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Article

Association Between Parental Attendance at Early Adolescence’s Parent–Teacher Conferences and Their Children’s Performance in Standardized Exams for High School and College Entrance

by
Sydney L. Fu
1,
Sean O. Fu
1,
Rebecca Y. Chen
2,3,
Earl Fu
2,3,
Martin M. Fu
2,
Tony Szu-Hsien Lee
4 and
Hsun-Yu Chan
5,*
1
Xiugang Campus, Kang Chiao International School, New Taipei City 231049, Taiwan
2
Department of Dentistry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City 114201, Taiwan
3
Department of Dentistry, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, New Taipei City 231016, Taiwan
4
Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City 106308, Taiwan
5
Department of Industrial Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City 106308, Taiwan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(6), 750; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060750
Submission received: 14 March 2025 / Revised: 26 May 2025 / Accepted: 2 June 2025 / Published: 13 June 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Education and Psychology)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

Adolescents’ performance in high-stakes standardized examinations plays a pivotal role in shaping their educational trajectories. This longitudinal study investigated whether parental attendance at parent–teacher conferences (PTCs) during early adolescence is associated with students’ performance in standardized examinations required for high school and college entrance. Drawing on data from the Taiwan Youth Project, we analyzed responses from 1294 ninth-grade students and 524 twelfth-grade students with available exam results. Parental participation in PTCs was recorded in both seventh and eighth grades, along with two other types of school-based involvement and covariates, such as parental education level, household income, students’ birth order, prior academic rank, peer relationships, parental support, and parental expectations. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to control for individual and school-level variables. The results showed that parental attendance at PTCs in eighth grade was associated with higher scores on high school entrance exams in ninth grade. Furthermore, attending PTCs in both seventh and eighth grades was significantly associated with better performance in college entrance exams in twelfth grade (β = 3.02, p < 0.01). These findings suggest that sustained parental engagement in PTCs contributes to improved academic performance in adolescence. Policies that promote equitable and continued parent–teacher collaboration may support long-term student success.

1. Introduction

School-based parental involvement plays a crucial role in fostering family–school cooperation and influencing children’s social and educational development in both elementary and middle schools (Castro et al., 2015; Fan & Chen, 2001; Kim, 2022; Wilder, 2014). It also strengthens the parent–teacher relationship by increasing parents’ knowledge of the curriculum, enhancing social capital, promoting mutual respect between parents and teachers, and providing teachers with insight into parents’ educational values (Hill et al., 2004; Hill & Tyson, 2009). Among the various types of school-based parental involvement, parent–teacher conferences (PTCs) are among the platforms most commonly used for communication between parents and teachers in elementary and secondary schools. PTCs offer a valuable opportunity for both parents and teachers. Parents are typically invited to attend these conferences once or twice a year, offering opportunities for face-to-face interaction with their children’s teachers. Recent studies have shown that PTCs not only provide parents with deeper insight into their children’s academic progress and performance (Hou & Hsieh, 2019), but are also associated with higher grade point averages (GPAs) for students (Fu et al., 2022). However, it remains unclear whether parental attendance at PTCs early in middle school is linked to their children’s high-stakes exam performance a few years later.
For students in Taiwan, the target research site of this study, high-stakes standardized exams are administered at the end of both middle school (i.e., ninth grade) and high school (i.e., twelfth grade). Ninth graders are required to take the Basic Competence Test for Junior High School Students (BCTJHSS). This examination consisted of five subjects (i.e., Chinese, English, mathematics, science, and social studies) and one essay assessment. The BCTJHSS score is crucial for determining a ninth grader’s placement in high school. Similarly, twelfth graders are required to take the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) for university admission. The GSAT comprises the same five subjects as BCTJHSS. The GSAT assesses the academic skills and knowledge of high school students and plays an extremely vital role in giving students ranking priorities when choosing the universities and programs they would like to enroll in.
While studies from Taiwan and other countries have explored the general benefits of parental involvement, most longitudinal studies have aggregated various forms of school-based involvement, such as volunteering, attending events, and communication frequency, making it difficult to isolate the effect of PTCs (Altschul, 2011; Benner et al., 2016; Cheung, 2019; Day & Dotterer, 2018; Hong & Ho, 2005; Oyserman et al., 2007). Only one prior longitudinal study has specifically examined PTC (Fu et al., 2022), but it was limited by its reliance on midterm scores, short follow-up duration, and lack of adjustment for prior academic performance or parental expectations. This highlights the need for further research to understand the long-term relationship between PTCs and students’ academic outcomes. This study aims to address these gaps by examining the longitudinal association between parental attendance at PTCs in the first two years of middle school (i.e., seventh and eighth grades) and students’ performance on national standardized high-stakes exams at the end of ninth and twelfth grades, while accounting for prior academic achievement and sociodemographic factors. Specifically, we sought to explore whether parental attendance at PTCs during early adolescence is associated with students’ standardized exam performance in high school and college entrance exams. The results could help parents, schools, and policymakers better understand the potential benefits of PTCs for early secondary school students.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Population and Sample

