An Investigation of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and White, non-Hispanic Students' Mathematics Achievement and a Multidimensional Concept of Parents' Social Support Using the ECLS-K Database

Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999(ECLS-K/1998-99), this dissertation investigated the relationship between parental social support behaviors while their children were in first grade and mathematical outcomes for their children in eighth grade (mathematical outcomes specifically related to the mathematics course in which students were enrolled and students' performance on a mathematics assessment). Four dimensions of parental social support were hypothesized to influence the disparity of mathematical achievement between groups of students. Correlations and regression analyses were estimated to examine the relationships between various predictors.;The findings from this study provided evidence that the multidimensional concept of parental social support given early in a child's life had a positive impact on eighth grade student achievement in mathematics irrespective of socioeconomic status and race. The results generalized to student achievement in reading as well. This study also explored educational attainment expectations parents held for their children and the differences in these expectations between and among racial groups. Analyses of the data indicated that parents from different racial groups had different expectations for their children's educational attainment. Hispanic and Asian parents held a higher level of educational expectations for their children than White, non-Hispanic and African American parents. Additionally, the data established a positive association between parental expectations and students' mathematical performance. The results of this study offer guidance to strengthen the parents' role and promote further insight about how to address the achievement gap.