Characterizing the Educational Involvement of Families During Fifth Grade: Predictors and Academic Outcomes Associated with Latent Class Membership
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Date
2020-01-01
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Department
Psychology
Program
Psychology
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Access limited to the UMBC community. Item may possibly be obtained via Interlibrary Loan through a local library, pending author/copyright holder's permission.
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
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Abstract
Higher amounts of family involvement are often positively associated with children's academic skills. There are, however, myriad ways families could be involved in their children's education, which warrant exploration to better inform practice and policy. The purpose of this study was to use a person-centered approach - latent class analysis - to better understand the nuances in how families (N = 5,549) were involved in their fifth-grade children's education. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten: 2010-2011 (ECLS-K: 2011) were used to conduct a latent class analysis of family involvement, as well as explore the relations between latent class membership, sociodemographic characteristics, and children's academic skills. Four latent classes of involvement were identified: Skills Focused (high probability of engaging in activities directly related to skill development; n=1,067) , Engaged (frequently involved in activities; n=1,040), Event Focused (high probability of visiting sites/events; n=2,424), and School Involved (high probability of attending some school-based activities; n=1,018). Sociodemographic characteristics were examined to determine whether these were associated with parents' odds of being a member of one class over another. Few characteristics were associated with class membership. Compared to the Engaged class, parents with no postsecondary experiences/training had higher odds of being in the Skills Focused and School Involved classes. Parents of children who primarily spoke English at home had higher odds of being in the Engaged class. The reading and math skills of children with parents in the Event Focused and School Involved classes tended to be significantly higher than the skills of children with parents in the Engaged class. For both skills, the scores of children with parents in the Engaged class were significantly higher than children of parents in the Skills Focused class. However, these patterns shifted when examining science skills such that there were no significant differences in the scores of children whose parents were members of the Engaged class and the skills of children with parents in the Skills Focused or School Involved classes. Although more research is warranted, these findings highlight the need to take a nuanced perspective when discussing meaningful family involvement in late elementary school.