The data used in this study are publicly available and do not contain private or identifiable information. The data were sourced from the Taiwan Youth Project (TYP), a panel study by Academia Sinica, Taiwan (Academia Sinica, 2025). Therefore, institutional review board approval and informed consent were not applicable. The TYP is a panel survey study of Taiwanese youth initiated in 2000 and conducted by the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica (Academia Sinica, 2025; Yi, 2013; Yi et al., 2009). Participants in the TYP were selected using a multistage, stratified, school-based, class-clustered random sampling procedure to ensure a representative sample. The first stratum was based on the school district. The second stratum was determined by the urbanization level of the place of residence. Public junior high schools from regions with three different levels of urbanization were randomly selected. In each selected school, two to three homeroom classes were also chosen at random. All students in these classes, along with one of their parents, were invited to complete structured self-administered questionnaires.
A total of 2690 7th graders (M age = 13.3 years, SD = 0.5) from 81 classes and 40 high schools in 3 counties in Northern Taiwan participated in the first wave of data collection (see Figure 1). In the analytic sample, we retained 1294 adolescents (M age = 13.3 years, SD = 0.5) from the high school entrance exam group who reported valid BCTJHSS scores. In addition, 524 adolescents (M age = 13.3 years, SD = 0.5) included in the college entrance exam group reported valid GSAT scores (see the Section 2.7 below and Figure 1 for details). All of the independent variables in this study were obtained from the first wave of the TYP data (i.e., 3 months before the end of 7th grade), except that the attendance of PTCs was obtained in the second wave (i.e., 3 months before the end of 8th grade). The standardized exam scores (i.e., BCTJHSS and GSAT) were obtained from the 4th wave (i.e., in 10th grade; 4 months after graduating from junior high school) and 6th wave (i.e., 9 months after graduating from senior high school).

2.2. Measurement of Independent Variables in 7th Grade

The frequency of participation in three different types of school-based parental involvement was collected through parents’ self-reports during their child’s first year of middle school. The survey questions for the three types of involvement were as follows: “Since entered junior high school, have you or your spouse ever attended a PTC at his/her school?”, “Since he/she entered junior high school, have you or your spouse served as a school volunteer or parent-teacher association member?” and “Since he/she entered junior high school, have you or your spouse participated in any school activities which were organized for parents or where parents were invited to participate?” The responses were dichotomized into two categories: “at least once” and “no”.

2.3. Measurement of PTC Attendance in 8th Grade

Parental attendance at PTCs during the second year of middle school (i.e., eighth grade) was assessed via students’ self-reports collected approximately three months before the end of the academic year. Students were asked the following question: “Since you entered the second year of junior high school, have your parents ever attended the parent-teacher conferences at your school?” Responses were dichotomized into two categories: “yes” or “no.”

2.4. Measurement of National Exam Scores in 9th and 12th Grades

The scores of the national standardized exam for high school entrance (i.e., BCTJHSS) were self-reported by students after graduating from middle school. Similarly, the scores for the national standardized college entrance exam (i.e., GSAT) were self-reported by the students, but only if they were enrolled in a university 9 months after graduating from high school. The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile scores for the BCTJHSS were 93, 164, and 224, respectively, with a maximum attainable score of 312 in the year the study cohorts took the exam. Furthermore, the 50th percentile score of the GSAT was 45 out of a maximum score of 75 three years later during their assessment period.

2.5. Sociodemographic Covariates

Family-related variables, such as sociodemographic covariates, were collected through parents’ self-reports. These included the number of years of parents’ education (binary; more than 12 years or more), parents’ marital status (binary; classified as “atypical” if parents were divorced, separated, or deceased), and monthly household income (categorized ordinally into four levels). In addition, parental expectations for their child’s education attainment were assessed by asking parents what minimum level of education they expected for their child, categorized into four groups: master’s degree or higher, bachelor’s degree, diploma, and high school or lower.
Students were also asked questions on various factors, including whether they had any older siblings (dichotomized as “yes” and “no”), their class rank during the first semester of seventh grade (Top 10, Top 11–20, or over 21), their perception of parental warmth (“Do your parents often care about your emotions or issues?”), and their peer relationships (“How satisfied are you with your relationships with classmates and friends?”).

