Adolescentsfromlow-incomefamiliesinparticulararemorelikelythantheirmiddle-classpeerstounderachieveandtodropoutofschool.Studieshaveshownthatapositiveattitudetowardsschoolworkandthesupportandencouragementfromtheirparentscanhelpat-riskyoungsterstoovercometheeconomicbarriersandlackofresourcestheyface.Mostoftheevidenceabouttheeffectsofparentalinvolvementcomesfromresearchonmothers.Littleisknown,however,abouthowadolescentsexperiencetheirfathers’warmthandthebeliefsandbehaviorsthataremostaffectedbyit.
Thisnewstudyispartofalargeronefocusingonlow-incomefamiliesconductedinfourmiddleschoolsinthesouthwesternUnitedStates.Datawereanalyzedfromquestionnairescompletedby183sixth-gradersabouthowoptimisticandmotivatedtheywereabouttheirschoolwork,andhowtheyexperiencedtheirfathers.ThequestionnaireswerecompletedprimarilybyrespondentsofMexicanAmerican,AfricanAmericanandEuropeanAmericandescent.Theirmathsandlanguageartsgradeswerealsoobtained.
Theirfindingsshowhowfatherscansupporttheirteenagersinwaysthatresultingreateroptimism,self-efficacy,and,ultimately,higherachievementatschool.
Thesepositiveeffectsextendtobothsonsanddaughters,whileindifferentways.Experiencingtheirfather’swarmthfirstinfluencesdaughters’senseofoptimism,andthenspillsoverintotheirfeelingmoredeterminedandcertainabouttheiracademicabilities.Thisinturnleadstobettermathgrades.Thereisamoredirectlinkbetweentheirfathers’involvementandteenageboys’beliefintheirabilitytosucceedontheacademicfront.Thisheightenedself-confidenceincreasedtheirsuccessinEnglishlanguageartsclasses.
Suizzosuggeststhatcounselorsandeducatorsshouldencouragefatherstocommunicatewarmthandacceptancetotheirchildren,becauseofthepositiveinfluencetheseemotionshaveontheirwell-being.
Apossibleversion:
Evidenceshowsthatmotherscanhelpchildrenovercomedifficulties,butarecentstudyfindsthatfathersalsohavepositiveinfluences.(Point1)Theycanhelpchildrenfeelmoreoptimisticandself-confident,(Point2)whichbooststhemathscoresofteenagegirls(Point3)andthelanguageabilitiesofboys(Point4).Therefore,fathersshouldbeencouragedtoconveycareandrecognitiontotheirchildren.(Point5)(56words)
P.S.如果学生把第三点和第四点进行合并，做出类似improveschildren’sacademicperformance的表述，可以给一半分数。