Increasing Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education

Parental involvement during preschool has been linked with stronger pre-literacy skills, acquisition of mathematical skills, well-developed social skills, and positive attitudes toward school (Arnold, Zeljo, Doctoroff, & Ortiff, 2008; Powell, Son, File, & San Juan, 2010). Parents\u27 active involvement in their children\u27s learning is a recommended strategy in engaging families in children\u27s education experiences (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). The purpose of the current study was to measure the impact of parents\u27 active participation in a parent-directed early literacy intervention on parental home-based involvement, school-based involvement, and home-school conferencing among Head Start parents and their preschool-aged children. The study used a quantitative research design, in which preschool children and their parents were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group to assess later levels of parental involvement as a result of the intervention across three time points. This relationship was also examined in the context of parents\u27 prior experience with their children\u27s preschool education. Following implementation of the intervention, average levels of Home-Based Involvement increased among parents in the intervention group. Assigning Head Start parents an active role in developing their preschoolers\u27 pre-literacy skills may be an effective strategy to increase home-based parental involvement activities