The Impact of Family Economic Situation and Parents' Educational Expectations on Academic Performance of Junior High School Students

Abstract

Under the new curriculum reform, an assessment and examination system adapted to the concept of quality education has been established. Academic performance remains the most direct way of reflecting students academic achievement, and the family is one of the most crucial elements influencing childrens performance, with parental expectations influencing the home education environment. This paper examines the influence of family economic conditions as a factor and parents educational values as a factor of cultural perceptions on their educational expectations. A study was done on the effects of family economic conditions and parental expectations on junior high school students academic achievement. Using information from the China Family Tracking Survey (CFPS) (2012-2016), this paper analyzes, through OLS regression, whether the influence of factors such as family economic level on junior high school students achievement changes as time changes. That is, the desire for children to receive higher levels of education has a significant positive effect on childrens current achievement ranking; the childs gender as male significantly improves current achievement ranking. The paper shows that the widening income gap raises parents educational expectations for their children by increasing their material aspirations. However, the effect of family income on junior high school students achievement was not significant; only parental expectations of education level and gender had a significant effect on achievement.