The relationship among parental social networks, parental aspirations, parental involvement, and children's academic achievement in low-income single-parent Afro-American families

Using interview data from a sample of 99 single Afro-American mothers and their elementary school children, the present study tested a model of academic achievement that stresses the influence of the family's social network in affecting the quality of the home environment. The model focused on the crucial role that parents play in the educational and occupational development of their children. Included is an analysis of the factors that may affect socio-economic mobility, such as parental involvement in children's schooling, educational and occupational resources found in the home, and whether or not role models were available for children to emulate. As predicted, several important aspects of the social network were found to be related to mothers' work and educational status, psychological functioning, beliefs and attitudes regarding the importance of education and educational and occupational aspirations for their children. Mothers who did not work or go to school were more likely to possess networks that lacked characteristics that may promote educational and occupational development such as network cosmopolitanism (diversity), occupational and educational statuses of the members, and a large number of members. Parents who rated having a college degree to be highly important, those whose network had at least one member who was educated beyond high school, and those who stimulated their children's intellect had children who did more homework than those who did not.