Several studies demonstrated the effect of parents educational level in the development of cognitive functions, especially language and executive functions. Highlight the importance of interaction between the caregiver and the child, the quality of stimulation and promotion of development experiences afforded the child, as fundamental for the development of executive functions. There are few studies of this effect in the development of Brazilian children. The objective of the study is to analyze the effect of the education level of parents, separately, in the cognitive performance of long-term memory, working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility in children and adolescents living at Rio de Janeiro with low socioeconomic status. The study included 352 children between 7-15 years of private schools with low socioeconomic profile students of city of Rio de Janeiro. The instruments used were the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, the Stroop test (Victoria Version) and Verbal Fluency phonemic and semantic. The results showed effects on education of both parents. Systematic results happened in verbal fluency, in the 9-10 year group. There were no significant effects on inhibitory control and working memory. The effect of parental education appeared systematically in executive functions, but not in other functions, raises the idea that other factors such as income and culture add to the environmental effect on cognitive development.