2.6. Statistical Analysis

Analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests were employed to identify associations between individual independent variables and entrance exam scores. Correlation matrices were constructed to detect potential multicollinearity between variables (see Tables S1–S3). No significant correlation coefficients above 0.7 were detected. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was applied due to a nested data structure (i.e., students within schools) to evaluate the association between parental attendance at PTCs and standardized exam scores, while accounting for individual-level covariates and school-level clustering. A significant level of p-values < 0.05 is considered statistically significant.

2.7. Missing Data

Participants who failed to report any of the three types of school-based parental involvement were initially excluded from the analysis, resulting in a valid baseline sample of 2484 individuals (Figure 1). For the high school entrance exam group, 326 students were lost to follow-up after graduating from junior high school. Little’s MCAR test indicated that the data were not missing completely at random (p < 0.001). Combined with contextual evidence, such as lower prior academic achievement and socioeconomic disadvantage, these cases were considered missing not at random (MNAR) and were excluded from further analysis. Another 864 students did not take the BCTJHSS exam and therefore did not report exam scores; these cases were counted as missing by design and excluded from further analysis. Another 35 had missing baseline covariates. Given that Little’s MCAR test indicated that the data were missing completely at random (p > 0.05), the missing data from the 35 participants were multiple-imputed by chained equations to estimate missing values, resulting in a final sample of 1294 participants (i.e., 52.1% of all valid 2484 participants) used for statistical analysis.
Similarly, for the college entrance exam group, 863 students were lost to follow-up after graduating from senior high school. Given that Little’s MCAR test indicated that the data were not missing completely at random (p < 0.001) with contextual judgment regarding patterns of nonresponse, those lost to follow-up were excluded. Another 1097 participants who did not provide their GSAT scores because they did not take the exam were counted as missing by design and excluded. Of the 524 students, 13 had missing baseline information. Multiple imputation was also conducted for these 13 cases, as Little’s MCAR test supported MCAR (p > 0.05). A final sample of 524 participants (21.1% of all valid 2484 participants) was used to analyze the impact of parental involvement on college entrance exam scores.

3. Results

3.1. Descriptive Statistics

Of the initial valid sample, 63.0% of students reported that their parents attended PTCs in seventh grade, while only 49.6% reported attendance in eighth grade. Among them, 41.8% had parents who attended PTCs in both grades (see Table 1). In the high school entrance exam group, 64.6% of the students had parents attend PTCs in seventh grade, 52.8% in eighth grade, and 44.4% across both years. In the college entrance exam group, the respective attendance rates were higher, at 76.2%, 65.4%, and 57.8%.
In contrast, less than 10% of the parents in all groups (6.7%, 6.7%, and 9.5%, respectively) volunteered at school activities or participated in parent–teacher associations when their children were in seventh grade. Additionally, in the high school entrance exam group, 44.6% of the students had parents attend other forms of school activities involving parental participation, whereas in the college entrance exam group, 51.9% of the students had their parents attend such activities.
A detailed comparison of background characteristics between the initial valid sample and the two analytic groups is provided in Table 1. The high school entrance exam group exhibited generally lower levels of prior academic achievement and parental expectations than the college group. Statistically significant differences were observed between both analytic groups and the initial sample across most demographic and background variables, except for gender and perceived peer relationships. This suggests that each group represents a distinct subpopulation of the original cohort.

3.2. Factors Associated with the Scores of Standardized Exams

In the high school entrance exam group, the mean BCTJHSS score was 168.72 (median = 171.00, SD = 53.63), whereas, in the college entrance exam group, the mean BCTJHSS score was 216.41 (median = 216.00, SD = 31.69) with a mean GSAT score of 50.62 (median = 50.00, SD = 9.32; see Table 2 and Table S4). According to univariate analysis (see Table 2), all variables except gender were significantly associated with the BCTJHSS scores in grade 9. However, for the GSAT score in grade 12, only PTC attendance, parental education level, household income, prior academic achievement, and parental expectation were associated with these scores.
Notably, students who were “very satisfied” with their peer relationships in the seventh grade had a significantly lower mean score on the high school entrance exam (M = 156.50; SD = 53.57) than those who were “satisfied” (M = 174.81; SD = 54.01; p < 0.001) and “unsatisfied” (M = 179.71; SD = 43.85; p < 0.001) with their peer relationships. This non-linear pattern was not observed for the college entrance exam (p = 0.43), suggesting that the relationship between peer satisfaction and academic performance may differ by age or type of student.

