multiple dimensions of family involvement and their relations to

School Psychology Review,2004, Volume 33, No. 4, pp. 467-480

Multiple Dimensions of Family Involvement and TheirRelations to Behavioral and Learning Competencies for

Urban, Low-Income Children

John Fantuzzo, Christine McWayne, and Marlo A. PerryUniversity of Pennsylvania

Stephanie ChildsSchool District of Philadtelphia

Abstract. Relations between multiple dimensions of family involvement in earlychildhood education and classroom outcomes were examined. Participants included144 urban, Head Start children. Parental report of family involvement was gath-ered in late fall using a multidimensional assessment. Relations between familyinvolvement dimensions and end of the year outcomes of approaches to learning,conduct problems, and receptive vocabulary were investigated. Results revealedthat Home-Based family involvement emerged as the strongest predictor of childoutcomes. This dimension associated significantly with children's motivation tolearn, attention, task persistence, receptive vocabulary skills, and low conduct prob-lems. The School-Based Involvement dimension was significantly related to lowconduct problems in the classroom when combined with the influence of Home-Based Involvement. The School-Based Involvement and Home-SchoolConferencing dimensions did not predict later child outcomes when consideredsimultaneously with Home-Based Involvement.

Family involvement in education hasbeen identified as a beneficial factor in youngchildren's learning (National Research Coun-cil [NRC], 2001; U.S. Department of Educa-tion, 2000). It is, therefore, a key componentof national educational policies and early child-hood programs. The National Education GoalsPanel calls for schools to promote partnershipsthat will increase parental involvement andparticipation in supporting the social, emo-

tional, and academic development of children(1997). The NRC recommends that early child-hood programs build relationships with par-ents to develop equally beneficial learning en-vironments for young children at home and atschool (2001). Given the greater educationalrisks that face young children living in pov-erty, parent involvement in education is espe-cially important (NRC, 2001). The protectivepotential of parent involvement is recognized

This research project was supported by a Head Start/University Partnership grant from the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and Human Services to the first author and a Head Start Scholars grant to the third author.Special thanks go to our collaborators at Prekindergarten Head Start in the School District of Philadelphia:Director Jennifer Plumer Davis and her Head Start staff.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to John Fantuzzo, Psychology in EducationDivision, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104;E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright 2004 by the National Association of School Psychologists, ISSN 0279-6015

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School Psychology Review, 2004, Volume 33, No. 4

by Head Start, the nation's largest federallyfunded early intervention program for low-in-come children. Head Start's national perfor-mance standards require programs to promoteparental participation in every, facet of theirchildren's early educational experiences, fromthe daily activities of the classroom to programgovernance (U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services [U.S. DHHS], 1998).

A developmental-ecological perspectiveprovides a conceptual framework for the abovemandates and policies. This perspective iden-tifies the family system as the most influentialand proximal system in children's early learn-ing (Bronfenbrenner, 1992). It also recognizesthe importance of establishing beneficial con-nections between families and schools(Christenson & Sheridan, 2001). These con-nections are believed to foster children's de-velopment of key emergent skills necessary forschool success (Pianta, Rimm-Kaufman, &Cox, 1999; Rimm-Kaufmann & Pianta, 2000).In accord, Head Start family involvement man-dates are based on the assumption that parentparticipation in the program affects positivelyparenting behaviors and attitudes, which in turnmediate child development outcomes (Slaugh-ter-Defoe & Brown, 1998).

Much of the research on parent involve-ment, as it relates to children's outcomes, hasemphasized the relationship between spe-cific parent involvement behaviors andchildren's achievement. Parental involve-ment at school (e.g., with school activities,direct communication with teachers andadministrators) is associated with greaterachievement in mathematics and reading(Griffith, 1996; Reynolds, 1992; Sui-Chu &Willms, 1996). Higher levels of parent involve-ment in their children's educational experi-ences at home (e.g., supervision and monitor-ing, daily conversations about school) havebeen associated with children's higher achieve-ment scores in reading and writing, as well ashigher report card grades (Epstein, 1991;Griffith, 1996; Sui-Chu &Willms, 1996; Keithet al., 1998). Other research has shown thatparental beliefs and expectations about theirchildren's learning are strongly related tochildren's beliefs about their own competen-

cies, as well as their achievement (Galper,Wigfield, & Seefeldt, 1997).

