parent-teacher rela.onships in early childhood: a rural...
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Parent-TeacherRela.onshipsinEarlyChildhood:
ARuralandNon-RuralComparisonAmandaL.Wi+e,TylerSmith,MichealeJ.Marcus,
&HenryP.Bass
ResearchsupportedinpartbyIESGrants#R324A100115and#R305F050284,awardedto
Dr.SusanSheridan
BehaviorChallenges
• Childrenwithsocial-behavioralproblemsareatriskfordevelopinglong-term,pervasiveproblems:– Lowachievementscoresandacademicgrades(Bub,McCartney,&Wille+,2007)
– Droppingoutofhighschool(Vitaro,Brendgen,Larose,&Tremblay,2005)
– Schoolsuspension(Reinke,Herman,Petras,&Ialongo,2008)
Transi[ontoKindergarten
• Childreno]enexperienceacademic,social,andculturaldiscon[nui[eswhentransi[oningintokindergarten(Christenson,1999).
• Morethananyotherschoolreadinessskill,youngchildren'sbehavioralproblemsareratedasmostconcerningtokindergartenteachers(Rimm-Kaufman&Pianta,2000).
TheEcologyofChildDevelopment
• Ecologicaltheory(Bronfenbrenner,1979)emphasizestheimportanceoftheenvironmentsinwhichchildrenlearnandgrowandtherela[onshipsbetweenthosesystems.
• Op[maldevelopmentoccurswhen:– Environmentsareconducivetosocial,behavioral,andacademicsuccess
– Coordina[onexistsbetweenthekeyenvironments(home-schoolpartnerships)
Parent-TeacherRela[onships
• Theaffec[vequalityofparent-teacherconnec[ons• Qualityischaracterizedbytrust,mutuality,affilia[on,support,sharedvalues,andsharedexpecta[onsandbeliefsabouteachotherandthechild(Vickers&Minke,1995).
• Posi[veparent-teacherrela[onshipsalleviatethenega[veeffectsofbehaviorproblems(Kim,Sheridan,Kwon,&Koziol,2013).
• Posi[veparent-teacherrela[onshipsarelinkedtoposi[veoutcomesforchildren,teachers,andparents(Christenson&Reschly,2009).
CommunityType
• Communitycharacteris[csarerelatedtochildoutcomesandvaryacrosscommunitytypes:– Accesstoschoolsandsupportservices(Phillipsetal.,2007)
– Overlappingrela[onships(Larson&Corrigan,2010)– Culturalviewsofbehaviorproblemsandparen[ng(Dempster,Wildman,&Kea[ng,2012)
• Theassocia[onbetweencommunitytypeandparent-teacherrela[onshipsforkindergartenstudentisunknown.
CurrentStudyThepurposeofthecurrentstudywasto:
• Examinedifferencesbetweenparent-teacherrela[onshipsacrossruralandnon-ruralcommuni[esforstudentswithbehaviorproblemsatschoolentry.
• Evaluatedifferencesinparentalpercep[onsofefficacyandcompetencyregardinghome-schoolpartnershipsacrossruralandnon-ruralcommuni[es.
Par[cipants• Par[cipantsweredrawnfromanexis[ngdatabaseoftworandomizedcontrolledtrials
• 116kindergartenstudentsiden&fiedashavingdisrup&vebehaviorsandtheirparents
• 62teachers
• 40Midwesternschools• 10mid-sizenon-ruralschools• 30ruralschools
StudentDemographicsRural Non–Rural
(n=66) (n=50)
Mean(SD)Age 5.53(.54) 5.23(.48)
Gender(Male) 84% 100%
DisabilityStatus 40% 54%
Ethnicity White,non-Hispanic 84% 77%
AfricanAmerican 2% 4%
Hispanic/La[no 6% 6%
Other 8% 13%
RiskFactors 0 28% 50%
1 49% 36%
2 10% 12%
3ormore 13% 2%
ParentDemographicsRural Non–Rural
(n=66) (n=50)
Free/ReducedLunch(Eligible)
69% 36%
Gender Male 10% 11%
Female 90% 89%
Educa[on LessthanHSdiploma 11% 9%
HSdiplomaorGED 10% 11%
Somecollege 44% 25%
Collegedegree 29% 38%
Graduatecoursework/Degree
6% 17%
TeacherDemographics
Rural Non–Rural
(n=39) (n=23)
Gender(female) 97% 100%
Ethnicity(white) 100% 93%
Educa[on Collegedegree 28% 43%
Somegraduatecoursework 46% 48%
Graduatedegree 26% 9%
Mean(SD)YearsofExperience 14.1(13.8) 7.6(8.9)
Cer[fica[on Generaleduca[on 87% 78%
General&Specialeduca[on 23% 22%
Measures
• ParentandTeacherrela[onshipquality• Parent-TeacherRela&onshipscale(PTRS)
• ParentalEfficacy• ParentEfficacyforHelpingtheChildSucceedinSchool(PEHCSS)
• ParentCompetenceinProblemSolving• ParentPerceivedCompetenceinProblemSolving(PPPSE)
Procedure
• Allmeasurescollectedviawri+enques[onnaires.