3.3. Hierarchical Linear Modeling

To further identify factors associated with standardized exam performance, HLM was conducted separately for the high school entrance exam (see Figure 2) and the college entrance exam (see Figure 3). Gender was excluded from analysis due to p-values greater than 0.20 with both exam scores in univariate analyses. For the college entrance exam group, parental marital status, birth order, and peer relationship were also excluded for the same reason (p > 0.20).
For the high school entrance exam, parental attendance at PTCs in both grades 7 and 8 was positively associated with higher scores (β = 11.42, p < 0.001), as were attendance in grade 7 only (β = 8.02, p = 0.03). Other significant predictors included peer relationship satisfaction (quadratic), parental emotional support, birth order, parents’ education level, household income, parental expectation, urbanization level of place of residence, and prior class rank (see Figure 2).
In contrast, for the college entrance exam scores, only attendance at PTCs in both grades 7 and 8 (β = 3.02, p = 0.01), parental education, household income, and prior class rank remained statistically significant (see Figure 3).

4. Discussion

While previous research has examined the longitudinal association between school-based parental involvement and junior high school students’ achievement (Altschul, 2011; Benner et al., 2016; Boonk et al., 2018; Castro et al., 2015; Cheung, 2019; Day & Dotterer, 2018; Hong & Ho, 2005; Oyserman et al., 2007), the specific impact of parental attendance at PTCs on high-stakes standardized examination performance remains understudied. Using longitudinal data from the Taiwan Youth Project, we demonstrated that students whose parents attended PTCs in the second year of middle school (i.e., eighth grade) achieved significantly higher scores on the standardized high school entrance exams at the end of middle school compared to those whose parents did not attend PTCs, as determined by HLM, which controls for both individual- and school-level variables. Moreover, only those students whose parents attended PTCs in both seventh and eighth grades scored significantly higher on the college entrance exam in twelfth grade, suggesting that sustained parental engagement may be critical for long-term academic success.
An early cross-sectional study in Taiwan found that school-based parental involvement was positively associated with seventh graders’ standardized test scores (Hsu et al., 2011). However, mixed results have been reported regarding the effect of school-based parental involvement on academic achievement, even when using the same database. For example, early longitudinal studies using the US National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) database showed that school-based parental involvement (without examining individual types of involvement) did not improve the GPA of eighth graders (Altschul, 2011) or tenth graders after one to two years (Wang & Sheikh-Khalil, 2014). In contrast, a later longitudinal study using the same database reported that school-based parental involvement helped tenth graders achieve better GPAs two years later (Benner et al., 2016). Two other studies evaluated the results of PTCs and other activities/events separately from the same NELS database (Houtenville & Conway, 2008; Strayhorn, 2010). Aligning with our findings, they found that parental attendance at PTCs was associated with higher academic performance two years later. However, parental attendance at school events or volunteering had no correlation with their academic scores. It is therefore crucial to evaluate PTCs separately from other types of school-based parental involvement.
Our results also align with a recent longitudinal study from China that demonstrated that seventh graders whose parents participated in PTCs and proactively communicated with teachers had higher midterm exam scores one year later (Fu et al., 2022). Their results suggested a positive relationship between parent–teacher relationships and adolescents’ school performance. The present study extends this scope further by including the attendance of TPC in grade 8 and using scores from national standardized examinations taken at the end of grades 9 and 12. The two national standardized examinations evaluated in this study are critical for determining students’ future enrollment opportunities. Knowing how to improve performance in high-stakes examinations is critical for students’ future educational success. In addition, we accounted for potential confounders, such as the urbanization level of place of residence (Ma et al., 2014; Yulianti et al., 2021; Zheng et al., 2022), birth order (Hertwig et al., 2002; Price, 2008), prior academic performance (Benner et al., 2016; Casillas et al., 2012), parental care for their children’s emotional well-being (Rueger et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2023), and parental expectations (Chen & Gregory, 2009; Jeynes, 2024; Pearce, 2006). We also included two other types of school-based parental involvement (i.e., parents volunteering or participating in school activities or governance) to confirm the role of PTCs in school-based parental involvement (see Figure 2 and Figure 3).
