CHILD CARE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT: UNDERSTANDING LONGITUDINAL PATHWAYS TO CHILDREN’S SCHOOL READINESS

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this secondary data analysis is to examine how ECE program factors are linked to parent engagement in child care, and in turn how this engagement leads to school readiness and child well-being. This study draws data from a subset of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative longitudinal dataset. This study will test a complex longitudinal model to identify specific pathways by which parent engagement in the ECE program and with the child is linked to improved kindergarten school readiness and social-emotional well-being among children enrolled in center-based care in preschool. This study will address three specific goals: (1) To identify specific ECE program factors, ranging from structural or distal characteristics such as program type and accreditation to more proximal, process, characteristics such as the quality of caregiver child relationships that are linked to ECE parent engagement practices; (2) To examine the extent to which ECE parent engagement strategies are associated with higher levels of parent-ECE engagement; and (3) To identify the extent to which parent-ECE engagement during preschool is linked to kindergarten school readiness skills and social-emotional wellbeing, both directly and indirectly through increases in parent-child engagement in learning activities. This study will also test whether these links between ECE factors, parent engagement and children's school readiness and well-being vary for low-income families, who are the most at risk for poor school readiness and well-being at kindergarten entry. This project has the potential to identify critical levers for future policy and program development aimed at improving ECE efforts to promote parent engagement, and maximizing the effectiveness of this engagement for children's early school success and well-being. To help meet this goal, this project includes a number of specific dissemination activities aimed at practitioners, policy makers and researchers.