However, few studies link parent in-volvement to preschool children's outcomesfor vulnerable groups, such as low-incomechildren. Research with this group has shownthat parent involvement programs focusing onimproving the home learning environment(through parent education, provision of mate-rials, etc.) increases children's motivation andself-efficacy (Dickinson & DeTemple, 1998;Mantzicopoulos, 1997; Parker, Boak, Griffin,Ripple, & Peay, 1999). Parents who evidencedhigh levels of school contact (volunteering inthe classroom, participating in educationalworkshops, attending Policy Council meetings)had children who demonstrated greater socialcompetency than children of parents with lowerlevels of school contact (Parker et al., 1997).

Although family involvement is concep-tualized as a complex, multifaceted construct(Epstein, 1995; Fantuzzo, Tighe, & Childs,2000), most of this early childhood researchinvestigates isolated parent involvement be-haviors. For example, many studies use sur-veys or solitary items from surveys to assessparent involvement (Griffith, 1996; Watkins,1997). A few studies even use just one item(e.g., Reynolds, Mavrogenes, Bezruczko, &Hagemann, 1996), which is inadequate to mea-sure such a complex set of behaviors. To un-derstand the relative effect of dimensions offamily involvement in children's early educa-tional experiences on children's competencies,multivariate study with empirically derivedconstructs is needed. Capturing the distinctmultidimensional nature of family involvementwill allow researchers to examine simulta-neously the differential relationship betweenfamily involvement dimensions and a varietyof early childhood competencies that are im-portant to school success.

Fantuzzo and colleagues (2000) recentlyinitiated a multivariate study of family involve-ment in early childhood. Using Epstein's ty-pology of parent involvement behaviors(Epstein, 1995) with an early childhood popu-lation (preschool, kindergarten, and first gradestudents) of urban parents, this team of re-searchers developed a multidimensional scale

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Family Involvement and Preschool Competencies

of family involvement, the Family InvolvementQuestionnaire (FIQ; Fantuzzo et al., 2000).Research on the FIQ revealed three robust di-mensions of parent-reported involvement-Home-Based Involvement, School-Based In-volvement, and Home-School Conferencing-that comported with major categories in theparent involvement research literature. Thesedimensions were evident across early child-hood settings, including prekindergarten, kin-dergarten, and first grade and were supportedby observed parental volunteer activities(Fantuzzo, Tighe, & Perry, 1999).

To date, only one study has investigatedthe relationship between the FIQ dimensionsand preschool outcomes, specifically, parentand teacher reports of interactive preschool,peer play behaviors (Fantuzzo et al., 1999).This study found that Home-Based Involve-ment was related to prosocial, peer play inter-actions both at home and at school. School-Based Involvement was associated with lowerlevels of disruptive peer play across the twocontexts. Home-School Conferencing was notfound to be related to peer play behaviors ineither the home or the school setting. Althoughthis study provided new information regard-ing the relationship of involvement behaviorsto child outcomes, it was limited in terms ofthe scope of outcomes studied.

The purpose of the present study was toextend the previous cross-sectional examina-tion of the relationship between dimensions offamily involvement and peer play competen-cies in two ways. First, the relationship amongmultiple dimensions of family involvementassessed in the fall of the preschool year andpreschool classroom competencies measuredat the end of the year was studied. Second, abroader set of early childhood outcomes thanpeer play (including foundational approachesto learning, classroom conduct, and receptivevocabulary) were identified. These additionalrelevant competencies have been identified bythe National Educational Goals Panel as keyto school success for young children (Kagan,Moore, & Bredekamp, 1995). It was hypoth-esized that home-based involvement would bemost strongly associated with positive class-room learning outcomes and that direct school-

based involvement would predict lower levelsof conduct problems.

Methods

Participants

Participants in this study were 144 pre-school children enrolled in central city HeadStart centers in a large urban setting in theNortheast. Children ranged in age from 46 to68 months (M = 58.9, SD = 6.6), and 46% ofthe children in this study were male. Ninety-six percent of the participant families wereAfrican American and 4% represented otherethnic groups (i.e., Caucasian, Asian, andLatino). Parent participants in this study rangedin age from 18 years to 74 years (M = 33, SD =11.5). Additionally, 73% were mothers, 8%were fathers, 9% were grandparents, and 10%were other relatives or foster parents. Seventy-one percent of the parents reported beingsingle. Fifty-five percent reported being unem-ployed, with 26% having less than a highschool education, 31% holding a high schooldiploma or equivalent, and 43% reporting atleast some college experience or vocationalschool training. Reports showed an average ofthree children per household (SD = 1.6).Caregivers who had two or more children inthe program were asked to rate only one of theirchildren. The present sample was composedof English-speaking caregivers only. The de-mographic composition of the participatingHead Start centers matches national propor-tions for urban Head Start programs, with an-nual income for 90% of the families below$12,000 and most families (64%) with annualincomes below $9,000.

