Mothers' Judgments of Children's Computational Ability and Reading Comprehension Predict Improved Academic Performance and Interest

First published: May 15, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13573

Commentary

This was a longitudinal study representing 2,602 Australian children (52% boys, 2% indigenous, 13% languages other than English, 22% overseas-born mothers, 65% urban) and their mothers (first surveyed in 2003).

The content of the study was to investigate whether mothers' judgments in computational skills and reading comprehension vary by child demographics and affect achievement and interest acquisition.

When the survey data was linked to administrative data from national standardized tests in years three, five, and seven, maternal judgments followed gender stereotypical patterns, favoring girls in reading and boys in computation.

Maternal judgment was found to be more positive for children from non-English speaking backgrounds. Maternal judgments predicted better grades (consistently) and academic interest (generally) for children, including during the transition to high school.