In line with previous studies and meta-analyses showing that parental attendance and participation in school activities have only a weak or minimal effect on children’s academic achievement (Castro et al., 2015; Hill & Tyson, 2009; Houtenville & Conway, 2008; Strayhorn, 2010), our study failed to find that parental volunteering or attendance in school activities was significantly associated with the scores of standardized exams in the linear regression models. An early meta-analytic study showed that school-based parental involvement in middle school only strongly correlated with academic achievement when it facilitated understanding, communication, or strategy development (Hill & Tyson, 2009). While frequent parent–teacher contact directly promotes students’ academic development, recent research suggests that the quality of parent–teacher relationships and the alignment of their goals are more important than the frequency of interactions (Deng et al., 2018). The lack of in-depth parent–teacher communication about academic progress may explain why parental volunteering and participation in school events were not significantly associated with students’ standardized exam scores in this study. Another recent study showed that middle school students’ perceptions of their relationships with their teachers mediate the association between parental involvement and academic performance (Cheung, 2019). This further highlights the importance of in-depth parent–teacher communication when parents attend school activities.
Compared to parents’ volunteering, participation in the parent–teacher association, or other school-based parental involvement, PTCs are the school activities with the highest attendance rate (i.e., 63.0% and 49.6% of the initial valid participants had parents attend PTCs in seventh and eighth grades, respectively; Table 2). Although parents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may have lower attendance rates at PTCs (Table S5), possibly due to work obligations, language barriers, or unfamiliarity with the system and its benefits, attending PTCs does not require advanced knowledge or skills. PTCs typically focus on academic progress, are well structured by the school, time-managed by teachers, and held only once or twice yearly. Consequently, participation in PTCs may be more feasible and practical for parents with less privileged backgrounds. Previous studies have also shown that school-based parental involvement is especially beneficial for students from families with low socioeconomic status and those with lower prior academic achievement (Benner et al., 2016; Jæger, 2011). Therefore, prioritizing the promotion of students from families with low socioeconomic status is important, and PTC events should cater more to the needs of these parents. Based on our results, schools should encourage parents to continue attending PTC for more than just the first year of middle school. Schools could also adopt flexible scheduling options, such as offering meetings in the evenings or on weekends, providing virtual meeting alternatives, and offering childcare during conference times. Language assistance services and culturally sensitive communication strategies can also be employed to support immigrant families or parents with limited literacy. Targeted outreach to parents with lower attendance rates, such as reminder calls or transportation support, may further reduce participation barriers. These measures could help ensure that PTCs are an equitable tool for promoting all students’ academic success.
Previous studies have revealed that the impact of parental involvement typically declines as students’ progress from kindergarten to twelfth grade (Hill & Tyson, 2009; Koepp et al., 2022). Specifically, parents of middle school students tend to be more engaged in their children’s academic activities than parents of high school students. This decline in parental involvement may be partly explained by students’ developmental transition toward greater independence and autonomy, as they increasingly prioritize peer relationships over parental support (Roorda et al., 2011; Sethi & Scales, 2020). Additionally, the structure of the educational system changes between middle school and high school, with high school environments often placing greater emphasis on student self-management and academic specialization, which may further reduce the role and perceived effectiveness of parental involvement. These developmental and systemic shifts may explain why sustained attendance at TPCs in seventh and eighth grades was needed to find a significant correlation between PTCs and standardized exam scores in twelfth grade. Our findings align with previous US studies demonstrating that school-based parental involvement has a diminished impact on academic achievement in tenth-grade (Choi et al., 2015) and high school (Hayes, 2012) students.
Another noteworthy finding in this study was the non-linear association between students’ satisfaction with peer relationships and their academic performance on high-stakes exams. Specifically, students who reported being “very satisfied” or “very unsatisfied” with their peer relationships had significantly lower high school entrance exam scores than those who reported being moderately satisfied. Recent studies have also shown that a moderate level of peer engagement (Zhou et al., 2023) or moderate use of social media (Tafesse, 2022) had the most beneficial effect on academic performance. Both minimal and excessive peer interactions can be associated with poorer academic outcomes. One possible explanation is that students who are overly focused on social interactions may allocate less time and energy to their academic responsibilities, while those with very low peer satisfaction may lack the social support that facilitates academic motivation and resilience. Supporting this interpretation, a study of medical students in Taiwan (i.e., who scored in the top 1% on the college entrance exam) found that these high achievers exhibited a relatively low need for social affiliation compared to other personality traits (Fang & Lii, 2015). Nevertheless, the current finding appears to contrast with a large body of literature emphasizing the positive role of peer relationships in academic success (Shao & Kang, 2022; Wentzel et al., 2018, 2021; Yu et al., 2023). This discrepancy highlights the need for further research to clarify whether the effect of peer satisfaction on academic performance follows a curvilinear pattern across different cultural and educational contexts.

