Title: Multilevel analyses of families influence on adolescents literacy performances

Authors: Esther Sui Chu Ho; Terence Yuk Ping Lam

Addresses: Hong Kong Centre for International Student Assessment, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 612, Sino Building, Shatin, Hong Kong ' Hong Kong Centre for International Student Assessment, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 612, Sino Building, Shatin, Hong Kong

Abstract: This study investigates the relative contribution of home-based and school-based involvement to students' literacy performance in Hong Kong, which has excelled in mathematics and science performance in previous international studies over many years. Data were obtained from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Multilevel analysis was used to examine the effect on students' literacy performance, of family socioeconomic status, family involvement and investment and parents' evaluation of school quality. The results suggest that students' literacy performance is significantly associated with certain types of parental investment and involvement at home. Parental investment in educational resources and cultural resources at home and their involvement in social communication with adolescent students were found to be 'significantly associated with students' literacy performance. Parents' perception of school quality is also consistently related to adolescents' actual literacy performance. These findings suggest that parental investment in educational and cultural resources, parental involvement in social communication at home and parental participation in school quality monitoring indicate promising avenues for educational reform in the context of Hong Kong.

Keywords: parental investment; parental involvement; parent roles; literacy performance; multilevel analysis; hierarchical linear modelling; HLM; PISA; Hong Kong; family influence; adolescents; adolescent literacy; educational reform; educational resources; cultural resources; social communication; school quality preceptions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2016.073667

International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education, 2016 Vol.3 No.1/2, pp.58 - 78

Received: 07 Jul 2014
Accepted: 13 Apr 2015
Published online: 15 Dec 2015 *

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