What Types of Cultural Capital Benefit Students’ Academic Achievement at Different Educational Stages? Interrogating the Meta-analytic Evidence

Publication date: Available online 11 September 2019Source: Educational Research ReviewAuthor(s): Cheng Yong Tan, Baiwen Peng, Meiyan LyuAbstractThe present study challenges the assumption that cultural capital benefits students’ academic achievement regardless of their educational stages. Meta-analytic results from 105 studies published 2000-2017 indicated that nine cultural capital variables (e.g., home educational resources, maternal and paternal education, parental expectations, cultural participation, home support, school participation) benefited all students while five cultural capital variables exhibited a differentiated pattern of relationship with student achievement depending on educational stages. First, compared to students from higher grade levels, kindergarteners benefited most from parental education, parental academic emphasis, and parent-child reading. Second, compared to 1st–6th graders, 7th-12th graders benefited more from academic discussions. Third, compared to 1st–6th graders, both kindergarteners and 7th-12th graders benefited from parental school involvement. These results provide compelling evidence that while there are some forms of cultural capital that all students will benefit from, there are others whose association with students’ achievement depends on their educational stages.
Source: Educational Research Review - Category: Child Development Source Type: research