| Description |
Parents' educational expectations for their children have been found to significantly correlate with academic achievement. The causes of these correlations, however, are somewhat unclear. Some research suggests that parents' expectations are the product of parents' personal background variables. Other research suggests that parents' expectations are formulated according to their children's previous academic performance. This study adds to the existing research by examining the educational expectations of 100 mothers prior to the births of their children; thus eliminating the potential confounder of students' previous academic performance. Participants were surveyed regarding six background variables: ethnicity, age, income, personal educational attainment, marital status, and family size. Participants were also asked to report their educational expectations for their unborn children in terms of (a) the grades they expected of their children to receive in school, and (b) the highest level of education they expected their children to obtain. Three major findings emerged. First, prior to their children's births, most mothers had similar educational expectations. Second, with prior student performance eliminated, only mother's educational attainment was significantly correlated with both types of educational expectations. And third, some combinations of variables significantly increased the ability to correctly predict expectations. These findings imply that parents' expectations can and do change and that they are influenced by multiple factors. |
