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Title: Intergenerational Benefits of Maternal Education: The Effect of Increases in Mothers' Educational Attainment on Children's Academic Outcomes
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Magnuson, Katherine A. |
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Intergenerational Benefits of Maternal Education: The Effect of Increases in Mothers' Educational Attainment on Children's Academic Outcomes Ph.D. Dissertation, Northwestern University, Human Development and Social Policy, 2002. DAI-B 63/11 (May 2003). Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Children, Well-Being; Educational Attainment; Modeling, Multilevel; Mothers, Education; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Entry/Readiness; Schooling, Post-secondary; Welfare A positive association between parental education and children's well-being, particularly academic achievement, is one of the most consistent findings from developmental studies. However, most prior research has been correlational and thus subject to the criticism that correlation does not prove causation. Topping the list of plausible alternative explanations for the maternal education-child wellbeing association are mothers' cognitive endowments, which are positively related both to mothers' educational attainment and children's academic achievement. Results from analyses in this dissertation provide more convincing evidence that the association between maternal education and children's academic outcomes is causal, not spurious. Using three rigorous research methods, and two different data sources, I establish that increasing mothers' education has a positive effect on their children's academic achievement. I used Instrumental Variables analyses with data from the random-assignment National Evaluation of Welfare to Work Strategies Child Outcomes Study (NEWWS-COS) to estimate the effect of maternal education on young children's school readiness. Results from these analyses indicate that maternal education, particularly Adult Basic Education for low skilled mothers, improved children's school readiness and reduced children's academic problems two years after random assignment. I showed that these findings were robust by conducting two sets of analyses with nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Child Supplement (NLSY-CS). Using change models and piecewise hierarchical linear modeling I demonstrated that children's reading, but not math, achievement improved when their mothers returned to school on their own volition. I found that these benefits accrue to children consistently regardless of their mothers' prior level of education. The effect sizes of benefits from additional maternal schooling, particularly among welfare recipients, are compared to the effect sizes of other interventions for low income families. The findings suggest that although mandating education may not be an effective form of intervention, welfare policies that discourage economically disadvantaged mothers from attending school may be detrimental to young children's well-being. |
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Bibliography Citation
Magnuson, Katherine A. Intergenerational Benefits of Maternal Education: The Effect of Increases in Mothers' Educational Attainment on Children's Academic Outcomes. Ph.D. Dissertation, Northwestern University, Human Development and Social Policy, 2002. DAI-B 63/11 (May 2003).. |