SF: Literature Review

Fact Sheet on Promoting Family Engagement and Increasing Social and Emotional Development, Academic Achievements, and Positive Classroom Behavior

Strong family engagement promotes and changes the outcome of early childhood education. Research has shown that consistent family engagement is not only supplemental to a positive outcome of childhood education but creates healthy development and wellness.

Data & Statistics

· Recently Harvard Professor Robert Putnam2 said that given a choice between a 10% increase in school budgets or a 10% increase in parent involvement, he would invest in parent involvement Bogenschneider and Johnson, 2004).

· An estimated that nearly 1 in 3 parents in this country is disengaged from their adolescent’s life and particularly their adolescent’s school: Only about one-fifth of parents consistently attend school programs (Bogenschneider and Johnson, 2004, as cited in Steinberg, 1989). Nearly one-third of students say their parents have no idea how they are doing in school. About one-sixth of all students report that their parents don’t care whether they earn good grades in school or not (Bogenschneider and Johnson, 2004, as cited in Steinberg, 1989).

Positive Effects of Family Engagement

Sapungan & Sapungan (2014), found that the Benefits of parent involvement includes:
· Increases student achievement regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic or racial background, or parents’ education level
· Improves grades, test scores, and attendance
· Improves students’ self-esteem and self-discipline, improves behavior in school, and reduces suspensions for disciplinary reasons
· Reduces placements in special education and remedial classes
· Increases graduation rates and enrollment rates in postsecondary education
· Reduces behaviors such as alcohol use, violence, and antisocial behavior
· Improves the school performance of students from diverse cultural backgrounds when parents and professionals collaborate to bridge the gap between the culture at home and the culture at the learning institution
· Enhances outcomes (transitions, work quality, plans for the future) for junior and senior high school students whose parents remain involved.

Barriers of lack of Family Engagement

· Key barriers to family engagement as a lack of resources, inconsistent communication, and reluctance of families and school staff to partner (Garbacz, Hirano, McIntosh, Eagle, Minch, & Vatland, 2018).
· Parents and school personnel identified barriers that fit into four descriptive categories: (a) time poverty, (b) lack of access, (c) lack of financial resources, and (d) lack of awareness (Williams & Sánchez, 2013).

Ways to Increase Family Involvement

· Research by Barnett, Paschall, & Mastergeorge, et al. (2020), results found that the early childhood education (ECE) providers who practice 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.

· Studies have shown that mobile communication has increased parent engagement in early childhood education. For example, leverage mobile apps (access information regarding current programs, field trips, and projects, they gain the power to engage on their terms), create a two-way channel of engagement (mobile messaging boards, two-way text chains, and email channels), and daily engagement (sending parents daily progress reports through a mobile app) (Ortwerth, K 2020).

Barnett, M. A., Paschall, K. W., Mastergeorge, A. M., Cutshaw, C. A., & Warren, S. M. (2020).
Influences of parent engagement in early childhood education centers and the home on kindergarten school readiness. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 260-273.

Bogenschneider, K., & Johnson, C. (2004). Family involvement in education: How important is
it? What can legislators do. In Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars.

Garbacz, S. A., Hirano, K., McIntosh, K., Eagle, J. W., Minch, D., & Vatland, C. (2018). Family
engagement in schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports: Barriers and
facilitators to implementation. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(3), 448.

Ortwerth, K. (2020, May 8). 3 Ways to Increase Parent Engagement in Early Childhood

Education. https://pccsoft.com/3-ways-to-increase-parental-engagement-in-early-childhood-education/

Sapungan, G. M., & Sapungan, R. M. (2014). Parental involvement in child’s education:
Importance, barriers and benefits. Asian Journal of Management Sciences &

Education, 3(2), 23-43.

Steinberg, L. (1989). Adolescence. New York: Knopf

Williams, T. T., & Sánchez, B. (2013). Identifying and decreasing barriers to parent involvement
for inner-city parents. Youth & Society, 45(1), 54-74.