“Maternal Judgments of Child Numeracy and Reading Ability Predict Gains in Academic Achievement and Interest”, 2021-05-15 (; backlinks; similar):
[Example of regression to the mean fallacies: parents know much more about their children than highly unreliable early childhood exam scores, and their “overestimates” predict later performance (particularly for immigrant parents about second-language proficiency). Of course. How could it be otherwise? (Not to mention that we already know the ‘Pygmalion effect’ isn’t real so the claimed causal explanation of their correlates has already been ruled out.)]
In a representative longitudinal sample of 2,602 Australian children (52% boys; 2% Indigenous; 13% language other than English background; 22% of Mothers born overseas; and 65% Urban) and their mothers (first surveyed in 2003), this article examined if maternal judgments of numeracy and reading ability varied by child demographics and influenced achievement and interest gains.
We linked survey data to administrative data of national standardized tests in Year 3, 5, and 7 and found that maternal judgments followed gender stereotype patterns, favoring girls in reading and boys in numeracy. Maternal judgments were more positive for children from non-English speaking backgrounds. Maternal judgments predicted gains in children’s achievement (consistently) and academic interest (generally) including during the transition to high school.
His team collected data from more than 2,600 Australian children and tracked their academic performance through NAPLAN tests between grade 3, 5 and 7.
They also collected information from the primary caregiver—mostly the child’s mother—as to whether they thought their child’s academic performance was better than average, average or below average.
“What we found was that in year 5, the kids whose parents overestimated their ability—they were optimistic—they did better in subsequent NAPLAN tests”, Professor Parker says.
“And more importantly, [the children] actually grew in their interest. They were more interested in maths, they were more interested in reading than [those who had] parents who are more pessimistic.”
Professor Philip Parker says your expectations of your child can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The study also found that mothers who were not from English-speaking backgrounds had statistically-significantly more positive judgments than English-speaking mothers towards their child when assessing them on reading. This was not the case when assessing numeracy.
Professor Parker says there are many ways that a parent’s optimism can benefit their child. “So they might hire a tutor, or they…buy one of those computer games for maths classes…also they tend to be more motivating. And they tend to give homework help that is more positive and supportive, rather than controlling and detrimental.”