Parents social and resource capital: Predictors of academic achievement during early childhood

Although research in the area of academic achievement has expanded over the past several years, questions about the individual and social factors, especially in early childhood, remain unanswered. The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent parents and teacher/school's social capital and resource capital predict academic achievement in early childhood. It is also the purpose of this study to examine the usefulness of social capital theory in claming and understanding of academic achievement in early childhood. This study utilized the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K). Children and their parents who participated in the study in the Spring of 1999 (baseline) and the Spring of 2002 (third grade) was the focus of this research. Results from this study found that parent's resource capital is a better predicator of children's academic achievement than parents' social capital. This study also discusses the findings in relation to implications for future research and policy work.