Analyzing the Effects of Parental Education on Child Academic Success

This project investigates the relationship between parental education levels and children's academic achievement. The study uses data obtained from an online source, including exam scores and parental education levels. The methodology includes descriptive statistics, graphical analysis, ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis. The analysis reveals a significant influence of parental education on children's academic performance, with children of parents holding higher degrees generally performing better. The project includes hypothesis testing and correlation and regression analyses to predict and analyze the impact of parental education on student scores. Graphs are used to visually represent the relationship between parental education and child scores. The conclusion states that there is an association between a child's performance and the parent's level of education and that the average score of a child can be predicted based on the parents' education levels.

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF
PARENTAL EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
ON CHILDREN'S ACHIEVEMENTS
By: (Name)

Abstract
• The research question focuses on the parental education level and find out how it
would impact their children’s academic achievement.
• The aim of this study is to discover the relationship of parents’ education level and
children’s academic achievement.
• The aim of has been achieved using a pre- collected data that has been obtained
from the internet.
• The analyses that have been done to achieve the aim of the study are: Descriptive
statistics analysis, graphical analysis, Analysis of variance (NAOVA), correlation and
regression analysis
• The analysis has revealed that a parent’s level of education has a significant
influence on their academic achievement.

Background information
• Education is an essential factor for being successful in our current society (Coleman ,1968)
• The level of education decides human being’s opportunity, social status, life standard, and even
marriage.
• In a family, children learn different aspects from their parents.
• Parents work as a “model” for their children that they would mimic what their parents do, and
apply those reactions to their own real life.
• This leads to the importance of parental education level.
• As the parents are well-educated, their children would have impact in a good way
• The research question focuses on the parental education level and find out how it would impact
their children’s academic achievement.
• The aim of this study is to discover the relationship of parents’ education level and children’s
academic achievement.

Data and Variables
• The data was obtained from
http://roycekimmons.com/tools/generated_data/exams
• This data set includes scores from three exams and a variety of personal,
social, and economic factors that have interaction effects upon them.
• The average in the three subjects have been used for analysis
• The other variable is the parents’ level of education: Associates’ degree,
masters’ degree, bachelors’ degree, high school and some college.

Methodology
• Descriptive statistics analysis has been used to determine the summary statistics.
• Graphical analysis have been used to outline the pictorial representation of the variables.
• Analysis of variance has been used to test whether there is any significant difference average
performance of a child among different levels of parents’ education.
• A correlation analysis has been used to investigate the nature and strength of the
relationships between the average performances of children under different parental level of
education.
• A linear regression analysis has been used to forecast the average performance of a child
whose parent (s) have associates’ degree using the average performance of children whose
parents have bachelor's degree, high school certificate, master's degree, some college
certificate and some high school certificate.
•

Summary stats
• Children whose parents have a
bachelor’s degree had the
highest average score
• Children whose parents had
some high school certificate
had the least average
performance.
• Children whose parents have
at least a degree had
performed better than the
children whose parents are
not holders of any degree
indicating that children whose
parents have higher education
performs better than the
children whose parents have
lower levels of education
associate's
degree
bachelor's
degree
high
school
master's
degree
some
college
some high
school
Mean 71.7108 74.6176 65.7108 70.3775 68.1912 65.1275
Standard
Error 1.6158 1.7162 1.8019 1.8841 1.3643 1.5626
Median 73.8333 74.8333 63.8333 71.0000 68.0000 64.8333
Mode 46.6667 71.6667 56.3333 85.6667 56.0000 67.3333
Standard
Deviation 13.3244 14.1520 14.8587 15.5364 11.2500 12.8853
Sample
Variance 177.5387 200.2795
220.782
4 241.3795
126.561
6 166.0299
Kurtosis -0.3667 -0.3772 -0.6805 -0.9278 0.2201 -0.5131
Skewness -0.3480 -0.2028 -0.0112 -0.1007 -0.1834 0.2091
Range 54.6667 60.3333 62.3333 57.0000 55.6667 53.3333
Minimum 42.3333 38.6667 32.0000 42.0000 39.0000 40.3333
Maximum 97.0000 99.0000 94.3333 99.0000 94.6667 93.6667
Sum 4876.3333 5074.0000
4468.33
33
4785.666
7
4637.00
00 4428.6667
Count 68.0000 68.0000 68.0000 68.0000 68.0000 68.0000

