The Effects of Parent Educational 

Expectations on the Competence 

Development of Rural Left-Behind Children: 

An Empirical Study Based on CEPS Data

Tianxue Zhang, Heng Huang 

 
College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 

321004, Zhejiang, China 

 

Abstract: Based on data from the China Education Panel Survey 

(CEPS), this study conducted an empirical analysis of the effect of 
parent educational expectations on the competence development of rural 

left-behind children and the underlying mediating mechanism. The 

research findings reveal that rural left-behind children have far less 
developed competencies than their non-left-behind counterparts and that 

parent educational expectations significantly and positively influence the 
competence development of left-behind children. Specifically, parent 

academic expectations impose the greatest impact on academic results 

of left-behind children; parent expectations of child education levels 
have the widest effects on various competencies of left-behind children; 

Parent involvement and teacher support exert a chain mediating effect 
on the relationship between parent educational expectations and the 

competence development of rural left-behind children. The mediation 

effect of teacher support or the concurrence of teacher support and 
parent involvement remarkably promoted the competence development 

of rural left-behind children, while parent involvement alone results in 

masking effects, which impede the improvement of their competencies to 
some extent. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2022; 12(1):1573-1579. 

Doi: 10.15354/bece.22.ab007 

How to Cite: Zhang, T., & Huang, H. (2022). The effects of parent educational 

expectations on the competence development of rural left-behind children: An 

empirical study based on CEPS data. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 

12(1):1573-1579. 



Zhang & Huang. (Zhejiang). Parent Expectations and Competence of Rural Left-Behind Children. 

BECE, Vol.12, No.1, 2022 1574 

Keywords: Rural Left-Behind Children, Competence Development, Parent Educational Expectations, 

Teacher Support, Parent involvement 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Correspondence to: Heng Huang, College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, 
Zhejiang, China. E-mail: saintfreak4hh@zjnu.edu.cn 

Conflict of Interests: None. 
 

© 2022 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. 

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the 

Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License 

(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of 

the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. 

mailto:saintfreak4hh@zjnu.edu.cn
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Zhang & Huang. (Zhejiang). Parent Expectations and Competence of Rural Left-Behind Children. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 1, 2022 1575 

Raising the Questions 

Against the backdrop of the economic transformation and dualistic structure of urban 

and rural areas in China, a massive rural labor force has flowed to urban areas. The is-

sue of rural left-behind children induced by the labor migration has become the focus of 

concerns of the government and the public. The announcement of the Opinions on 

Strengthening the Protection and Service for Rural Left-behind Children by the State 

Council in 2016 signaled that the issue has been incorporated in the state’s policy 

framework. Over the years, as a result of the advancements of rural revitalization and 

poverty alleviation strategies, the scale of rural left-behind children has been gradually 

brought under control 

The present study utilized the data from the China Education Panel Survey 

(CEPS) and adopted the perspectives of the neo human capital theory to address the 

following questions: Are there any significant differences in the competence develop-

ment among rural children? Do parent educational expectations have substantial influ-

ences on the competence development of rural left-behind children? If yes, what is the 

influencing mechanism? 

Research Hypotheses 

In this study, the competence of rural left-behind children is measured by three indica-

tors: student academic results, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive ability. Parent educa-

tional expectations are classified into four categories: expectations of child academic 

achievements, education levels, future occupations, and future life, to facilitate the dis-

cussion on the relationship between “the great ambitions of lower class for their off-

spring” and the competence development of their left-behind children. We assume that 

there may be a chain mediation relationship between parent involvement and teacher 

support, which jointly work on the impact of parent educational expectations on the 

competence development of rural left-behind children. Hypotheses are proposed as fol-

lows: 

H1: Rural left-behind children have lower levels of competence, parent educational 

expectations, parent involvement, and teacher support than their non-left-behind coun-

terparts.  

H2: The four dimensions of parent educational expectations (expectations of child aca-

demic achievements, education levels, future occupations, and future life) can positively 

predict the competence development of rural left-behind children. 

H3: Parent involvement mediates the relationship between parent educational expecta-

tions and the competence development of rural left-behind children. 

H4: Teacher support mediates the relationship between parent educational expectations 

and the competence development of rural left-behind children. 

H5: Parent involvement and teacher support have chain mediating effects on the rela-

tionship between parent educational expectations and the competence development of 

rural left-behind children. 