Measures

Family involvement. Family mem-bers' involvement in children's education wasmeasured using the Family Involvement Ques-tionnaire (FIQ; Fantuzzo et al., 2000). This in-strument is a multidimensional rating scale thatasks primary care providers of young children(i.e., parents, other family members, or legalguardians) to indicate the nature and extent oftheir involvement in their children's early edu-cational experiences. The FIQ was developed

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in partnership with parents and early childhoodteachers in a large urban school district in theNortheast, and is composed of 42 Likert-typeitems (Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always).Analyses of the FIQ revealed three parent in-volvement dimensions: School-Based Involve-ment, Home-Based Involvement, and Home-School Conferencing (Cronbach's r = .85, .85,and .81, respectively). The School-Based In-volvement dimension (12 items) is defined byactivities and behaviors that parents engage inat school to benefit their children (e.g., volun-teering in the classroom, going on class trips,meeting other parents to plan events). Home-Based Involvement (13 items) includes behav-iors reflecting active promotion of a learningenvironment at home for children (e.g., creat-ing space for learning activities at home, pro-viding learning opportunities for the child inthe community). Home-School Conferencing(11 items) describes communication behaviorsbetween parents and school personnel about achild's educational experiences and progress(e.g., talking with the child's teacher aboutlearning difficulties and accomplishments, dis-cussing with the child's teacher ways to pro-mote learning at home). Concurrent validitywas demonstrated through significant correla-tions between the three self-report dimensionsof the FIQ and documented parent volunteerexperiences in Head Start (Fantuzzo et al.,1999).

Approaches to learning. This multi-dimensional construct was assessed using thePreschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS;McDermott, Green, Francis, & Stott, 1996), ateacher-report measure of preschool children'sapproaches to learning. Teachers are asked torate how often a child exhibits particular be-haviors for 29 Likert-type items (Most OftenApplies, SometimesApplies, orDoesn'tApply).This instrument yields three reliable learningbehavior dimensions: Competence Motivation,Attention/Persistence, and Attitude TowardLearning. The 1 1 items on the CompetenceMotivation dimension reflect a child's curios-ity about learning activities, as well as theirmotivation to understand and succeed in thoseactivities. The Attention/Persistence dimensioncomprises 9 items related to a child's ability to

attend to relevant stimuli and persevere withdifficult tasks. The 7 items on the Attitude To-ward Learning dimension focus on a child'sgeneral demeanor in learning activities, and theway in which they interact with peers andadults in those learning activities. Convergentand divergent validity for the nationallynormed scale have been established(McDermott, Leigh, & Perry, 2002). This scalehas been validated for use with a Head Startpopulation (Fantuzzo, Perry, & McDermott, inpress). Analyses yielded the same three-factorsolution that was derived from the nationalstandardization sample. Internal consistencywas acceptable for the three learning behaviordimensions (r = .87, .88, .78, respectively).Multimethod, multisource validity analysesfurther substantiated the PLBS dimensions foruse with this population of preschool children(see Fantuzzo et al., in press).

Classroom problem behaviors. TheConners' Teacher Rating Scale-28 (CTRS-28;Conners, 1990) is a short form (28-item) ver-sion of the CTRS-39, and includes threesubscales used to characterize patterns oftroublesome child behavior during classroomactivities: Conduct Problems (12 items), Hy-peractivity (8 items), and Inattention/Passiv-ity (5 items). The Conduct Problems subscaleassesses the degree to which children are proneto temper outbursts, impudence, pouting, andoversensitivity to criticism. The Hyperactiv-ity subscale consists of items measuring rest-lessness, impulsivity, and demanding behav-ior. The Inattention-Passivity subscale assessesdistractibility, passivity, and difficulty in fin-ishing tasks. Each item is rated on a 4-pointscale (Not at All, Just a Little, Pretty Much,and Very Much).

Standardized scores used in the presentstudy were derived from a factor analysis con-ducted with data from a large ethnically andgeographically diverse sample of preschoolchildren (including 340 African AmericanHead Start children), where the original factorstructure was replicated. Reliability for thisnorm sample was high (for the Conduct Prob-lems r = .91, Hyperactivity r = .90, and Inat-tentive-Passive r = .80). Concurrent validitywas established for these dimensions through

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independent observation and teacher and par-ent ratings of children's social competency(Fantuzzo et al., 2000).

