Influences of Parent Engagement in Early Childhood Education Centers and the Home on Kindergarten School Readiness

Abstract

This study examined how practices used by early childhood education (ECE) providers to engage parents (e.g., sending home information about the child), parent school involvement in ECE centers (e.g., volunteering, attending meetings) and parent engagement in home learning activities (e.g., reading, stimulating cognitive development) were linked to children's kindergarten academic readiness. Data were from four-year-old children enrolled in center-based ECE settings in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N = 2250). Path analyses indicated that ECE parent engagement practices were linked to greater parent engagement in home and school settings. Further, ECE parent engagement practices were indirectly associated with kindergarten academic readiness through increases in the quantity of parent engagement in home learning activities. Connections between ECE and home engagement were strongest for families with low household incomes. These results suggest that facilitating ECE practices to promote parent engagement and increasing home learning activities may bolster children's school readiness.