Parental involvement and academic achievement in Year 4 and Year 8 students: A meta‐analysis based on large‐scale assessments in China

Abstract This paper presents the findings of a meta‐analysis on parental involvement and its relationship with the academic achievement of Chinese students. Unlike most meta‐analyses that rely on data from published studies, this study draws from 363 representative regional samples, encompassing 399,375 students in mainland China, including 212,072 Year 4 and 187,303 Year 8 students. The analysis revealed that while the effects of overall parental involvement and its specific subdimensions—involvement in learning and involvement in daily life—on academic achievement were positive, they were generally small. Moderator analyses showed that the average prediction of overall parental involvement in students' academic achievement did not significantly differ by socio‐economic status (SES). However, the effects of parental involvement in learning and daily life on achievement varied according to SES levels. Additionally, the study found that the mean predictions of overall parental involvement and its subdimensions on achievement were positively moderated by different levels of parent–child relationship, with medium effect sizes. The results also indicated that overall parental involvement and involvement in learning and daily life were more strongly associated with achievement for Year 4 students than for Year 8 students. The significance of these findings is discussed in detail.