"Parenting and the Reduction of Inequality: How the Impact of Early Parenting on Achievement Varies Across Class Boundaries and Over Time”

Emily Penner
Sociology of Education Association Annual Conference
February 24-26, 2012
Pacific Grove, California

Presentation Abstract

Class-based differences in parenting are often implicated in perpetuating structures of inequality and widening the SES-achievement gap. This study evaluates the degree of class differences in the prevalence of parenting practices and their effects on student achievement growth. Using exploratory factor analysis to examine data on kindergarten parenting behaviors collected in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Cohort, I identify three dimensions of parenting: Concerted Cultivation, Parent-Child Interaction, and Discursive Discipline. All three dimensions are most prevalent among high-SES families, but there are continuities across class boundaries in all three parenting dimensions. However, when I examine how these factors affect achievement, Concerted Cultivation is associated with achievement benefits for lower-SES students and achievement penalties for higher-SES children in first through eighth grades. These results suggest the identified dimensions of parenting, and particularly Concerted Cultivation, may be beneficial for lower-SES children and detrimental in excessive amounts for higher-SES children.