Investigating the Relation Between Low-Income Parents' Educational Involvement and Classroom Variables on Children's Reading Skills

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2018-01-01

Department

Psychology

Program

Psychology

Citation of Original Publication

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Abstract

This study examined the relation between low-income parents' educational involvement, measured as a composite of home- and school-based activities, and children's reading skills in first grade. Class size, amount of reading instruction, and teacher self-efficacy were also examined as predictors of children's reading skills as well as moderators of the relation between parents' educational involvement and children's reading skills. Parents' educational involvement predicted children's reading skills; however, none of the three classroom variables did. Although neither class size nor teacher self-efficacy moderated the relation between parents' educational involvement and children's reading skills, the amount of classroom reading instruction did. The relation between parents' educational involvement and children's reading skills was stronger for children who received fewer than 2 hours of classroom reading instruction a day. The results of this study underscore the need to consider both home and school contexts when examining the reading skills of children from low-income households.