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Fathers Play Unique Role in Schooling

Research on parental roles in their children's learning has traditionally focused both parents or on the mother; those studies dealing with a father's role have often emphasized the effect on children of having no father or an absent one.

A new Dept. of Ed. study, "Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools," is one of the first to focus on the unique role of fathers in their children's educational growth. The study is based on a 1995-96 survey of the parents of 17,000 K-12 students nationwide. Researchers gauged the level of involvement by asking whether parents volunteered at their children's schools, attended parent-teacher conferences and went to class events or school meetings.

The report says a father's involvement in a child's school is uniquely important, regardless of whether he lives with the child. In two-parent households, having a father who was very active in his children's schools increased the odds those children would earn mostly A's, enjoy school and participate in extracurricular activities.

In single-parent families headed by a father, having an active father increased the chances that children would get mostly A's and reduced the chances of them ever being suspended or expelled from school. Even when the father lived outside the children's home, his involvement in school cut the chances that the children would be suspended, expelled or held back.

Fathers are less likely than mothers to be involved in their children's schools, says the report.

"By targeting fathers, schools may be able to make greater gains in overall parental involvement than by targeting mothers or parents in general."

The report also found that:

• Mothers and fathers were more likely to be involved in if schools welcomed parents and made it easy to be involved.

• Fathers in two-parent families were more likely to be active if mothers were also very active in their children's schools.