Children of parents with a degree are almost a year of schooling ahead in math by the age 11 than peers whose parents have just GCSEs, a new study has discovered.

Greater parental education is the strongest predictor of maths attainment and faster future growth for children moving into secondary school even after adjusting for their intelligence (IQ), research by University of Sussex psychologists published today by the Royal Society reveals.

The study also showed that:

• Boys achieve significantly higher grades in maths at age 11 but this gap did not grow through secondary school. Academics believe the gap at 11 could be explained by girls’ increasing maths anxiety and decreasing enjoyment of the subject at this age.
• Statistically significant but very weak evidence that pupils with higher emotional symptoms in early childhood had lower maths attainment when they were older.
• The study’s authors recommend that strategies focusing on improving parental education could be a very effective method of increasing attainment in children.

Danielle Evans, researcher in achievement in mathematics at the University of Sussex, said:

«Our study shows that increased maths growth was significantly predicted by higher IQ, higher socioeconomic status and greater parental education, suggesting that children with greater intelligence and higher socioeconomic status progress at a quicker rate across the transition to secondary education compared with their peers. While this finding is not unexpected, it demonstrates the importance of parents within their child’s education and suggests that having higher-educated parents may potentially ‘buffer’ the negative impacts of the transition to secondary education on children’s attainment.»

Dr Darya Garsina, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Sussex, said:

«Recent campaigns launched by the BBC in collaboration with the National Numeracy Charity focusing on promoting adult education and maths training is a step in the right direction but much more work is needed to overcome the extent of poor numeracy in the UK and the negative effects associated with underachievement in maths.»

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Sussex. Original written by Neil Vowles. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.