A father's relationship to his child's current and future academic success and file 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 appraise. 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 revealed that children whose fathers came to school conferences and accompanied their children on outing did measurably better in school than those children whose fathers were not involved in those activities. The study, which monitored children born during a week in March, 1992, from the time of their birth through the years of their early schooling, further revealed that the children of actively involved fathers scored much higher in reading and math than 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 anticipated. 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 child. 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 of the child's level in math and reading, a father's employment on night 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 elicited primarily from the admittedly (公认的) subjective observations of their wives.

The main discovery made in the study was that

A．children in large families tend to do poorly in school.

B．a father's influence played a significant factor in the level of the child's academic progress.

C．mothers were subjective in evaluating the roles played by fathers.

D．there is a correlation between socioeconomic status and scholastic achievement.