Latinx parent engagement and school readiness

Abstract

Efforts to bolster the school readiness of Latinx children from low-income homes in the United States have focused on fostering parent engagement in children’s education. Measurement of parent engagement in early childhood however, has been critiqued for having too narrow a focus on school-based involvement and missing other aspects of Latinx parent engagement. Using a recently developed culturally sensitive assessment of Latinx parent engagement, we test for associations between dimensions of Latinx parent engagement in learning and indicators of school readiness in a diverse sample of Latinx families (n = 114). We find significant associations between multiple dimensions of Latinx parent engagement and indicators of child school readiness. In addition to promoting parent-teacher connections, efforts to support Latinx school readiness equitably are encouraged to attend to various culturally relevant aspects of Latinx parent engagement in early childhood. In particular, investing in programing that supports parents’ well-being and capacity for home-based engagement in learning may be a promising way to support the school readiness of Latinx children living in historically disinvested neighborhoods.