Parental involvement, child effort, and the development of immigrant boys' and girls' reading and mathematics skills: A latent difference score growth model

•Girls from immigrant families increased reading scores from K to 1st grade.•Boys from immigrant families increased math scores from 3rd to 5th grade.•Boys benefited more than did girls from parental involvement at home over time.•Child's effort in reading benefited reading and math scores for boys and girls.

Gender differences in elementary school performance among immigrant children have not yet been well documented. This study examined how differences in parental involvement, child effort, and family characteristics and resources contribute to immigrant boys'-and girls' academic achievement from kindergarten through 5th-grade. The sample was drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort. Using a latent score growth model, this study found that parents' involvement at home benefited boys' reading and mathematics skills throughout all early elementary school years, but did not have the same benefit for girls. For both boys and girls, child effort in reading appears to be strongly linked to better reading and mathematics skills at kindergarten and to subsequent improvement between grades. The positive associations of parental involvement and child's effort with test scores were greater during earlier years than during later years for boys, whereas there was no difference in the association over time for girls.