 



Zhang & Huang. (Zhejiang). Parent Expectations and Competence of Rural Left-Behind Children. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 1, 2022 1576 

Research Design 

Data Sources 

This study drew on data from the CEPS conducted by the National Survey Research 

Center at Renmin University of China. Follow-up data was employed as the main body 

of sources whilst baseline survey data as supplements. A left-behind child was defined 

as the kid who cannot live with their parents because the parents (or one of them) are 

migrant workers but has to stay at their rural registered residence (Huji). 954 rural left-

behind children and 2796 non-left-behind children were included in this study accord-

ing to the types of Huji, locations of Huji, and living with parents or not. 

Variables 

 Predicted Variables 

Children’s competence was examined in three dimensions: academic achievements, 

cognitive ability, and non-cognitive ability. Student academic achievements were repre-

sented by the results of standardized Chinese, mathematics, and English mid-term ex-

ams in 2013 (averaged by this study). Student cognitive ability was measured by a spe-

cialized test designed by the CEPS, which focused on student logical thinking and prob-

lem-solving ability rather than specific disciplinary knowledge taught by school cur-

riculum. The CEPS’s database could provide cognitive ability test scores of each stu-

dent. Considering the data availability and qualities of rural left-behind children, this 

study measured their non-cognitive ability in four dimensions: self-regulation, self-

efficacy, communication and interaction, emotional regulation. The scores from all 

question items under each dimension were aggregated and then averaged to obtain a 

composite value, which was converted into a dummy continuous variable. The higher 

the student scored for the four dimensions, the stronger their non-cognitive ability.  

 Explanatory Variables 

Parent expectations of child academic achievements, education levels, future occupa-

tions, and future life, the four major components of parent educational expectations, 

were explanatory variables in this study. Partial coding adjustments were made to these 

variables. The higher the scores of each variable, the greater parent educational expecta-

tions. 

 Mediating Variables 

Taking specific circumstances of migrant worker parents into consideration, this study 

looked at parent involvement from two aspects: instructions for child learning and con-

cerns for child daily life. Teacher support was divided into academic, emotional, and 

social support. 

 Control Variables 



Zhang & Huang. (Zhejiang). Parent Expectations and Competence of Rural Left-Behind Children. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 1, 2022 1577 

Demographic characteristics and family backgrounds are control variables in this study. 

Demographic variables include “gender” (0= male, 1= female) and “being the only-

child or not” (0= Yes, 1= No); family background-related variables include the parent 

education level and family economic status. 

Analysis Paths 

Descriptive statistics were utilized to identify the differences in the competence devel-

opment and parent educational expectations between rural left-behind children and their 

non-left-behind peers via Software Stata15.0. Additionally, the OLS multi-variable re-

gression model was adopted to analyze the relationship between parent educational ex-

pectations and the competence development of rural left-behind children.   

Empirical Analysis Results 

The Results of Descriptive Statistics 

There were significant gaps in competencies between rural left-behind children and 

their non-left-behind peers; the latter outperform the former in academic achievements, 

cognitive ability, self-regulation, self-efficacy, communication and interaction, emo-

tional regulation, etc. In addition, there were considerable disparities in most factors 

influencing student competence development between the two groups. Rural left-behind 

children experienced lower parent expectations of child education levels and future oc-

cupations than non-left-behind kids; they also scored less in variables such as parent 

involvement, teacher support, and family backgrounds. Thus, H1 was verified. 

The Influence of Parent Educational Expectations on 

the Competence Development of Left-behind Children 

Model 1 demonstrated that all the four dimensions of parent educational expectations 

significantly and positively affected academic results of left-behind children. In other 

words, the rise in parent educational expectations help improve academic performance 

of left-behind children. Judging by regression coefficients, parent academic expecta-

tions had the greatest impact on left-behind children’s academic results (10.723), fol-

lowed by parent expectations of child future occupations (1.284) and life (0.194). Parent 

involvement negatively affected academic results of left-behind children, whereas 

teacher support positively influenced them. Model 2 illustrated that both parent expecta-

tions of child academic achievements and education levels had significant positive ef-

fects on cognitive ability of left-behind children; comparatively, the influence of parent 

expectations of child academic achievements (0.204) is greater. Parent involvement 

imposed considerable unfavorable impact on cognitive ability of left-behind children, 

while home economic status and parental education levels were positively correlated 

with child cognitive ability. Model 3 revealed that parent expectations of child academ-

ic achievements, education levels, and future occupations were significantly and posi-

tively correlated with left-behind children’s self-regulation, with parent expectations of 



