How does parental involvement matter for children's academic achievement during school closure in primary school?

Abstract Background COVID‐19 has infected over twenty million people across 200 countries. UNESCO claimed that more than 190 countries had implemented countrywide school closures, which resulted in preventing 1.6 billion students of their classroom learning opportunities. As children are unable to study in the classroom with teachers' supervision, the importance of parental engagement is amplified in children's learning at home. Aim The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate how parental involvement contribute to children's academic achievement during school closure. Sample Two hundred and twenty‐nine primary school children and their parents. Method Children's academic achievement before (T1) and after school closure (T3), parental involvement (T2) and children's learning engagement (T2) during school closure were measured. Results After controlling for gender, age, grade and SES, children's learning engagement (T2) served as a full mediator of the association between parental involvement (T2) and children's academic achievement from T1 to T3. Moreover, parental psychological control (T2) moderated the association between parental involvement (T2) and children's learning engagement (T2). Specifically, the contribution of parental involvement to children's learning engagement became stronger for children whose parents had higher levels of psychological control. Higher Chinese parental psychological control did not always correlate to lower academic outcomes in the context of COVID‐19. Conclusion These findings highlight the central roles of parental involvement and children's learning engagement in children's academic achievement during school closure caused by COVID‐19.