Receptive vocabulary skills.Children's receptive vocabulary skills wereassessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabu-lary Test-Third Version (PPVT-III; Dunn &Dunn, 1997). This test has 204 items designedto assess receptive vocabulary for individualsaged 2.5 years through adulthood. The PPVT-III was nationally standardized on a stratifiednormative sample of 2,000 children and ado-lescents. Raw scores can be converted to age-referenced standard scores with a mean of 100.Internal consistency is reported in terms ofSpearman-Brown split-half reliability coeffi-cients, and range from .92-98. Test-retest reli-ability for a I -month interval calculated on 226children in four different age groups rangedfrom .91-.93. Construct as well as criterion-related validity was demonstrated through cor-relations between the PPVT-III and theWechsler VIQ, PIQ, and FSIQ (.82-.92), theKBIT (.62-.82), and the OWLS (.63-.83). Thestandardization sample included adequate rep-resentation for African American preschoolchildren. The PPVT-I11 was selected by theHead Start Bureau as an outcome measure forthe longitudinal study of its Family and ChildExperiences Survey (FACES; U.S. Departmentof Health and Human Services, 2001).

Procedures

Data collection procedures were part ofa larger partnership effort between the Univer-sity of Pennsylvania and the school district.Participants were recruited from eight centralcity Head Start classrooms. There were threeaspects to the data collection effort: (a) obtain-ing data from preschool children's primarycaregivers in the late fall, (b) obtaining datafrom participant children's teachers in the latespring, and (c) gathering independent childassessment data in the late spring. Prior to falldata collection, research team members metwith parents and teachers individually to ex-plain the purpose of the study and to clarifyissues of confidentiality, informed consent, anddata collection procedures. Research teammembers distributed questionnaire packets

consisting of a brief demographic questionnaireand the FIQ to one parent or other primarycaregiver per family (where primary caregiverwas defined as an adult with whom the childlives and who has significant caregiving re-sponsibility for the child). This initial data col-lection occurred after the first 3 months of theHead Start year, a time in which parent involve-ment programming activities were fully under-way in the Head Start centers. The participa-tion rate for caregivers was 92%. In late spring(6 months later), teachers were asked to com-plete the classroom behavior measures (PLBSand CTRS-28) on students for whom parentalpermission was obtained. Teacher participationwas 100%. Independent assessment data(PPVT-Ill) were then gathered by school psy-chology doctoral students, who were blind tothe research questions.

Data Analysis

To determine the relationship betweenthe three dimensions of the FIQ assessed inthe fall of the year and the three outcome mea-sures assessed at the end of the year, correla-tional analyses were conducted. First, the na-ture of bivariate relationships was explored toprovide a simple description of the relationsbetween the FIQ dimensions and the PLBS,CTRS-28, and PPVT-III. Subsequently, ca-nonical correlation analyses were conductedto investigate the multivariate relationshipsbetween the FIQ assessed in the fall and thetwo multidimensional measures of children'scompetencies (the PLBS and the CTRS-28)assessed in the late spring. As recommendedby Weiss (1972), canonical variance analysiswas chosen as the multivariate data analyticstrategy, because it is especially well suited toexamine the complex interactions between twosets of multidimensional domains (e.g., fam-ily involvement and classroom approaches tolearning). When significant bi-multivariate re-lationships were found through canonicalanalyses, linear multiple regression analysiswas used to further examine how the FIQ di-mensions related to classroom learning behav-iors and classroom conduct at the end of theyear. Multiple regression analysis was alsoconducted to assess the relations between the

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Table 1Descriptive Statistics for FIQ Dimensions as a Function of

Demographic Variables (N = 130)

FIQ Dimension'

Home-Based School-Based Conferencing

Variable M SD M SD M SD

Caregiver Education Level

Greater than high school 47.4 9.0 46.6 7.6 42.8 9.0

High school/GED 45.9 8.1 49.6 7.8 45.3 9.3

Less than high school 44.3 10.9 49.7 7.8 46.7 6.5

Caregiver Employment Status

Employed part or full-time 47.3 9.0 48.0 7.9 43.6 9.5

Unemployed 44.7 9.2 48.8 7.8 45.6 7.9

Child sex

Male 44.2 10.1 46.6 7.1 43.3 8.1

Female 47.8 8.3 49.8 8.4 45.6 9.5

Note. Values are T-scores.'Names of FIQ dimensions have been abbreviated for ease of presentation.

FIQ dimensions and receptive vocabulary. lev-els at the end of the year.

Results

A series of two-way MANOVAs wascomputed to determine if there were differ-ences in the FIQ dimensions as a function ofcaregiver education, caregiver emiploymentstatus, and child sex.' The variable forcaregiver education was comprised of threelevels: parents with less than a high schooleducation, those with a high school diplomaor GED equivalent, and those with greater thanhigh school education. Employment status con-sisted of two levels (employed full or part-timeand unemployed). There were no significantmultivariate relationships found between fam-ily involvement dimensions and these demo-graphic variables; therefore, these demo-graphic variables were not used as controlcovariates in subsequent analyses (see Table Ifor descriptive statistics of these variables).

Relationships Between FamilyInvolvement Dimensions and ChildOutcomes

The simple bivariate correlation matrixrevealed (see Table 2) that 16 out of the 21possible correlations were statistically sig-nificant in the hypothesized directions with13 of these correlations at ap < .01 level ofsignificance or greater. For a bi-multivari-ate examination of the FIQ and the se-lected classroom competencies, two ca-nonical correlations were calculated be-tween the FIQ and the PLBS and theCTRS-28 scales, respectively. Theseanalyses fulfilled two important objec-tives beyond simple bivariate analyses.First, they provided an overall test of thesignificance of the multivariate relation-ship between the FIQ and each of the twosets of multidimensional constructs ex-plored. Second, they provided an under-standing of the nature of the relationship be-

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Table 2Bivariate Correlations of FIQ Dimensions With Children's

Outcome Measures (N = 130)

Family Involvement (FIQ)a

School-Based Home-Based Conferencing

Outcome Variable

Approaches to Learning (PLBS)

Competence Motivation .23** .35**** .23**

Attention & Persistence .25*** .36**** .17

Attitude Toward Learning .25*** .30*** .12

Classroom Problem Behavior (CTRS-28)

Conduct Problems -.29*** -.30*** -.18*

Hyperactivity -.17 -.24** -.09

Inattention/Passivity -.20* -.20* -.14

Receptive Vocabulary Skills (PPVT-III) .32**** .41**** .24**

'Names of FIQ dimensions have been abbreviated for ease of presentation.*p <.05. **p <.01. *** p <.001. ****p <.0001.

tween the two sets of variables. Each sig-nificant canonical correlation reflects variatepairs with distinctive features shared by bothsets. These pairs are defined by the highestloading variables from each set.

Leaming behaviors. Canonical vari-ance analysis indicated a significant bi-mul-tivariate relationship between dimensions offamily involvement assessed in the fall andclassroom learning behaviors at the end ofthe year (Wilks's A =.82, F [9, 301] = 2.9,p < .01). One significant canonical correla-tion (canonical Rc = .4, p < .01) yielded acanonical variate pair named Engagement.The canonical variate pair is labeled accord-ing to the pattern of the highest loadingsfrom each multivariate construct. Table 3displays the loadings based on the variatepair for the significant canonical relation-ship. The greatest overlap in the Engage-ment variate pair was between the FIQHome-Based Involvement dimension andthe PLBS Competence Motivation and Atten-tion/Persistence dimensions.

Because canonical variance analysis re-vealed a significant canonical relationship be-tween the FIQ and the PLBS, three separatemultiple regression analyses for each of thethree PLBS factors were completed (Table 4).Simultaneous regression of the three fall FIQdimensions on spring PLBS dimensions re-vealed significant overall relationships forCompetence Motivation (F [3, 1261 = 6.7, p <.001), Attention/Persistence (F [3, 1261 = 6.7,p < .001), and Attitude Toward Learning (F[3, 126] = 5.1, p <.01). Home-Based Involve-ment emerged as the only significant predic-tor of all three dimensions of the PLBS whenFIQ dimensions were considered simulta-neously.

