In recent decades progress in addressing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps between African American and Latino students and white and Asian American students has been painfully slow. William Jeynes has conducted two meta-analyses examining which factors reduce this achievement gap, and the extent to which to parental involvement helps African American students perform well in school. He finds that faith and family factors help to reduce the achievement gap by up to 65 percent. Rather than simply pumping billions of dollars into school-based solutions for improving educational outcomes, he argues that politicians need to take a broader minded approach, and consider policies which recognize the importance of family involvement in improving educational outcomes

Jeynes, William

LSE Research Online

blogs.lse.ac.ukhttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/04/29/families-hold-the-key-to-increasing-african-american-achievement-in-schools/Families hold the key to increasing African Americanachievement in schoolsIn recent decades progress in addressing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps betweenAfrican American and Latino students and white and Asian American students has been painfullyslow. William Jeynes has conducted two meta-analyses examining which factors reduce thisachievement gap, and the extent to which to parental involvement helps African American studentsperform well in school. He finds that faith and family factors help to reduce the achievement gap byup to 65 percent. Rather than simply pumping billions of dollars into school-based solutions forimproving educational outcomes, he argues that politicians need to take a broader mindedapproach, and consider policies which recognize the importance of family involvement in improvingeducational outcomes.There is no question that over the last half-century and more, the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap hasbeen one of the most pressing debates in American education. Ronald Roach recently asserted that, “in theacademic and think tank world, pondering achievement gap remedies takes center stage.” Specifically, AfricanAmerican and Latino students trail white and Asian American students in average school outcomes. Progress onreducing the gaps has been agonizingly slow in spite of the fact that the United States has practiced programs ofaffirmative action, often offered teachers giving instruction in the inner cities 20 percent more than they would makeelsewhere, and poured countless billions of additional dollars into urban education. Affirmative action, in particular,gives African Americans and Latinos in particular major advantages over their white counterparts, in terms of gainingentrance into America’s best colleges.In spite of all of these efforts, racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps have remained largely intractable. Theachievement gaps did narrow to some extent during the late 1970s and the 1980s. However, the narrowing of thedifferential in test scores in the 1970s was due to the fact is that test results during this decade were generallyslumping badly for American youth of all races and the results of white children were going down a good deal fasterthan for African American students. Although technically the gap declined the answer to bridging the shortfall is notfor the scores of other students to decline. Many educators attribute the progress in this area in the 1980s to thePresident Reagan’s Back to Basics Movement, because research indicates that that when disadvantaged childrenare exposed to the basics, which their more affluent counterparts generally receive in and out of school, academicdifferences abate.Results from meta-analyses provide real hopeThe results of two meta-analyses I conducted have provided real hope that the achievement gaps can besubstantially reduced. These studies examined 1) what factors best reduce the achievement gap and 2) the extentto which parental involvement helps African American students perform well in school.The first meta-analysis yielded two particularly important results. First, the findings confirmed the results ofnumerous other studies that indicated that non-school factors have much more of an impact than school variableson bridging racial and socioeconomic differences. Second, the two sets of factors that had the largest impact inbridging differences in scholastic outcomes by race and gender were family-based and faith-based in nature.Moreover, the power of these factors was so great that when highly religious African American, as well as Latino,children who were from two biological parent families, the achievement gap totally disappeared. Faith factors alone(without considering the family variables) and family factors alone (without considering the faith variables) reducedthe achievement gap by between 60-65 percent.1/4The second meta-analysis indicated that African American parental involvement has a strong relationship with highscholastic outcomes. The extent of parental involvement’s influence is roughly one half of a grade point, e.g., thedifference between a 3.0 and a 3.5 GPA.The profound impact that parental engagement has on African American educational outcomes is especiallynoteworthy, given that the overwhelming majority of African Americans are raised in a single parent household. Theresearch literature is clear that parental engagement is greatly facilitated when the mother and father are both in thehousehold.The results of the parental involvement meta-analysis are noteworthy especially because the study specifies thecomponents of family involvement that have the most ameliorative effects on students. Among the aspects of thisengagement by mothers and fathers that had the most positive impact on school outcomes were parentalexpectations, parental style (of raising children), and participation in school activities. A new approach to addressing the achievement gap is neededIt is patent from the results of the meta-analyses that leaders need to inaugurate a new and much broader approachto alleviating the persistent disparities in educational outcomes by race. For over half a century, the primaryinitiatives to accomplish this goal have been almost solely educational and economic-based in nature. What we nowhave is a situation in which educators seek educational solutions, economists employ economic solutions,psychologists utilize psychological approaches, and so forth. Moreover, politicians seriously consider only theeconomic and educational proposals. The results of the meta-analyses suggest that this insular approach to theachievement gap by academics, politicians, and others is unwise. The findings of these studies indicate that one ofthe primary reasons why previous attempts to bridge unwanted differences have fallen short is because the focus ofthese interventions was very narrow. The studies also demonstrate another important reason why past efforts toreduce the