This study examines direct and indirect effects of family socioeconomic status (SES) and parental expectations on adolescents' mathematics and problem-solving achievement in mainland China. SES here is composed of family wealth, home educational resources, and parental education. Over 5,000 ninth-grade students in 5 geographical districts of China…

Relatively little research has examined the ways in which immigrant Latino parents can effectively support their adolescent children's schooling. To address this gap, we conducted in-depth interviews with 32 Mexican-heritage 9th graders. Students identified parents' advice giving as the most salient form of involvement. Parental advice emphasized…

The present study examined the extent to which mothers' and fathers' expectations for their offspring's future education, their level of education, and adolescents' academic achievement predict adolescents' educational expectations. To investigate this, 230 adolescents were examined twice while they were in comprehensive school (in the 7th and 9th…

Each year, 1.3 million students fail to graduate, dropping the United States' high school graduation rate to 69%. One of the most salient predictors of high school dropout is socio-economic status (SES), which makes important an improved understanding of the reasons why SES affects educational outcomes. In this study, multilevel mediation models…

If school renewal is to ultimately impact student outcomes, then understanding and responding to the factors students describe as influencing their constructive and unconstructive effort is vital. Results from focus groups with 4th, 7th, 9th, and 11th graders indicated that when students set and work toward goals, they expend more effort in…