Zhang & Huang. (Zhejiang). Parent Expectations and Competence of Rural Left-Behind Children. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 1, 2022 1578 

child academic achievements having the greatest influence (0.233), while the effect of 

parent expectations of child future life was of no statistical significance. Moreover, par-

ent involvement and teacher support had remarkable positive impact on left-behind 

children’s self-regulation. Left-behind children from impoverished families displayed 

stronger self-regulation in adversity. As per Model 4, parent expectations of child aca-

demic achievements and future life posed positive effects on left-behind children’s self-

efficacy, significant at 5% and 1% levels, respectively; comparatively, parent expecta-

tions of child future life had a greater effect (0.182). Teacher support was favorable for 

the cultivation of left-behind children’s self-efficacy. Model 5 demonstrated that parent 

expectations of child education levels and future occupations positively influenced left-

behind children’s ability in communication and interaction, with a greater effect from 

parent expectations of child education levels (0.025). According to Model 6, parent ex-

pectations of child education levels and future life had positive impact on emotional 

regulation of left-behind children, effectively reducing the occurrence of their negative 

emotions and enhancing their self-regulatory ability in response to unfavorable emo-

tions. In light of the analytical results, H2 was partially validated. 

Mediating Effects of Parent involvement and Teacher 

Support 

The proved relations between parent educational expectations, parent involvement, 

teacher support, left-behind children’s competence, and other variables provided pre-

requisites for testing mediating effects. Based on the foregoing empirical results and 

research hypotheses, a chain mediation model was established with parent educational 

expectations as the exogenous variable and parent involvement, teacher support and 

left-behind children’s competence as the endogenous variables, to test the mediating 

effects on the relationship between parent educational expectations and left-behind 

children’s competence.  

The test of mediating effects of parent involvement showed that in this path, 

the indirect effect value of the influence of parent educational expectations on left-

behind children’s competence was -0.127, and the 95% confidence interval did not con-

tain 0, which denoted a significant mediating effect of parent involvement on the rela-

tionship between parent educational expectations and the competence development of 

left-behind children. Hence, H3 was corroborated. 

The test of mediating effects of teacher support demonstrated that in this path, 

the indirect effect value of the influence of parent educational expectations on left-

behind children’s competence was 0.012, and the 95% confidence interval did not con-

tain 0, which marked a significant mediating effect of teacher support on the relation-

ship between parent educational expectations and the competence development of left-

behind children. Thus, H4 was confirmed. 

In the path of the joint mediating effect of parent involvement and teacher sup-

port, the indirect effect value of the influence of parent educational expectations on left-

behind children’s competence was 0.027, and the 95% confidence interval did not con-

tain 0, indicating that there existed the chain mediating effects of parent involvement 

and teacher support and that H5 was supported.  



Zhang & Huang. (Zhejiang). Parent Expectations and Competence of Rural Left-Behind Children. 

BECE, Vol.12, No. 1, 2022 1579 

 

A comparison of the effect sizes of the three paths revealed that parent in-

volvement had the greatest mediating effect on the relation between parent educational 

expectations and left-behind children’s competence and generated a certain level of 

masking effects. The chain mediating effects of parent involvement and teacher support 

turned out to be stronger than the mediating effect of teacher support alone. 

Conclusions 

First off, rural left-behind children display a lower level of competence in all dimen-

sions than their non-left-behind peers. Second, parent expectations of child academic 

achievements, education levels, future occupations, and future life are prominently and 

positively related to academic achievements, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive ability 

of left-behind children. Third, via the mediation of parent involvement and teacher sup-

port, parent educational expectations yield indirect effects on the competence develop-

ment of left-behind children, aside from their direct influences. Lastly, previous re-

search investigated the effects of parent involvement and teacher support on academic 

achievements, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive ability separately, whereas the cur-

rent study found that there is a chain relation between the two variables, which jointly 

work on the competence development of rural left-behind children. 
 

 

The Chinese version of this article has been published in Education Economy Review,2022, 38(3):14. 

The English version has been authorized for being publication in BECE by the author(s) and the 

Chinese journal. 

 

张天雪, 黄恒. 父母教育期望对农村留守儿童能力发展的影响-基于 CEPS 数据的实证研究. 教

育经济评论, 2022, 7(04):75-92. 

 

 

Received: 20 August 2022 

Revised: 06 September 2022 

Accepted: 12 September 2022 

 

 

 

 

 


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