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Associations among African American Parents’ Beliefs, Involvement, and Measures of School Readiness

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Abstract

Parents’ beliefs about school readiness have been linked to their involvement practices and children’s achievement. However, there is some evidence to suggest associations among parental beliefs, practices, and children’s outcomes may vary by families’ racial and ethnic background. This study examines the associations among African American parents’ beliefs about school readiness, home-based involvement, and measures of school readiness for children during the transition to kindergarten. Drawing upon data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten cohort: 2011 (N = 1716) a structural equation model was estimated and results show that African American parents’ school readiness beliefs were positively associated with children’s beginning achievement. In addition, parents’ home-based involvement was positively associated with children’s academic achievement and social skills. The most salient finding is that parents’ school readiness beliefs positively predicted their home-based involvement, which in turn was positively associated with children’s academic achievement and social skills. These findings have practical implications for educators and policymakers who aim to enhance home-school partnerships and parent education programs serving African American families. Results suggest that early interventions focused on encouraging parental involvement should consider parents’ beliefs about the importance of literacy, numeracy, paying attention, and behaving well, as they promote resilience among African American students.

Highlights

  • The relationship among African American parents’ school readiness beliefs, home-based involvement, and school readiness.

  • African American parents’ school readiness beliefs were positively associated with children’s beginning achievement.

  • African American parents’ home-based involvement was positively associated with children’s achievement and social skills.

  • African American school readiness beliefs were more strongly associated with achievement than home-based involvement.

  • African American parents’ school readiness beliefs are an important target for enhancing children’s readiness for school.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University at Albany, Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning 1400 Washington Ave., Catskill 371, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Jaime Puccioni, Sarahlee Desir & Zipporah Galimore

  2. Purdue Unversity, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    John Mark Froiland

  3. University at Albany, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, 1400 Washington Ave., Catskill 271, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Mariola Moeyaert

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  1. Jaime Puccioni
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  2. John Mark Froiland
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  4. Sarahlee Desir
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Correspondence to Jaime Puccioni.

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Puccioni, J., Froiland, J.M., Moeyaert, M. et al. Associations among African American Parents’ Beliefs, Involvement, and Measures of School Readiness. J Child Fam Stud 31, 1246–1260 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02092-1

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