Expectations of Students in Kindergarten

This paper compares kindergarten classrooms between 1998 and 2010 using two large nationally-representative datasets. We show substantial changes in each of the five dimensions considered: kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about school readiness, time spent on academic and non-academic content, classroom organization, pedagogical approach, and use of standardized assessments. Kindergarten teachers in the later period held far higher academic expectations for children both prior to kindergarten entry and during the kindergarten year. They devote more time to advanced literacy and math content, teacher-directed instruction and assessment, and substantially less time to art, music, science and child-selected activities. Changes were most pronounced for schools serving high proportions of low-income and non-white children.

Bassok, D., Latham, S., & Rorem, A. (2016). Is kindergarten the new first grade?: The changing nature of kindergarten in the age of accountability. AERA Open, 1(4), 1-31, http://dx.doi.org/.1177/2332858415616358.

Parent-child relations studies

A new study has found that students' anxieties often are based on exaggerated perceptions of what their parents expect. Many parents and students hold different perceptions of what the parents' expectations are. Students often are trying to meet goals far tougher than the ideals their parents have in mind.
Agliata, A., & Renk, K. (2008, Sep.) College Students’ Adjustment: The Role of Parent–College Student Expectation Discrepancies and Communication Reciprocity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(8).


A separate study is among the first to examine how parenting styles remain a strong influence on how students adjust to college. Students reported making smoother transitions to college if they have at least one parent whose style combines warmth, a demanding nature and democracy -- the same combination that is best for young children.
McKinney, C., & Renk, K. (2008). Differential Parenting Between Mothers and Fathers: Implications for Late Adolescents. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 806 - 827.