• CommunitytypereportedonNCESwebsite.• Rural=50,000orless• Non-Rural=greaterthan50,000
Analyses
• Amul[levelmodelofstudentsnestedwithinclassroomsandclassroomnestedwithinschoolswasconductedtoexamine:• Differencesinpercep[onsofparent-teacherrela[onshipqualityacrossruralandnon-ruralcommuni[esforstudentswithbehaviorproblemsatschoolentry.
• Differencesinparentalpercep[onsofefficacyandcompetencyregardinghome-schoolpartnershipsacrossruralandnon-ruralcommuni[esforstudentswithbehaviorproblemsatschoolentry.
Results:TeacherReportNon-ruralteachersreportedsignificantlyhigherqualityparent-teacherrela[onshipsrela[vetoteachersinruralseongs(p=.04).
Group Mean(SD)
TeacherPTRSRa[ngs Non-Rural(n=48) 4.31(.51)
Rural(n=66) 3.90(.64)
Results:ParentReportTherewerenosignificantdifferencesbetweennon-ruralandruralseongsinparent-reportedparent-teacherrela[onshipquality,parentefficacyforhelpingthechildsucceedinschool,andparentcompetenceinproblemsolving.
Group Mean(SD)
ParentRa[ngs PTRS Non-Rural(n=46) 4.60(.41)
Rural(n=65) 4.38(.56)
PPE Non-Rural(n=46) 4.75(.71)
Rural(n=64) 4.66(.58)
PPPSE Non-Rural(n=45) 4.50(.68)
Rural(n=62) 4.32(.84)
Discussion:Parent-TeacherRela[onships
• Communitytypepredictsteacher-reportedparent-teacherrela[onshipqualityforstudentswithbehaviorproblems.• Non-ruralteachersreportedsignificantlyhigherqualityparent-teacherrela[onships.
• Nosignificantdifferenceswerefoundforparent-reportsofparent-teacherrela[onshipquality.
Discussion:ParentEfficacyandCompetence
• Parents,regardlessofcommunityseongs,believethattheyhavetheabilitytoposi[velyinfluencestudents’development.
• Further,parentsrecognizetheirroleinchildren’seduca[onisimportant.
Limita[ons
• Alldataarebasedoninformantreports.– Nodirectmeasuresofrela[onshipqualityorparentpercep[onsofefficacy/competencywereconducted.
• Thisstudywasconfinedtoasinglegeographicregion(i.e.,onestateandcommuni[esalongitsborder).
FutureDirec[ons
• Inves[ga[onisneededtoexplainhowandwhycommunitytyperelatestoparent–teacherrela[onships.
• Evaluateinterven[onsandcommunitysupportsinruralcommuni[esthatmaybolsterparent-teacherrela[onshipsandimprovestudentoutcomes.
Implica[onsforEarlyChildhoodPrac[ce
• Thereareuniquechallengesinbuildinghome-schoolpartnershipsinnon-urbancommuni[es.
• Accesstotoolsandtrainingtoaugmenttheskillsandcompetenciesofruralandsmalltownteachersinparent-teacherpartnershipmaybeneeded.
• Bycrea[ngmoreopportuni[esforpartnerships,ruralschoolscansupportparents’primacytowardsimprovingtheirchildren’sdevelopment.
• Interven[oninearlychildhoodtobolsterparent-teacherrela[onshipsmaybeeffec[ve.
TipstoPartnerize
• FormRela[onships• CreateWaystoBecomeandStayEngaged• CommunicateTwoWays• StructureConsistentOpportuni[esforLearningandBehavior
• CollaboratetoAchieveGoalsandSolveProblems
• Whatinforma[onresultedfromthisinves[ga[on?• Howcaninforma[onfromthisstudyinformoradvanceearlychildhoodprac[ce?• Howcaninforma[onfromthisstudyinformoradvanceearlychildhoodpublicpolicy?• Whataddi[onalresearchisneededtoinformoradvanceearlychildhoodprac[ceand/orpolicy?
Discussion
• Partnershipsbetweenfamiliesandschoolsconsistentlyandsubstan[allybenefityoungchildren’sdevelopmentandmaybeespeciallyimportantforallevia[ngthenega[veeffectsofbehaviorproblems.
• Itisnecessarytounderstandtheenvironmentalcontext(e.g.,rural,non-rural)inwhichfamily-schoolpartnershipsoccur.
• Thisstudyfoundsignificantlylowerqualityparent-teacherrela[onshipsforstudentswithbehaviorproblemsinruralcommuni[esrela[vetonon-ruralcommuni[es.
• Itisimportantthateduca[onprofessionalsareawareofuniquechallengesinbuildinghome-schoolpartnershipsinruralcommuni[es.
TakeAwayPoints
ContactInforma[on
AmandaWi+e,[email protected],[email protected]
NebraskaCenterforResearchonChildren,
Youth,FamiliesandSchoolsWebsite:h+p://cyfs.unl.edu