Increasing school-based parental involvement—which has links to improved student outcomes like academic achievement—is a core area of focus in many preschool programs. Yet, little research to date has examined what the association is between attending preschool and school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. This study addresses this gap by drawing on nationally-representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010 to 2011 (N = 18,174) to examine the association between preschool attendance and measures of school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. The findings reveal consistent positive associations between preschool attendance and school-based parental involvement. There is little evidence of variation in associations based on the type (e.g., private and Head Start) or location (e.g., center-based and school-based) of the preschool program.
AnsariA.GershoffE. (2016). Parent involvement in head start and children’s development: Indirect effects through parenting. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 78(2), 562–579. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12266
2.
BaileyD.DuncanG. J.OdgersC. L.YuW. (2017). Persistence and fadeout in the impacts of child and adolescent interventions. Journal of research on educational effectiveness, 10(1), 7–39.
3.
BassokD.FinchJ.LeeR.ReardonS. F.WaldfogelJ. (2016). Are early childhood disparities narrowing? The changing nature of early childhood and its link to narrowing school-entry achievement gaps. Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness.
4.
BassokD.GibbsC. R.LathamS. (2019). Preschool and children’s outcomes in elementary school: Have patterns changed nationwide between 1998 and 2010?Child Development, 90(6), 1875–1897. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13067
5.
BiermanK. (2017). Parent engagement practices improve outcomes for preschool children. Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University.
6.
BoonkL.GijselaersH. J.RitzenH.Brand-GruwelS. (2018). A review of the relationship between parental involvement indicators and academic achievement. Educational Research Review, 24, 10–30.
7.
CastroM.Expósito-CasasE.López-MartínE.LizasoainL.Navarro-AsencioE.GaviriaJ. L. (2015). Parental involvement on student academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 14, 33–46.
8.
Cohen-VogelL.SadlerJ. R.LittleM.MerrillB. (2020). (Mis)Alignment of instructional policy supports in Pre-K and kindergarten: Evidence from rural districts in North Carolina. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 52, 30–43.
9.
CurranF. C. (2019). Estimating the relationship between preschool attendance and kindergarten science achievement: Implications for early science achievement gaps. Education Finance and Policy, 14(2), 210–241. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00247
10.
DesforgesC.AbouchaarA. (2003). The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment: A literature review (Vol. 433). DfES.
11.
EnglundM.WhiteB.ReynoldsA. J.SchweinhartL.CampbellF. A. (2014). Health outcomes of the abecedarian, child-parent center and high-scope perry preschool programs. In ReynoldsA.RolnickA.TempleJ. (Eds.), Health and education in early childhood: Predictors, interventions and policies (pp. 257–285). Cambridge University Press.
12.
EpsteinJ. L. (1987). Parent involvement: What research says to administrators. Education and Urban Society, 19(2), 119–136.
13.
FanW.WilliamsC. M. (2010). The effects of parental involvement on students’ academic self-efficacy, engagement and intrinsic motivation. Educational Psychology, 30(1), 53–74.
14.
FanX.ChenM. (2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13(1), 1–22.
15.
GordonE. W. (1979). Evaluation during the early years of Head Start. In ZiglerE.ValentineJ. (Eds.), Project head start: A legacy of the war on poverty (pp. 399–404). Free Press.
16.
HendersonA. T.MappK. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. SEDL.
17.
KornrichS.FurstenbergF. (2013). Investing in children: Changes in parental spending on children, 1972–2007. Demography, 50(1), 1–23.
18.
LeeV. E.LoebS. (1995). Where do Head Start attendees end up? One reason why preschool effects fade out. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 17(1), 62–82.
19.
LittleM. (2020). Educators’ views on the location of Pre-K programs and its relation to features of P-3 alignment: An exploratory study. Children and Youth Services Review, 118(2), 105455.
20.
MarkowitzA. J.BassokD.GrissomJ. A. (2020). Teacher-child racial/ethnic match and parental engagement with Head Start. American Educational Research Journal, 57(5), 2132–2174.
21.
MiedelW. T.ReynoldsA. J. (1999). Parent involvement in early intervention for disadvantaged children: Does it matter?Journal of School Psychology, 37(4), 379–402.
22.
ReynoldsA. J.ShlaferR. J. (2010). Parent involvement in early education. In ChristensonS. L.ReschlyA. L. (Eds.), Handbook of school-family partnerships (pp. 158–174). Routledge.
23.
ReynoldsA. J.TempleJ. A. (Eds.). (2019). Sustaining early childhood learning gains: Program, school, and family influences. Cambridge University Press.
24.
RoystonP. (2004). Multiple imputation of missing values. The Stata Journal, 4(3), 227–241.
TourangeauK.NordC.LêT.Wallner-AllenK.VadenKiernanN.BlakerL.NajarianM. (2019). Early childhood longitudinal study, Kindergarten class of 2010– 11 (ECLS-K:2011) user’s manual for the ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten–Fifth Grade Data File and Electronic Codebook, Public Version (NCES 2019-051). U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics.
27.
UrsacheA.BlairC.RaverC. (2012). The promotion of self-regulation as a means of enhancing school readiness and early achievement in children at risk for school failure. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 122–128.
28.
WangM. T.Sheikh-KhalilS. (2014). Does parental involvement matter for student achievement and mental health in high school?Child Development, 85(2), 610–625.
29.
WilderS. (2014). Effects of parental involvement on academic achievement: A meta-synthesis. Educational Review, 66(3), 377–397.
30.
WooldridgeJ. M. (2016). Introductory econometrics: A modern approach. Nelson Education.
