School effectiveness research has fueled debate on the importance of a press for academic excellence versus communal values. Research on parenting styles offers a theoretical framework that may resolve the debate. We hypothesized that dimensions of parenting styles--demandingness (academic press) and responsiveness (communal values)--predict students' mathematics achievement, engagement, and locus of control. HLM analyses of NELS: 88 data on 19,435 eighth-graders partially supported the hypothesis: Students' perceptions of school responsiveness predicted their engagement and internal control. In addition, students in responsive schools had smaller differences in mathematics achievement and internal control attributable to SES, suggesting that responsive schools may increase equity. We offer suggestions for further investigation of the model in hope of resolving the debate.