Peer-Reviewed Papers: Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education and Children's Peer-Play Competencies: An Examination of Multivariate Relationships

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to obtain a multidimensional picture of parent involvement in children's early childhood education as it relates to preschool children's peer-play competencies. The development of the Parent Involvement in Children's Education Scale (PICES), the measure of parent involvement used in this study, was informed by Epstein's categories of parent involvement and coconstructed with parents and teachers in a large urban Head Start program. The Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS) was used to collect social competency data. PICES and PIPPS data were collected from 526 parents. Multivariate analyses of the parent-involvement and peer-play dimensions revealed 2 significant canonical correlations. An Engagement variate pair revealed a significant relationship between supportive home-learning environment and children's' interactive play with peers. The Regulation variate pair showed a strong inverse relationship between a parent's direct contact with school and children's disruptive peer-play experiences. Implications for future research and early childhood education are discussed.