Parental involvement, child effort, and the development of immigrant boys' and girls' reading and mathematics skills: A latent difference score growth model

Abstract

Gender differences in elementary school performance among immigrant children have not yet been well documented. This study examined how differences in parental involvement, child effort, and family characteristics and resources contribute to immigrant boys'-and girls' academic achievement from kindergarten through 5th-grade. The sample was drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort. Using a latent score growth model, this study found that parents' involvement at home benefited boys' reading and mathematics skills throughout all early elementary school years, but did not have the same benefit for girls. For both boys and girls, child effort in reading appears to be strongly linked to better reading and mathematics skills at kindergarten and to subsequent improvement between grades. The positive associations of parental involvement and child's effort with test scores were greater during earlier years than during later years for boys, whereas there was no difference in the association over time for girls.