Adaptive educational expectations: How do parental educational expectations respond to child academic performance in various family contexts?

Parental educational expectations are well-studied in sociology of education and social stratification and mobility, but most literature conceptualizes these expectations as static or considers how they change only at key educational junctures such as educational transitions. Whether parental educational expectations adapt to child academic performance more generally, and what might be the key theoretical components in adaptation, are not well-conceptualized or tested. To address these limitations, we posit and test the concept of adaptive educational expectations.

How far can the apple fall? Differences in teacher perceptions of minority and immigrant parents and their impact on academic outcomes.

While a large body of research has focused on increasing parental involvement in schools, less work has considered teacher perceptions of parental involvement. Teacher perceptions of parents are important because they influence teacher practices and relationships with students, with ensuing consequences for student outcomes. Prior research suggests that teacher perceptions of parents vary by children's family background, but empirical work comparing teacher perceptions of parental involvement across groups and the impact of such perceptions on different student outcomes is lacking.

The Kids are All Right? Income Inequality and Civic Engagement among Our Nation's Youth.

Prior work suggests that income inequality depresses civic participation among adults. However, associations between income inequality and youth civic engagement have not been assessed. This is true despite evidence that other features of communities influence youth civic development.