The Effects of Parent Educational Expectations on the Competence Development of Rural Left-Behind Children: An Empirical Study Based on CEPS Data

Abstract

Based on data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this study conducted an empirical analysis of the effect of parent educational expectations on the competence development of rural left-behind children and the underlying mediating mechanism. The research findings reveal that rural left-behind children have far less developed competencies than their non-left-behind counterparts and that parent educational expectations significantly and positively influence the competence development of left-behind children. Specifically, parent academic expectations impose the greatest impact on academic results of left-behind children; parent expectations of child education levels have the widest effects on various competencies of left-behind children; Parent involvement and teacher support exert a chain mediating effect on the relationship between parent educational expectations and the competence development of rural left-behind children. The mediation effect of teacher support or the concurrence of teacher support and parent involvement remarkably promoted the competence development of rural left-behind children, while parent involvement alone results in masking effects, which impede the improvement of their competencies to some extent.