Limitations

Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, the perceived feelings of students and parents in this study were collected through single-item questions rather than multi-item scales, which typically provide a more robust and insightful approach. However, the simplicity of the one-sentence questions allows for the exploration of a broader range of topics (Diamantopoulos et al., 2012) and reduces the cognitive burden and research fatigue that may skew the participants’ responses. Second, academic socialization is a significant factor in academic achievement in secondary school (Hill & Tyson, 2009; Wang & Sheikh-Khalil, 2014). However, questions related to academic socialization were not available in the database and thus could not be evaluated in this study. To address this gap, we included parental expectations of students’ educational attainment as a partial proxy indicator of academic socialization, given its established link to adolescents’ academic motivation and achievement (Hill & Tyson, 2009; Pearce, 2006). Nonetheless, we acknowledge that parental expectations alone cannot fully capture the multifaceted nature of academic socialization. Third, substantial attrition occurred between the initial cohort and the follow-up samples used in this analysis. Students who dropped out or did not report their exam scores were more likely to come from families with a lower socioeconomic status and weaker academic records (see Table 1). Because these students never took the standardized exams, their outcomes are considered missing not at random (MNAR). Consequently, they were excluded from the final analyses. This limits the generalizability of our findings, particularly to students at the lower end of the academic spectrum. Finally, future studies are needed to conduct detailed analyses of the potential mechanisms between PTCs and students’ performance scores and to identify viable pathways through which PTCs are linked to performance in high-stakes standardized exams.

5. Conclusions

Utilizing longitudinal data, we provided insights into factors associated with standardized exam scores for entrance to high school and college. Using hierarchical linear modeling to account for nested data and key sociodemographic covariates, our analysis demonstrated that parental attendance at PTCs in the second year of middle school is associated with higher scores on the standardized high school entrance exam (grade 9). Moreover, sustained attendance across both seventh and eighth grades is associated with improved performance on the college entrance exam (grade 12).
Our findings underscore the long-term academic value of PTCs and support the need for increased investment in PTCs by parents, schools, and policymakers. Efforts to encourage consistent parental attendance across multiple years may be especially important for supporting students’ academic trajectories through adolescence and into higher education.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/educsci15060750/s1, Table S1. Correlation matrix of baseline characteristics among initial valid participants; Table S2. Correlation matrix of baseline characteristics among participants in the high school entrance exam group. Table S3. Correlation matrix of baseline characteristics among participants in the college entrance exam group. Table S4. Mean scores on high school entrance exam (9th grade) by patterns of parental attendance at parent–teacher conferences across study waves.

Author Contributions

S.L.F., S.O.F. and M.M.F. conceived, designed, analyzed the data, and wrote and revised the manuscript. R.Y.C., E.F., T.S.-H.L. and H.-Y.C. developed the conceptual framework and supervised and reviewed the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Institutional Review Board Statement

This study does not require ethical approval.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are publicly available and do not contain private or identifiable information, obtained from Academia Sinica, Taiwan (https://srda.sinica.edu.tw/plan/?idx=SRDA.AS001, accessed on 13 April 2025).

Acknowledgments

We thank Principal Winston Hsu (徐文淞) of Kang Chiao International School, Xiugang Campus, and Teacher Cynthia Lin (林羿彣) for their inspiration in making this project possible.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

