Chapter 1: American Fathers, Children, and Their Educational Experience: Qualitative Reflections on Promoting Social Capital

Scholars, school personnel, and others continue to explore options to help American fathers play a more meaningful role in supporting their children’s education. Much of this research targets fathers of young children in early childhood programs, especially in families eligible to participate in the Early Head Start and Head Start programs (Palm & Fagan, 2008, see also Fitzpatrick, 2011). Survey research also examines how children’s educational aspirations and academic performance are correlated with fathers’ personal attributes, demographic characteristics, and family circumstances (McBride, Schoppe-Sullivan, & Ho, 2005). Overall, these efforts assume that under the right set of circumstances sufficiently motivated fathers (and mothers) can enhance how well their children adjust to school settings and perform academically (Kreider, Caspe, Kennedy, & Weiss, 2007; Tsikalas, Lee, & Newkirk, 2007; Walker, Hover-Dempsey, Whetsel, & Green, 2004).