68), it was treated as acontinuous variable in the analyses.Parent supervision of childs homework at home was measured by asking children that how often their parent(s) checked on whether they had done their hom
47、ework and how often their parents helped with their homework. Responses ranged from 0=Never to 5=Everyday. A composite variable was created by adding these 2 items together (scores ranged from 0 to 10,=0.69). Because the distribution of this variable approached normality with a slight negative skewn
48、ess (-0.88), it was treated as a continuous variable in the analyses.3.2.3. Childrens academic performanceThe dependent variable in this study, a childs academic performance in 2000, was measured with his/her Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) math scores and PIAT reading scores. Both PIAT m
49、ath and reading tests were given to all children between the ages of 5 and 14 in NLSY.3.2.4. Control variablesBecause of their potential influence on the outcome of interest, several demographic, social and economic variables of parents and children are included in the analysis as control variables. The inclusion of these variables will help eliminate omitted variable bias and possible alternative explanations
