Tying Education To Future Goals May Boost Grades More Than Helping With Homework

Helping middle school students with their homework may not be the best way to get them on the honor roll. But telling them how important academic performance is to their future job prospects and providing specific strategies to study and learn might clinch the grades, according to a research review, continues ScienceDaily.

"Instilling the value of education and linking school work to future goals is what this age group needs to excel in school, more than parents' helping with homework or showing up at school," said lead researcher Nancy E. Hill, PhD, of Harvard University. She examined 50 studies with more than 50,000 students over a 26-year period looking at what kinds of parent involvement helped children's academic achievement.
"Middle school is the time when grades and interest in school decline," said Hill. "Entering puberty, hanging out with friends, wanting distance from parents and longing to make one's own decisions win over listening to parents and studying."
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Related link
Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. (PDF)
By Nancy E. Hill and Diana F. Tyson.

Source: ScienceDaily