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Education 15 00750 g001
Figure 1. Consort flowchart illustrating participant selection and attrition at enrollment, 3-year (high school entrance exam), and 6-year (college entrance exam) follow-ups. a MNAR = Missing not at random; based on Little’s MCAR test (p < 0.001) and contextual judgment regarding patterns of nonresponse. b MCAR = Missing completely at random; based on Little’s MCAR test (p > 0.05).
Figure 1. Consort flowchart illustrating participant selection and attrition at enrollment, 3-year (high school entrance exam), and 6-year (college entrance exam) follow-ups. a MNAR = Missing not at random; based on Little’s MCAR test (p < 0.001) and contextual judgment regarding patterns of nonresponse. b MCAR = Missing completely at random; based on Little’s MCAR test (p > 0.05).
Education 15 00750 g001
Education 15 00750 g002
Figure 2. Forest plot presenting results of hierarchical linear modeling predicting high school entrance exam scores in 9th grade.
Figure 2. Forest plot presenting results of hierarchical linear modeling predicting high school entrance exam scores in 9th grade.
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Education 15 00750 g003
Figure 3. Forest plot presenting results of hierarchical linear regression predicting college entrance exam scores in 12th grade.
Figure 3. Forest plot presenting results of hierarchical linear regression predicting college entrance exam scores in 12th grade.
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Table 1. Comparison of sociodemographic characteristics between initial valid sample and analytic groups with available high school (9th grade) or college (12th grade) entrance exam scores.
Table 1. Comparison of sociodemographic characteristics between initial valid sample and analytic groups with available high school (9th grade) or college (12th grade) entrance exam scores.
Initial Valid Participants (n = 2484) n (%)High School Entrance Exam Group (n = 1294) n (%)p-Value (Initial vs. High School)χ2College Entrance Exam Group (n = 524) n (%)p-Value (Initial vs. College)χ2
Parent attended PTCs
  Both grades 7 & 81036 (41.7)575 (44.4)0.303.68303 (57.8)<0.0154.57
  Grade 7: no; grade 8: yes196 (7.9)109 (8.4) 40 (7.6)
  Grade 7: yes; grade 8: no528 (21.3)261 (20.2) 97 (18.5)
  Never724 (29.1)349 (27.0) 84 (16.0)
Parent volunteered school activities or PTA
  Yes167 (6.7)85 (6.6)0.860.0350 (9.5)0.025.14
  No2317 (93.3)1209 (93.4) 474 (90.5)
Parent attended school activities involving parents
  Yes1043 (42.0)577 (44.6)0.132.35272 (51.9)<0.0117.31
  No1441 (58.0)717 (55.4) 252 (48.1)
Student’s gender
  Male1257 (50.6)653 (50.5)0.930.01263 (50.2)0.860.03
  Female1227 (49.4)641 (49.5) 261 (49.8)
Place of Residence
  Urban (Taipei City)956 (38.5)474 (36.6)0.065.53232 (44.3)0.027.49
  Suburban (Taipei County)979 (39.4)490 (37.9) 176 (33.6)
  Least-urbanized (Yilan)549 (22.1)330 (25.5) 116 (22.1)
Parental education
  >12 years683 (27.5)393 (30.4)0.063.48230 (43.9)<0.0154.95
  =< 12 years1800 (72.5)900 (69.6) 294 (56.1)
  Missing11
Parental marital status
  Typical2153 (86.8)1144 (88.5)0.152.04474 (90.5)0.025.14
  Atypical326 (13.2)149 (11.5) 50 (9.5)
  Missing51
Monthly household income
  ≥NT$ a 90,000429 (17.5)254 (19.9)0.244.24147 (28.4)<0.0150.06
  $60,000–89,999564 (23.0)301 (23.5) 134 (25.9)
  $30,000–59,999890 (36.4)455 (35.6) 171 (33.0)
  <NT$ a 30,000564 (23.0)269 (21.0) 66 (12.7)
  Missing3715 6
Firstborn
  Yes1056 (42.5)591 (45.7)0.063.45268 (51.1)<0.0112.98
  No1426 (57.5)702 (54.3) 256 (48.9)
  Missing21
Grade 7 first semester class rank
  Top 10830 (33.6)494 (38.3)<0.0126.32359 (68.6)<0.01254.23
  Top 11–20818 (33.1)470 (36.4) 132 (25.2)
  After 21825 (33.4)326 (25.3) 32 (6.1)
  Missing114 1
Student perceived peer relationships
  Very satisfied890 (35.9)447 (34.6)0.870.73158 (30.2)0.077.08
  Satisfied1330 (53.6)710 (55.0) 311 (59.4)
  Unsatisfied224 (9.0)117 (9.1) 49 (9.4)
  Very unsatisfied37 (1.5)18 (1.4) 6 (1.1)
  Missing32
Student perceived parental care about student’s emotions/issues
  Often868 (35.0)463 (35.8)0.930.45237 (45.3)<0.0129.82
  Sometimes740 (29.8)387 (29.9) 151 (28.9)
  Occasionally615 (24.8)309 (23.9) 110 (21.0)
  Never259 (10.4)134 (10.4) 25 (4.8)
   Missing21 1
Parental expectation for student’s educational attainment
   Master’s degree or higher214 (8.7)129 (10.0)<0.0115.593 (17.9)<0.01166.34