gaps have fallen short; these initiatives did not emphasize factors that were actually the most important.Few proposals to reduce scholastic gaps involve strengthening the family and drawing from the empowering thatpersonal faith creates.Admittedly, one of the reasons why America’s leaders have emphasized pumping billions of dollars into improvingAfrican American educational outcomes and other school-based solutions is that these options are probably the2/4easiest to implement. However, one can also argue that these are the most superficial of the various options. Thereis a certain degree of irony to the fact that although the family and personal faith are clearly often sources of strengthfor countless people, they have gone largely unutilized in efforts to improve African American (and Latino) schooloutcomes.Actions that are key to improving African American achievementIf one combines the results of the two meta-analyses, there are several specific recommendations that America’sleaders and institutions need to apply.First, leaders and especially educators need to humbly acknowledge that not only is parental involvement important,but also that home-based subtle aspects of parental participation are more important than some of the more overtaspects. There needs to be a broader acknowledgement of a research trend that has been in place for at least half acentury, i.e., that home factors have much more of an impact of educational outcomes than school factors. In a studyorganized by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development of 27 nations, it was found that 72percent of African American children are raised in single-parent families. This compares to a mere 14.9 percentamong the nation’s studies and 25 percent in the United States. The 72 percent figure was by far the highest of anyethnic group in the study and is likely the highest of any group in the world. To dismiss these facts as irrelevant interms of affecting African American educational outcomes is specious logic.The fact that the vast majority of African Americans are raised in single parent families is a disadvantage that is sovast, that it is almost impossible to compensate for through other means. Unless Americans understand this fact andtake action to try to strengthen African American families, it is going to be extremely unlikely that African Americanacademic achievement is ever going to equal that of Asian Americans and whites. Naturally, families themselvesmust take responsibility for their own choices and actions. Nevertheless, there are some clear common senseactions that people in the United States could take that would greatly strengthen African American families. Schoolsand American society, as a whole, can emphasize the importance of parental involvement, especially the moresubtle aspects that are practiced at home. Teachers can also do a much better job than they are of informing parentsabout the components of family engagement that have the greatest positive impact on children. In addition,politicians should pass legislation that will reduce the family dissolution rate and raise the marriage rate. Promisinglegislative initiatives would include passing laws that waive marriage license fees when couples obtain premaritalcounseling and requiring a waiting period for divorce if the reasons are relatively minor and there are also children inthe home.Second, school officials, the media, and American society, as a whole, need to stop belittling people of faith. Thereality is that surveys indicate that of all American ethnic groups, African Americans are most likely to definethemselves as being religious. To many African Americans, then, their religious faith is a great source of strength, asense of purpose, and motivation. Educators who make demeaning comments about people of faith inadvertentlycan contribute to the achievement gap, by disparaging a source of strength for so many African Americans.Third, Americans, particularly leaders generally and educators, need to approach the achievement gap from muchmore of an interdisciplinary and open-minded perspective. It is both naïve and illogical to believe that just school andeconomic-based interventions will be sufficient to turn the tide of underperforming students. In addition toeducational and monetary factors, there are psychological, sociological, religious, family, interpersonal, andphilosophical variables that indubitably impede higher achievement. If policy on this issue continues to propoundinsular proposals, one should not be surprised if there continue to be narrow results. Undertaking this broader andmore open-minded approach will not be easy, given that at so many levels of US society, individuals are encouragedto specialize rather than work across disciplines. For example, even professors who serve at the same university areoften unaware of what each other are doing.The achievement gap is too important an issue to not act on the evidence3/4The results of the meta-analyses are clear. Family and faith factors are important to consider and act upon, if one isto see a contraction of the achievement gap. Sadly, heretofore many leaders have dismissed faith and familyvariables as not primary ones. However, the results of the meta-analyses are undeniable. The extent to which achild experiences a stable family and a sense of purpose has a dramatic impact on how they do in school. It is timeto more fully acknowledge this reality and act accordingly.This article is based on the paper, ‘A Meta-Analysis: The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and AfricanAmerican School Outcomes’ in the Journal of Black Studies.Featured image credit: Matt_Weibo (Flickr, CC-BY-SA-2.0)Please read our comments policy before commenting.Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USApp– American Politics and Policy, nor ofthe London School of Economics. Shortened URL for this post: http://bit.ly/1XXKRLS_________________________________________About the authorWilliam Jeynes – California State University, Long BeachWilliam Jeynes is a Professor of Education at California State University, Long Beach, and a SeniorFellow, at the Witherspoon Institute, Princeton, NJ. His research interests cover a wide range ofissues that include education, psychology, economics, history, religion, and sociology. Hismultidisciplinary approach has helped enable him to develop special relationships with the US andKorean governments. He has done a considerable amount of quantitative and qualitative researchon how to bridge the achievement gap, parental involvement, religious commitment, historicaltrends, school choice, family structure, religious schools, discrimination, bullying, readinginstruction, and public policy. He has written for the White House and for both the G.W. Bush and Obamaadministrations.CC BY-NC 3.0 2015 LSE USAPP4/4

Families hold the key to increasing African American achievement in schools

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