Parent involvement in early childhood: a comparison of English language learners and English first language families

This study evaluated parents' communication, involvement and knowledge of their children's abilities in reading and mathematics among parents who spoke English as a first language (EL1) and those who were English language learners (ELL). Forty-two kindergarten-aged children, their parents and their teachers participated in the study. Results indicated that EL1 parents communicated more frequently with the teacher than ELL parents. However, there were no language group differences in parents' involvement in their children's education (as rated by the teacher). For both groups of parents (EL1 and ELL), parents' ratings of their children's abilities in reading did not predict children's reading scores. However, parents' ratings of their children's abilities in mathematics did predict their children's mathematics scores. Further analyses indicated that this relationship was not mediated by parents' communication or involvement. It is concluded that parents' accurate knowledge of their children's abilities in mathematics may be the result of their involvement at home and particularly for ELL parents, their greater understanding of and emphasis on mathematics learning.