Patterns of parental reaction to student grades

Abstract

Abstract. Factor analysis of questionnaire responses produced by over 6,000 individuals revealed parental reactions to good and bad grades grouped themselves into five categories: (1) Grades are important to me; bad ones lead to negative consequences; (2) Good grades are important to me, but I will support you regardless of grade; (3) Bad grades make me mad; (4) Do your best, but there is more to life than grades; and (5) Grades are important; you will know how I feel on the basis of a joking comment. When these patterns were related to reports of specific student actions in college, such as getting good grades, dropping a course, or cheating on an examination, results indicated only a few significant negative correlations, and only for students whose parents reacted to bad grades in a negative emotional way; i.e., in terms of categories I and 3. More benign reactions -categories 2, 4, and 5 -did not correlate either positively or negatively with student actions or grades. Results were taken to suggest that parental reactions to grades are not only attempts at changing student behavior but also may be viewed as emotional responses expressing personal needs and values.How do parents react to the grades received by their children from elementary school through college? Despite the fact that countless millions of grades have been received by students at all levels of the educational enterprise, little is known on either an empirical or theoretical basis as to the various ways in which parents react to them. For this reason, Milton, Pollio, and Eison (1986), in a national survey of grade meanings, devoted two major and a number of minor sets of questions to this issue. On the basis of a descriptive analysis of results, they reported that parents valued grades more strongly than any other group sampled (faculty, students, and business officials) and tended to view them as addressed more to them than to any other group except students. When specific parental actions were described by both the parent and his/her college age child, modest agreement for reactions to good grades and lower agreement for reactions to bad ones were found, although both groups did agree that parents tended to praise students for good grades and to ask for an explanation for bad ones.Additional analyses by Milton et al., (1986) concerned changes in parental actions from elementary school through college. Here, results indicated that some parental responses to good grades (e.g., being proud) increased from elementary school to high school and then decreased during college; some (providing monetary rewards) showed a decrease over all levels; and some ('what is important is that you try to do your best,') showed a progressive increase over level. Similar changes occurred in response to bad grades, with reactions such as 'asked for an explanation' increasing from elementary school to high school and then decreasing at college. Reactions such as 'do your best' showed an increase across all levels while reactions such as 'helped me study afterwards' ...

Mental Health of Adolescents and Its Association with Their Educational Systems: A Cross-Sectional Study on High School Students

“…Our findings also indicated that they were some contradicting exceptions to this as, 28.7% of candidates said yes to parent's disproval to bad grade. The same study from US also concurs with 13% parents nagging and showing anger to low grades (Pollio et al, 1991). Taken together, we can conclude that this mindset of parents focuses more on the child's ability to perform rather than learning itself (Haimovitz & Dweck, 2016).…”

“…Data analysis also revealed that when students were asked if their parents do not react well to bad grades, 40% disagreed. The study from US further validated our results as 42% of parents supported their children and wanted them to perform and be the "best" regardless of their grade (Pollio et al, 1991). Our findings also indicated that they were some contradicting exceptions to this as, 28.7% of candidates said yes to parent's disproval to bad grade.…”

“…Hence, when questioned whether their parents were satisfied and checked up on their grades, 74.3% and 65.7% agreed doing so respectively. A study from USA also stated that according to 61% students, their parents expressed pride and satisfaction on their grades (Pollio, Humphreys, & Eison, 1991). Such parents are unconcerned with a specific result and are more focused on the happiness and mental peace of their child (Frijns, Keijsers, Branje, & Meeus, 2010).…”

The Teacher as Researcher in Beginning Instrumental Music

“…Date Signature of Evaluator studies of parent perceptions of grading procedures (Culbertson & Jalongo, 1999;Munk & Bursuck, 2001;Pollio, Humphreys, & Eison, 1991;Shepard & Bliem, 1995); student perceptions of grading procedures (Bursuck, Munk, & Olson, 1999;Zeidner, 1987); and various perceptions of assessment and grading (Carlton, 1993;Colangelo, 1981;Donegan & Trepanier-Street, 1998;Viadero, 1994) and report card reform (Allison & Friedman, 1995a, 1995bPardini, 1997). Most of these studies examined perceptions at the secondary level and none reported perceptions of assessment in music courses.…”