In primary education, parental involvement at home, such as reading aloud and providing support, has the greatest influence on a child's academic performance. In secondary education, this applies instead to parental involvement at school, such as contact with other parents or a position on the parents' council or participation council. One possible explanation is that parents consciously choose a different way of being involved as their child grows older and becomes more independent.
The research also shows that demographic characteristics of parents, such as their level of education and the language they speak at home with their children, can influence the effect of involvement on academic performance. For example, reading aloud more often can lead to better development for children of less-educated parents, whereas it makes little difference for children of more highly educated parents.
And children of parents who speak another language at home in addition to Dutch and consider it important to help at school achieve better scores than children whose parents speak only Dutch at home and are not involved with the school.
More information: