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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Parental programs

Overview

  • Influence: Parental programs
  • Domain: Home
  • Sub-Domain: Home environment
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Programs involving parents, such as family literacy, support, parent education, and home programs to help parents work with students.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 13
  • Number of studies: 722
  • Number of students: 62,609
  • Number of effects: 1,819
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.40
  • Robustness index: 5

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Educational Research Graue, Weinstein, & Walberg School-based home instruction and learning: A quantitative synthesis 1983 Effects of home instruction 29 NA 29 0.71
Dissertation Comfort Evaluating the effectiveness of parent training to improve outcomes for young children: a meta-analytic review of the published research 2003 Parent training on cognitive/language 94 1,888 43 0.56
Children and Youth Services Review Manning, Homel, & Smith A meta-analysis of the effects of early developmental prevention programs in at-risk populations on non-health outcomes in adolescence 2010 Developmental programs 17 NA 17 0.34
Report Layzer, Goodson, Nernstein, & Price National Evaluation of Family Support Programs 2001 Family support programs 260 NA 260 0.37
Dissertation Nelson A meta-analysis of parent education programs for children two to nine years 1994 Parent education programs 21 NA 135 0.41
Children and Youth Services Review Grindal, Bowne, Yoshikawa, Schindler, Duncan, Magnuson, & Shonkoff The added impact of parenting education in early childhood education programs: A meta-analysis 2016 Parent education programs 43 NA 321 0.02
Dissertation Russell A meta-analysis of published research on the effects of non-maternal care on child development. 1998 Nonmaternal care 40 23,986 40 0.14
Review of Educational Research De Bondt, Willenberg, & Bus Do book giveaway programs promote the home literacy environment and children's literacy-related behavior and skills? 2020 Books in home 23 NA 23 0.29
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Roberts & Kaiser The effectiveness of parent-implemented language interventions: A meta-analysis 2011 Parent implemented programs 18 684 18 0.51
Psychological Development and Education Xie, Shi, Yin, & Lan A meta-analysis of the relationships between Chinese parenting styles and children's academic achievement. 2022 Parental warmth and understanding 54 24,630 793 0.37
Early Childhood Research Quarterly Heidlage, Cunningham, Kaiser, Trivette, Barton, Frey, & Roberts The effects of parent-implemented language interventions on child linguistic outcomes: A meta-analysis. 2020 Parent language interventions 25 1,734 25 0.52
Pediatrics Madigan, Prime, Graham, Rodrigues, Anderson, Khoury, & Jenkins Parenting behavior and child language: A meta-analysis.  2019 Sensitive responsive parenting and child language 37 NA 36 0.56
Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review Prime, Andrews, Markwell, Gonzalez, Janus, Tricco, Bennett, & Atkinson Positive parenting and early childhood cognition: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.  2023 Positive parenting on academics 61 9,687 79 0.46
TOTAL/AVERAGE 722 62,609 1,819 0.40
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