Passage Two A father’s
relationship to his child’s current and future academic success and the level of
his or her development in academic potential and scholastic achievement are both
factors with some rather interesting implications that educators are beginning
to study and evaluate. As a matter of fact, "life with father" has been
discovered to be a very important factor in determining a child’s progress or
lack of progress in school. A recent survey of over 16,000
children made by the National Child Development Study in London, England,
revealed that children whose fathers came to school conferences and accompanied
their children on outing did measurably better in school than did those children
whose fathers were not involved in those activities. The study, which monitored
children born during a week in March, 1958, from the time of their birth through
the years of their early schooling, further revealed that the children of
actively involved fathers scored as much as seven months higher in reading and
math than did those children whose only involved parent was the mother. The
purpose of the study was to evaluate the role played by fathers in the raising
of a child. It indicated a much higher level of parental involvement by the
father than had been estimated. Over 66% of the fathers were said to have played
a major role in parental responsibility. The study also
suggested that the greatest level of paternal parenting took place in the
families of only children. As the number of children and financial obligations
increases, the father’s apparent interest and involvement with the children
decreased. However, no matter what the size or financial condition of the
family, a father’s active participation in the child’s development made a
definite difference in the child’s progress. The study
further revealed that while the frequency of overnight absences reflected a
corresponding deficiency employment on late shifts appeared to have little
effect on the child’s academic progress. The data from the study was Obtained
primarily through interviews from parents, teachers and physicians. The
information evaluating the level of the father’s parenting performance was
obtained primarily from the admittedly subjective observations of their
wives. The data gathered was obtained through______.
A. observation by social psychologists
B. conversations with mothers of the children
C. interviews, school records and physicians’ reports
D. observation of fathers with their children