"Does the Strength of Parent-Child Relationships Affect Grades?"

Abstract of a paper by Elizabeth Tauscher

   This experiment tests if the parent-child relationship affects grades. If the relationship does, maybe people can find out what it takes to have a good relationship to raise grades. The experimental hypothesis is that if a child has a positive parent-child relationship, then that child's grades will be in the As and Bs 80% of the time.
   To test the hypothesis two surveys of thirteen questions were written, one for parents and one for children. The parent surveys were all given on September 19th, 2001, during the Thurgood Marshall Middle School Back-to-School Night in Mrs. Gillum's classroom. Exactly 163 parents were surveyed. The students then took the surveys on November 30, 2001, and exactly 175 students were surveyed.
   The results were recorded into spreadsheets and graphed. Certain questions were put together to see how many times a certain pattern was found. Many of these questions were what grade the child received last year and the strength of the relationship.
   The experimental hypothesis was proven wrong. The positive parent-child relationship was stronger for students with better grades only about 50% of the time, instead of 80%. This shows that the parent-child relationship is a factor, but not as large as hypothesized. Although the hypothesis was proven wrong, the data still shows that the parent-child relationship plays a large part of a child's grades. More studies should be done on what specific parts of the parent-child relationships play a part in their child's school grades.

Junior Level, Second Place, Elizabeth Tauscher; Thurgood Marshall Middle School, Grade 8.
Advisor: Elaine Gillum

Elizabeth Tauscher and Elaine Gillum