Classroom behavior problems. Ca-nonical variance analysis indicated a signifi-cant bi-multivariate relationship between di-mensions of family involvement assessed inthe fall and types of classroom behavior prob-lems assessed at the end of the year (Wilks's A= .86, F [9, 301] = 2.1, p < .05). One signifi-cant canonical correlation (canonical Rc = .35,

473


Table 3Canonical Structure of FIQ Dimensions With PLBS Dimensions (N = 130)

Canonical Variate Set

Variable Engaged

Family Involvement (FIQ)

Home-Based Involvement .96

School-Based Involvement .67

Home-School Conferencing .52

Approaches to Learning (PLBS)

Competence Motivation .91

Attention/Persistence .92

Positive Attitude Toward Learning .78

Note. Loadings > .80 are considered appreciable and are italicized.

p < .05) yielded a canonical variate pair namedCooperative. Table 5 displays the loadingsbased on the variate pair for the significantcanonical relationship. The Cooperative ca-nonical variate pair reveals noticeably highpositive loadings for the FIQ School-BasedInvolvement and Home-Based Involvementdimensions, with a markedly low loading forthe CTRS-28 Conduct dimension.

Simultaneous regression of the three fallFIQ dimensions on each of the CTRS-28 fac-tors revealed a predictive pattern consistentwith canonical variance analysis. Three sepa-rate multiple regression analyses for each ofthe three CTRS-28 factors were completed(Table 4). A significant overall relationship wasfound between the FIQ predictor variables andtwo of the CTRS-28 factors, Conduct (F [3,126] = 5.7, p < .001) and Hyperactivity (F [3,126] = 2.8, p <.05). Home-Based Involvementwas the only significant predictor of these twoCTRS-28 dimensions.

Receptive vocabulary. Simultaneousmultiple regression of the fall FIQ dimensionson spring PPVT-III scores revealed a signifi-cant overall relationship, (F [3, 126] = lO.0,p< .0001). Again, Home-Based Involvementwas the only significant predictor of children's

receptive vocabulary skills at the end of theyear (see Table 4).

Discussion

Overall, this study demonstrated thatparent involvement dimensions were differen-tially associated with student learning andclassroom behavioral adjustment outcomes fora sample of predominantly African American,urban Head Start children. Home-Based In-volvement activities, such as reading to achild at home, providing a place for educa-tional activities, and asking a child aboutschool, evidenced the strongest relationshipsto later preschool classroom competencies.These activities were related to children'sapproaches to learning, especially motiva-tion and attention/persistence, and werefound to relate positively to receptive vo-cabulary. Further, higher levels of Home-Based Involvement were associated withsignificantly lower levels of classroom be-havior problems. The School-Based In-volvement and Home-School Conferencingdimensions showed some significant bi-variate relations with end of year outcomevariables; however, when considered simul-taneously with the Home-Based Involvement

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Table 5Canonical Structure of FIQ Dimensions With CTRS-28

Dimensions (N = 130)

Canonical Variate Set

Variable Cooperative

Family Involvement (FIQ)

Home-Based Involvement .85

School-Based Involvement .85

Home-School Conferencing .55

Classroom Problem Behaviors (CTRS-28)

Conduct Problems -.98

Hyperactivity -.67

Inattention/Passivity -.66

Note. Loadings Ž .80 are considered appreciable and are italicized.

dimension, their relative contributions to pre-dicting children's outcomes were significantlyless.

The findings from the present study onthe relationship between Home-Based Involve-ment and various child competencies adds tothe literature by highlighting the importanceof parental involvement in supportingchildren's learning in the home environment.Dickinson and DeTemple (1998) found thatmothers of preschoolers who provided homesupport for literacy had children who per-formed better on measures of language and lit-eracy in kindergarten and first grade. Using acomposite score from a questionnaire on homeliteracy activities, Mantzicopoulos (1997) alsodemonstrated that literacy-focused home-in-volvement behaviors were related to laterachievement. Further, she showed that this in-volvement was predictive of children's self-efficacy beliefs and school adjustment. A rela-tive weakness in these studies was the use ofunidimensional, unscaled surveys or raw com-posite scores to assess parental activities in thehome environment. Fantuzzo and colleagues(1999) demonstrated, using a multidimensionalscale (FIQ) with an urban ethnic, minority

Head Start sample, that the dimension of homeinvolvement behavior was related significantlyto children's peer play competencies relativeto other dimensions of parent involvement. Thepresent study extends the prior cross-sectionalstudy by substantiating the relationship be-tween positive home-based parental involve-ment and additional sets of preschool compe-tencies outcomes assessed at the end of theHead Start year. This study not only providedevidence that home-based involvement is im-portant, but it revealed that the Home-BasedInvolvement dimension was superior to theother dimensions in its relationship to relevantpreschool competencies for urban Head Startchildren.

