Thanks for posting this important article, "
Parents make a big difference just by talking." You are right that this is not new news, however it may be new to some audiences. This is a message worth repeating as it provides a solution which has no monetary cost... a solution which is truly free, not just free at point of service with costs being transferred elsewhere. The results of this
OECD study echo findings by Hart-Risely in the 1960's. (Read about that 50-year-old study
here,
here, and
here.)
The difference among families, including variability in the degree of willingness of parents to show interest in their children's lives by engaging them in conversation
("generativity" - an interest in establishing and guiding the next generation), helps explain why schools labor in vain to achieve "equal outcomes".
Policies, practices, and school teachers cannot make up for lack of parents simply engaging their children in conversation. Unless schools are engaging in institutionalized bullying...
On average across countries, students who reported that their teacher is willing to provide help and is interested in their learning are also about 1.3 times more likely to feel that they belong at school.
Students who reported unfair treatment by teachers were 1.7 times more likely to report feeling isolated.
It is often reported by parents on these forums that gifted students are expected to work in isolation and be auto-didactic... which seems to be opposite of a teacher
willing to provide help or being
interested in their learning. Gifted students may also experience
unfair treatment by teachers in other ways. For example, the theft of a gifted student's intellectual property is alluded to in this
old post about opportunity. Therefore it should be no surprise that many gifted children do not
feel that they belong at school. Hence, homeschooling with their parents who make a big difference just by talking.
