As it turns out, the list of what generally works is short

From Parental Involvement Is Overrated by Keith Robinson and Angel L. Harris.

My first instinct was that this was likely further academic foolishness. But its actually interesting and nuanced. I am not familiar with the researchers and am interested in finding out more about how robust is their approach. Apparently they have a new book out, The Broken Compass: Parental Involvement with Children's Education by Keith Robinson and Angel L. Harris. The only critical review I can find is here, Inflated Research Claims Can Harm Children by Marilyn Price-Mitchell. It is an odd review in that it both denigrates and disputes the methodology of Robinson and Harris but then concedes the validity of their conclusions.

The basic findings of Robinson and Harris are that there is little correlation between parental involvement (encompassing a broad range of activities) and individual academic test outcomes.

We analyzed longitudinal surveys of American families that spanned three decades (from the 1980s to the 2000s) and obtained demographic information on race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, the academic outcomes of children in elementary, middle and high school, as well as information about the level of parental engagement in 63 different forms.

What did we find? One group of parents, including blacks and Hispanics, as well as some Asians (like Cambodians, Vietnamese and Pacific Islanders), appeared quite similar to a second group, made up of white parents and other Asians (like Chinese, Koreans and Indians) in the frequency of their involvement. A common reason given for why the children of the first group performed worse academically on average was that their parents did not value education to the same extent. But our research shows that these parents tried to help their children in school just as much as the parents in the second group.

Even the notion that kids do better in school when their parents are involved does not stack up. After comparing the average achievement of children whose parents regularly engage in each form of parental involvement to that of their counterparts whose parents do not, we found that most forms of parental involvement yielded no benefit to children’s test scores or grades, regardless of racial or ethnic background or socioeconomic standing.

I have long held the view that families are critical to child outcomes, including education, but in ways that are complicated and often unique to the child's circumstances. This view of the complexity of the issue is supported by Robinson and Harris' findings.

When involvement did benefit kids academically, it depended on which behavior parents were engaging in, which academic outcome was examined, the grade level of the child, the racial and ethnic background of the family and its socioeconomic standing. For example, regularly discussing school experiences with your child seems to positively affect the reading and math test scores of Hispanic children, to negatively affect test scores in reading for black children, and to negatively affect test scores in both reading and math for white children (but only during elementary school). Regularly reading to elementary school children appears to benefit reading achievement for white and Hispanic children but it is associated with lower reading achievement for black children. Policy makers should not advocate a one-size-fits-all model of parental involvement.

What about when parents work directly with their children on learning activities at home? When we examined whether regular help with homework had a positive impact on children’s academic performance, we were quite startled by what we found. Regardless of a family’s social class, racial or ethnic background, or a child’s grade level, consistent homework help almost never improved test scores or grades. Most parents appear to be ineffective at helping their children with homework. Even more surprising to us was that when parents regularly helped with homework, kids usually performed worse. One interesting exception: The group of Asians that included Chinese, Korean and Indian children appeared to benefit from regular help with homework, but this benefit was limited to the grades they got during adolescence; it did not affect their test scores.

What does actually work across most contexts?

As it turns out, the list of what generally works is short: expecting your child to go to college, discussing activities children engage in at school (despite the complications we mentioned above), and requesting a particular teacher for your child.

Do our findings suggest that parents are not important for children’s academic success? Our answer is no. We believe that parents are critical for how well children perform in school, just not in the conventional ways that our society has been promoting. The essential ingredient is for parents to communicate the value of schooling, a message that parents should be sending early in their children’s lives and that needs to be reinforced over time. But this message does not need to be communicated through conventional behavior, like attending PTA meetings or checking in with teachers.

I think parental involvement in a child's education is critical and probably substantially determinative but in ways that are complex and hard to disentangle. Does parental involvement in local school fund raising and PTA support make much of a difference? In the manifest ways of more money, I am guessing probably not (they do raise the money but I suspect the money doesn't often have a substantial impact on outcomes). But I do suspect that engagement is correlated with positive outcomes in the sense that such activity functions as a cultural signalling mechanism to a child - Education is Important.

Interesting to see some of the common sense comments to the article. One commenter, Peggy of NH creates a Letterman style top ten list.

10. Books of all types readily available in the home
9. Access to newspapers and magazine subscriptions
8. Frequent visits to the public library as fun outings
7. Quiet time for homework and study
6. Dinner and conversation together every night at 6 p.m.
5. Support for extra curricular activities
4. Provide balanced approach to health, eating, exercise
3. Attend parent-teacher conferences
2. Affirm success and remediate shortcomings
1. Inculcate the importance of academic honesty

To which I would add two primary items - 1) Cultivate agency (you are responsible for outcomes) and 2) Expecting that outcomes are correlated with effort.

Jeito of CO redefines parental engagement slightly differently (differently, not wrongly)

1) are physically present in their children's lives;
2) set clear rules and limits for children, for example a set bedtime;
3) provide a place, a time, and an expectation for homework to be completed;
4) make sure their child gets to school every day, on time; and
5) discuss the impact of their current learning on their future education and career.