Hypothesis tests
1. Ho: There is no association between a child performance and the parent’s
level of education
H1: There is an association between a child performance and the parent’s level of education
2. Ho: The average score of a child whose parents have associates'’ degree
cannot be predicted using the average scores of other children whose parents
have: Masters’ degree, bachelors'’ degree, high school certificate and college
certificate.
H1: The average score of a child whose parents have associates'’ degree can
be predicted using the average scores of other children whose parents have:
Masters’ degree, bachelors'’ degree, high school certificate and college certificate.

Correlations
• All variables are
correlated
• Some variables
have negative
correlation while
others have
positive
correlation
associate
's degree
bachel
or's
degree
high
school
master
's
degree
some
college
some
high
school
associate's
degree 1
bachelor's
degree
0.040634
075 1
high school
-
0.254608
64
-
0.0386 1
master's
degree
0.143963
933
0.1305
55
0.0738
11 1
some college
-
0.118799
67
-
0.0987
7
0.0570
43
-
0.0779
4 1
some high
school
0.144169
572
-
0.0705
3
-
0.0725
1
0.1642
84
-
0.2446
3 1

Regression Analysis
• The table above gives the model specifications
• The Regression model is give by:
• AssociatesScore=-0.23544(bacherlor’s) -0.0779(highschoo)+0.21(Master’s)+0.2877(somecollege)
+0.374(somehoghschool)
Coefficients
Standard
Error t Stat P-value
Lower
95%
Upper
95%
Lower
95.0%
Upper
95.0%
Intercept 0
bachelor's degree
0.23544271
3 0.110156 2.137351 0.036457 0.015313 0.455573 0.015313 0.455573
high school -0.07791553 0.112043 -0.69541 0.489357 -0.30182 0.145984 -0.30182 0.145984
master's degree
0.21008505
8 0.114332 1.837498 0.070853 -0.01839 0.43856 -0.01839 0.43856
some college
0.28773026
7 0.123927 2.321774 0.023492 0.040082 0.535378 0.040082 0.535378
some high school
0.37419568
8 0.119285 3.136998 0.002595 0.135824 0.612567 0.135824 0.612567

Hypothesis tests Results
1. Since all variables are correlated, null hypothesis has been rejected.
Conclusion: there is an association between a child performance
and the parent’s level of education
2. Since the value of R in the regression analysis is not equal to zero (R=
0.98159), the null hypothesis has been rejected.
Conclusion: the average score of a child whose parents have
associates'’ degree can be predicted using the average scores of
other children whose parents have: Masters’ degree,
bachelors'’ degree, high school certificate and college certificate.

Graphs
1
9
17
25
33
41
49
57
65
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
associate's degree
associate's degree
Linear (associate's
degree)
Child Index
Child Score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
bachelor's degree
bachelor's degree
Linear (bachelor's
degree)
Child Index
Child Score

Graphs
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
high school
high school
Linear (high school)
Child Index
Child Score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
master's degree
master's degree
Linear (master's
degree)
Child Index
Child Score

Graphs
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
some college
some college
Linear (some college)
Child Index
Child Score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
some high school
some high school
Linear (some high
school)
Child Index
Child Score

Analysis of results
There is a significant difference in the average performance
of the children based on their parents’ level of education.
There is a relationship between all the variables.
The average performance of a child whose parent has
associates’ degree can be forecasted using the average
performance of other children categories.

References
James Coleman (1968) The Concept of Equality of
Educational Opportunity. Harvard Educational Review: April
1968, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 7-22.