When daddy comes to school: father–school involvement and children’s academic and social–emotional skills

ABSTRACT

The present study used a large sample of mostly non-resident fathers (74%) to determine whether father–school involvement (e.g. attending parent–teacher conferences) predicted better academic and social emotional skills after controlling for the influence of mother–school involvement, the quality of children’s home learning environment, and demographics. A total of 3570 children participated in the study (47% European American, 35% African-American, and 18% Hispanic). Although mothers in this study engaged in more frequent involvement in their children’s schools, father–school involvement was positively associated with children’s reading, math, and teacher-rated approaches to learning scores in elementary school. Furthermore, father–school involvement predicted better reading and math scores after controlling for the influence of mother–school involvement, the quality of children’s home learning environment, and demographics.

KEYWORDS:

• Elementary school
• father involvement
• achievement
• social–emotional skills

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Claire E. Baker is an Assistant Professor of Applied Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a faculty fellow at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Her research advances the position that positive, meaningful family involvement represents one of the most critical precursors to student success. She is especially interested in the role of fathers in children's development during the early childhood years.