PART 2: CHILDREN'S RELATIONSHIPS

Relationship with Parents

Parental involvement in schooling

Students with parents who are involved in their school tend to have fewer behavioural problems and better academic performance, and are more likely to complete post-primary school than students whose parents are not involved in their school. 15

Measure

The percentage of children aged 15 who report that their parents discuss with them how well they are doing at school more than once a week.

Key findings

  • In 2006, 48% of children aged 15 reported that their parents discuss with them how well they are doing at school more than once a week (see Table 29).
  • There is no difference between 2000 and 2006 in the percentages of 15-year-olds reporting that their parents discuss with them how well they are doing at school more than once a week.

Differences by gender, age and social class

  • In 2006, girls (51.6%) were somewhat more likely than boys (44.1%) to report that their parents discussed their progress at school with them more than once a week (see Table 29). Data on gender were similar to those obtained in 2000.
  • 50% of children in both the highest and medium social class categories reported that their parents discussed their progress at school with them more than once a week, compared to 43.5% of children in the lowest social class category. In 2000, children from the highest social class category were most likely to report that their parents discussed their progress at school with them more than once a week (51.3%), followed by children in the medium and lowest social class categories (46.7% and 45.1% respectively).

Table 29: Percentage of children aged 15 who report that their parents discuss with them how well they are doing at school more than once a week, by gender and social class (2000 and 2006)

  2000 2006
Total 47.9 48.0
Gender
Boys 45.7 44.1
Girls 50.0 51.6
Social class
High SES 51.3 50.0
Medium SES 46.7 50.0
Low SES 45.1 43.5

Source: PISA Survey

Technical notes
These data are drawn from the PISA Surveys in 2000 and 2006. All data presented are drawn from self-report, self-completion questionnaires completed by children in schools. Thus, they may be subject to bias in relation to self-presentation and memory. These measures may suffer from social desirability bias.

This item was only asked in Ireland for the PISA Survey in 2006 and accordingly there are no international data.

Part 1

Next

15 Henderson, A.T. and Berla, N. (1994) A New Generation of Evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. Washington, DC: National Committee for Citizens in Education.