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Relationships between perceived parental involvement in homework, student homework behaviors, and academic achievement: differences among elementary, junior high, and high school students

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Abstract

This study aims to produce a deeper understanding of the relationship between perceived parental homework involvement (i.e., parental homework control and parental homework support), student homework behaviors (i.e., time spend on homework completion, time management, and amount of homework completed), and student academic achievement. Using Mplus5.1, a structural equation model was fit for 1683 students at different stages of schooling (i.e., elementary school − 5th and 6th grades; junior high school − 7th and 8th grades; and high school − 9th and 10th grades). The data showed that student homework behaviors, perceived parental homework involvement, and academic achievement are significantly related. However, results vary depending on the students’ grade level: (a) in junior high and high school, perceived parental homework involvement is related to students’ homework behaviors, but not in elementary school; and (b) although students’ homework behaviors are related to academic achievement at each school level, the direction and magnitude of the relationships vary. Specifically, the relationship between perceived parental homework involvement and academic achievement is stronger in junior high and high school than in elementary school; and student homework behaviors mediate the association between perceived parental homework involvement (control and support) and academic achievement only in junior high and high school.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript was completed with the help of funding from Ministry of Science and Innovation (EDU2010-16231 and PSI2011-23395) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (BES-2011-043927) of Spain.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 4 Items used to measured parental homework involvement and students’ homework behaviors

Appendix Table A

Table 5 Descriptive statistics of the variables in the structural equation model of elementary school students (n = 433)

Appendix Table B

Table 6 Descriptive statistics of the variables in the structural equation model of junior high school students (n = 716)

Appendix Table C

Table 7 Descriptive statistics of the variables in the structural equation model of high school students (n = 534)

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Núñez, J.C., Suárez, N., Rosário, P. et al. Relationships between perceived parental involvement in homework, student homework behaviors, and academic achievement: differences among elementary, junior high, and high school students. Metacognition Learning 10, 375–406 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-015-9135-5

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