School Effects of Father Presence on Middle School Students' Academic Performance: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analysis Based on CEPS Data

Abstract

As an important environmental factor in family education in China, the class effect of father presence on middle school students' academic performance is unclear. The impacts on students' academic performance are based on the 2014–2015 tracking data of the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), and a hierarchical linear model was used to explore the school effects of father presence on middle school students' academic performance in terms of the type of father presence. The study found that: students' self-efficacy had a significant effect on individual academic performance, and self-efficacy was a positive predictor of achievement; father involvement in parenting was classified as physical presence, disciplinary presence, and emotional presence; and father involvement had a significant positive effect on middle school students' academic performance. Specifically, the improvement of spatial presence and emotional presence had a positive impact on middle school students' academic performance, while disciplinary father presence had a negative impact. Based on previous research on influencing factors of individuals, campus, and peer groups, the finding of school effects of father involvement is an important basis for family education improvement.