Readings

The impact of parenting on learning

Research carried out at the London School of Economics has found that the active involvement of parents in their children's education has a more significant impact on their educational attainment than any other factor. Dr Leon Feinstein used an index of educational success ranging from zero to 100 to estimate the effect on educational outcomes of various factors. He found that parental interest could boost pupils' results by up to 24.4 percentage points, whereas the combined effect of an advantaged social background and having parents who stayed on at school after the age of 16 only amounted to three percentage points. Dr Feinstein commented, "This does not mean that these other factors do not matter, because they may, in turn, explain parental interest.

However, the results do imply that it is through parental interest that social class impacts upon education. Interested parents make a huge difference, regardless of class or income."

The findings confirm the conclusions of a recent DfES report, which found that home learning was the major influence on the achievement of three to seven-year-olds. The research, which was conducted by Oxford University's educational studies department, found that children whose parents took part in an early education scheme made much better progress than those whose parents did not. Researchers noticed a significant difference in the children's vocabulary and their understanding of words, books and numbers.

However, Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at Kent University and author of Paranoid Parenting, disputed the findings, advising parents to leave education to teachers and to concentrate on creating a stimulating and loving home environment. Professor Furedi commented, "The idea that we can solve the problems of education and society by turning parents into part-time teachers is, quite frankly, a cop out."