The present study also demonstrated thatSchool-Based Involvement loaded appreciablyon a significant canonical variate pair termedCooperative. This relationship reflected ashared contribution with Home-Based Involve-ment to markedly low classroom conduct prob-lems. However, as mentioned above, whenforced to compete with Home-Based Involve-ment in a linear multiple regression, Home-Based Involvement was superior. Using theFIQ in a previous cross-sectional study,

476


Fantuzzo and colleagues (1999) demonstratedthat School-Based Involvement was linked tolower levels of disruptive play behaviors in theclassroom relative to other FIQ dimensions.The present study extends these findings byshowing that School-Based family involve-ment behaviors were associated with decreasedbehavior problems in the classroom along withHome-Based Involvement at the end of theHead Start year. However, when compared toSchool-Based Involvement, Home-Based In-volvement was superior. It is hypothesized thatthe visible presence of parents or family mem-bers in school creates a concrete connectionfor children between the two environments(Fantuzzo et al., 1999). This link may be asso-ciated with the transfer of both parental author-ity and social support to the school context(Parker et al., 1999; Wentzel, 1999).

The Home-School Conferencing dimen-sion, when considered simultaneously with theHome-Based Involvement and School-BasedInvolvement dimensions, was a relatively weakcontributor to bi-multivariate relationshipswith the multidimensional constructs ofchildren's approaches to learning and class-room conduct. Although home-schoolconferencing is recognized in the parent in-volvement literature as representing distinctiveand dynamic exchanges between teachers andparents about children's progress (Epstein,1995), there is little empirical study of this di-mension. There are a number of aspects of theHome-School Conferencing dimension hy-pothesized to influence the contribution of thisdimension to child outcomes. First, in contrastto more direct classroom volunteering activi-ties, teacher-parent conferences (including one-to-one visits, notes, and telephone calls) maybe less visible to the child and therefore have aless direct influence on behavior. Second, theimpact of this dimension may be a function ofthe quality and reciprocal nature of the ex-changes between parent and teacher(Christenson, 1999). Significant cultural andsocioeconomic differences between the parentsand teachers can affect the mutual benefits ofthese interactions. In a prior study using theFIQ (Fantuzzo et al., 2000), it was found thatthe Home-School Conferencing dimension was

associated with parental education, with higherlevels of education related to higher levels ofconferencing. Future research is needed to ex-plore these aspects of this important dimen-sion.

The findings of the present study arequalified by the target population and primaryuse of maternal report. The sample for thisstudy was a low-income, predominantly Afri-can American urban Head Start population.Future studies should explore if the relation-ships found in this study between family in-volvement dimensions and child outcomes areevident with other populations (e.g., rural and/or suburban samples, families from other eth-nic groups). Additionally, future researchshould include other sources of data document-ing these distinct dimensions of involvementsuch as teacher reports and independent ob-servations conducted at home and school toenhance understanding of the associations be-tween dimensions of involvement and schoolreadiness competencies. Moreover, because theprimary respondents in this present study weremothers, future research should investigate ifthere are differences in the amount and type ofinvolvement between mothers and fathers andif these differences are associated with differ-ent patterns of child outcomes (Gadsden &Ray, 2002).

The present study was also limited bythe relatively short 6-month time frame. In thefuture, studies should investigate family in-volvement dimensions across longer time pe-riods. It is particularly critical to examine thequality of the relationship between families andschools as children transition to kindergartenand the primary grades (Early & Pianta, 1998;Pianta, Rimm-Kaufman, & Cox, 1999). Earlyand Pianta (1998) found that contact betweenschools and families was actually one of theleast used practices involved in children's tran-sition to this new school context. Future stud-ies on parent involvement should continue toinvestigate how parent involvement changesacross school contexts and over time.

The findings of the current study havegeneral implications for early childhood edu-cational policy and practice. All three of theparent involvement dimensions examined in

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this study could be potentially influenced byschool climate and teacher practices (Epstein,1991; Smith, Connell, Wright, Sizer, &Norman, 1997). School practices have beenfound to be a stronger predictor of parent in-volvement than parents' education level, in-come status, or ethnic background(Christenson, 1999; Eccles & Harold, 1996).To enhance involvement, school psychologistsand other school personnel should target bar-riers that have been found to adversely affecthome-school partnerships. They include: lackof training for school personnel in partneringwith parents, lack of effective interpersonalcommunication skills (for teachers and par-ents), conflict in perception of parents' roles,failure to inspect school practices that do notmeet families' needs (e.g., deficiency modelof families, contact only in crises), and a nar-row approach to the roles that parents can playin their children's education (Christenson,1999, 2004; Epstein, 1990; Melton, Limber,& Teague, 1999; Parker et al., 2001).

