parents presuures on their children
Series #4
Few people would disagree that parents play an important role in their children's achievement. However, some people would argue that parents of high-achieving students play a detrimental role by pressuring their children to achieve at unrealistically high levels or to satisfy the parents' needs. Parents of academically talented children have been accused of pushing their children to achieve at exceptional levels and sooner than usual. While there is empirical evidence that parent factors have a positive association with, or facilitate, children's achievement, there has also been great concern that parents' unrealistic expectations create pressure and foster performance anxiety in their children.
To get at the core of what motivates parents to guide versus pressure their children, we need to focus on parents' values and beliefs concerning achievement. In an effort to do just that, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University, Center for Talented Youth (CTY), have examined parents' perceptions about the importance of high achievement, conceptions of academic success, and achievement goals for their children. Following are two articles and a technical report that represent some of this work.
The following three studies are all based on a longitudinal study of about 800 families of academically talented students. These students were at or above the 97th percentile on a grade-level achievement test in school and participated in the CTY talent search when they were in the fifth grade. In the first year of the study, students and parents were asked about school involvement, the importance of achievement, and perceptions of pressure. Results reported by Ablard, Hoffhines, and Mills (Technical Report No.13,1996) show that a large majority (85.5%) of parents reported being either somewhat involved (45.5%) or very involved (40%) in their child's school. The majority (60%) of parents of sixth-grade children also said that they had been involved in the school for
Few people would disagree that parents play an important role in their children's achievement. However, some people would argue that parents of high-achieving students play a detrimental role by pressuring their children to achieve at unrealistically high levels or to satisfy the parents' needs. Parents of academically talented children have been accused of pushing their children to achieve at exceptional levels and sooner than usual. While there is empirical evidence that parent factors have a positive association with, or facilitate, children's achievement, there has also been great concern that parents' unrealistic expectations create pressure and foster performance anxiety in their children.
To get at the core of what motivates parents to guide versus pressure their children, we need to focus on parents' values and beliefs concerning achievement. In an effort to do just that, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University, Center for Talented Youth (CTY), have examined parents' perceptions about the importance of high achievement, conceptions of academic success, and achievement goals for their children. Following are two articles and a technical report that represent some of this work.
The following three studies are all based on a longitudinal study of about 800 families of academically talented students. These students were at or above the 97th percentile on a grade-level achievement test in school and participated in the CTY talent search when they were in the fifth grade. In the first year of the study, students and parents were asked about school involvement, the importance of achievement, and perceptions of pressure. Results reported by Ablard, Hoffhines, and Mills (Technical Report No.13,1996) show that a large majority (85.5%) of parents reported being either somewhat involved (45.5%) or very involved (40%) in their child's school. The majority (60%) of parents of sixth-grade children also said that they had been involved in the school for