Demography as Destiny: The Role of Parental Involvement and Mathematics Course Taking Patterns among 9th Grade Students

Abstract

This study uses data from the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HLS:09).  Parent responses to the Parent Involvement survey, given as part of the NCES study were considered, along with their child’s socio-economic status (SES) and self-reported level of mathematics course enrollment during their ninth grade year of high school.  The purpose of this study is to identify parent behaviors that result in their child enrolling in upper level mathematics coursework in high school, regardless of SES.  Seven, two-factor ANOVA tests were conducted to determine interaction effects between types of parent behaviors and level of ninth grade mathematics course enrollment.  The interaction effect between Child Activities and SES was found to be significant.  The main effect of SES, as well as school choice, Parent Involvement (School), Parent Involvement (Home), and Child Activities were also found to be significant.  The main effect of a student’s SES was significant, in terms of level of ninth grade mathematics course enrollment.  The findings from this study suggest that when students from lower SES background are grouped homogenously in a school related setting and out of school experiences, the level of mathematics course enrollment is lower in comparison to their middle and upper class counterparts.  The findings from the study are also consistent with previous studies, noting the profound effect SES has on a child’s schooling experience.