The Parent Factor in Learning: Unpacking PISA for Primary and Secondary Schools
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the extent to which students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are necessary for full participation in modern societies, focusing on reading, mathematics and science. PISA not only assesses whether 15-year-olds can reproduce knowledge, but also how well they can use what they have learned and apply it in unfamiliar settings, both in and outside of school. The survey, which is conducted every three years, also collects contextual information about the students, their families and their schools. Parents are also surveyed directly.Parents’ responses to this questionnaire were assessed in relation to their children’s performance in PISA. Essentially, PISA wanted to find out whether active parental engagement throughout childhood influences how well students read, how well they manage difficult academic tasks, and the extent to which parents can foster an interest in reading in their children.
Which kinds of activities benefit children most?
PISA found that certain activities were more strongly related to better student performance, including reading outcomes, than others. Understanding which types of involvement are the most beneficial for students allows parents, teachers, schools and governments to promote those forms of involvement that show a stronger link to student learning.PISA studies find that the forms of involvement that are most beneficial are not necessarily those that require the most time or money on the part of parents. Rather, they are those that make salient the value of school and reading, as well as those that highlight the value of words and language in contexts, motivating children to ‘chunk’ information and communicate about complex issues. Parents just reading at home benefits children too, because it shows them that reading is something that their parents value.
PISA studies found that on average, the score point difference in reading that is associated with parental involvement is largest when parents read a book with their child, when they talk about things they have done during the day, and when they tell stories to their children. Interestingly, the score point difference is smallest when parental involvement takes the form of parents playing with alphabet toys with their children.
The academic literature on parental involvement shows that children whose parents are involved in their education in these ways are more receptive to language and are more adept at planning, setting goals, initiating and following-through in their studies and individual projects. Children who have mastered these metacognitive skills have, essentially, learned how to learn – and that will help them not only during their years in education, but throughout the rest of their lives.
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