  Bachelor’s degree1219 (49.5)684 (53.3) 357 (68.8)
  Diploma536 (21.8)277 (21.6) 52 (10.0)
  High school or lower495 (20.1)194 (15.1) 17 (3.3)
  Missing2010 5
a 1 US$ = ~30 NT$; PTCs = Parent-teacher Conferences; PTA = Parent-teacher association; Note: Percentages and Chi-square tests are calculated based non-missing data.
Table 2. Univariate associations between student and family characteristics in 7th grade and standardized entrance exam scores in grads 9 and 12.
Table 2. Univariate associations between student and family characteristics in 7th grade and standardized entrance exam scores in grads 9 and 12.
High School Entrance Exam Score in Grade 9 (n = 1294)College Entrance Exam Score in Grade 12 (n = 524)
MeanSDp-ValueMeanSDp-Value
All participants168.7253.63--50.629.32--
Parent attended PTCs
  Both grades 7 & 8189.2050.01<0.00151.869.62<0.001
  Grade 7: no; grade 8: yes170.1750.32 51.257.62
  Grade 7: yes; grade 8: no162.1648.63 49.429.29
  Never139.4149.22 57.208.05
Parent volunteered school activities or PTA
  At least once191.7946.51<0.00152.009.530.286
  Never167.0953.74 50.479.30
Parent attended school activities involving parents
  At least once177.3352.75<0.00151.299.460.078
  Never161.7853.37 49.909.14
Student’s gender
  Male167.5555.460.50450.8610.250.439
  Female169.9051.72 50.388.30
Place of residence
  Urban (Taipei City)190.2051.72<0.00151.529.620.113
  Suburban (Taipei County)166.5551.50 49.658.33
  Least-urbanized (Yilan County)141.0745.59 50.2810.03
Parental education
  >12 years197.1548.74<0.00153.179.81<0.001
  ≤12 years156.3150.90 48.628.42
Parental marital status
  Typical170.3253.610.00450.709.360.465
  Atypical156.3852.39 49.829.05
Monthly household income
  ≥NT$ a 90,000196.4448.99<0.00152.509.91<0.001
  $60,000–89,999178.8651.54 51.689.05
  $30,000–59,999162.6851.30 49.819.09
  <NT$ a 30,000141.3248.61 46.407.58
Firstborn
  Yes178.4953.00<0.00151.068.920.224
  No160.5052.82 50.169.72
Grade 7 first semester class rank
  Top 10207.9339.09<0.00153.278.74<0.001
  Top 11–20162.8042.06 45.787.51
  After 21118.0339.63 40.948.14
Student perceived peer relationships
  Very satisfied156.5053.37<0.00149.699.620.425
  Satisfied174.8154.01 50.969.29
  Unsatisfied179.7143.85 51.518.80
  Very unsatisfied160.5050.62 49.837.08
Student perceived parental care about student’s emotions/issues
  Often179.3654.05<0.00151.489.680.144
  Sometimes167.7653.12 49.289.21
  Occasionally162.5849.27 50.348.96
  Never148.8955.74 51.847.40
Parental expectation for student’s educational attainment
  Master’s degree or higher209.7943.94<0.00154.939.69<0.001
  Bachelor’s degree184.8047.34 50.249.12
  Diploma142.4544.38 46.357.65
  High school or lower122.2543.67 48.117.81
a 1 US$ = ~30 NT$; PTA = Parent-teacher association.
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Fu, S.L.; Fu, S.O.; Chen, R.Y.; Fu, E.; Fu, M.M.; Lee, T.S.-H.; Chan, H.-Y. Association Between Parental Attendance at Early Adolescence’s Parent–Teacher Conferences and Their Children’s Performance in Standardized Exams for High School and College Entrance. Educ. Sci. 2025, 15, 750. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060750

AMA Style

Fu SL, Fu SO, Chen RY, Fu E, Fu MM, Lee TS-H, Chan H-Y. Association Between Parental Attendance at Early Adolescence’s Parent–Teacher Conferences and Their Children’s Performance in Standardized Exams for High School and College Entrance. Education Sciences. 2025; 15(6):750. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060750

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fu, Sydney L., Sean O. Fu, Rebecca Y. Chen, Earl Fu, Martin M. Fu, Tony Szu-Hsien Lee, and Hsun-Yu Chan. 2025. "Association Between Parental Attendance at Early Adolescence’s Parent–Teacher Conferences and Their Children’s Performance in Standardized Exams for High School and College Entrance" Education Sciences 15, no. 6: 750. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060750

APA Style

Fu, S. L., Fu, S. O., Chen, R. Y., Fu, E., Fu, M. M., Lee, T. S.-H., & Chan, H.-Y. (2025). Association Between Parental Attendance at Early Adolescence’s Parent–Teacher Conferences and Their Children’s Performance in Standardized Exams for High School and College Entrance. Education Sciences, 15(6), 750. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060750

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