Another general implication of thepresent findings involves the need to under-stand more about the extent and nature of fam-ily involvement in early childhood education.Family involvement data in this study werecollected during the first third of the schoolyear, a time when, presumably, dialogue be-tween teachers and parents should be intenseand dynamic. However, our findings demon-strated that both school-based involvementand home-school conferencing were not as im-portant as home-based involvement in predict-ing children's end of the year outcomes, stand-ing in contrast to other literature that docu-ment their value. Perhaps in practice, this ini-tial contact is less substantial, and thereforedoes not affect significantly children'sprogress. Parent involvement assessmentsshould be conducted at multiple times duringthe year to track changes in dimensions of in-volvement across time and relate these changesto child outcomes.

School psychologists are uniquely quali-fied to help larger systems (schools or schooldistricts) extend their understanding of familyinvolvement and address barriers to genuinehome-school partnerships. Serving in a con-

sultant role, school psychologists are in anoptimal position to foster connections betweenteachers and family members. Christenson andSheridan (2001) indicate concrete steps thatschool psychologists can take to promote two-way communications and shared decision mak-ing at a system-wide level. For example, schoolpsychologists can advocate for system change,create new policies and practices that improvehome-school communications and relation-ships, and work directly with teachers and par-ents to foster conjoint problem solving(Sheridan, Kratochwill, & Bergan, 1996).Studies such as the present one provide evi-dence to indicate the benefits of creatingmore dynamic transactions between home andschool.

In sum, the present study revealed im-portant relationships between the multidimen-sional construct of parent involvement and pre-school classroom competencies with ethnicminority, urban, low-income children.Through continued attention to the family-school relationship, educators can build moreeffectively on the competencies that childrenand their families bring to the preschool class-room context. It is clear that parents want tobe more involved in their children's educa-tion (Christenson, Hurley, Sheridan, &Fenstermacher, 1997), but it is largely up toschools to explicitly recognize, through atti-tudes, policies, and practices, that parents arefundamental partners in the education and de-velopment of their children.

Footnotes

'Marital status did not have sufficient vari-ability to use in a multivariate analysis of variance(i.e., 87% of the sample was single, divorced, wid-owed, or separated).

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John Fantuzzo, PhD, is the Diana Riklis Professor of Education in the Policy ResearchEvaluation and Measurement Program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a licensedclinical child psychologist whose research focuses on design, implementation, and evalu-ation of school-and community-based strategies for young, low-income children in high-risk urban settings. He has directed over a decade of funded research in partnership withthe Office of Early Childhood Education in the School District of Philadelphia (servingover 22,000 children) and has been involved in population-based studies involving city-wide, integrated databases across agencies serving young children. He is PI of a recentlyawarded NICHD grant designed to develop and evaluate an early childhood curriculaintegrating empirically validated literacy, numeracy, socioemotional, and approaches tolearning components.

Christine McWayne, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Applied Psychology in The SteinhardtSchool of Education at New York University. Dr. McWayne is involved in partnership-andcommunity-based research within the Head Start community in New York City. Gener-ally, her research interests include: conceptualizations of family involvement in children'seducation in low-income communities, helping to establish a whole-child understandingof low-income, preschool children's school readiness competencies, and validating as-sessment instruments and intervention for low-income, preschool children and their fami-lies. Her recent research has focused on the examination of multiple dimensions of schoolreadiness within the context of classroom quality and the social and structural dimensionsof urban neighborhoods.

Marlo A. Perry, MS.Ed, is an advanced doctoral student in the School, Community, andClinical-Child Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania. She was awarded astudent research grant from DHHS Administration for Children, Youth, and Families toexamine the impact of welfare to work mandates on family involvement and on children'soutcomes in Head Start. She also earned the Student Poster Award from the AmericanPsychological Association's School Psychology Division in 2000. Her research has fo-cused on the development and implementation of culturally and ecologically valid parentand teacher assessments for Head Start children; family involvement in Head Start and itsrelation to children's learning and behavioral competencies; and young children exposedto domestic violence.

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TITLE: Multiple Dimensions of Family Involvement and TheirRelations to Behavioral and Learning Competencies forUrban, Low-Income Children

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