bUniversity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
cChildren's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Abstract:
Family involvement in children's education is fundamental for academic success. This study extended the research on the Family Involvement Questionnaire for Early Childhood (FIQ-EC) by further developing the measure and testing its use with low-income urban elementary students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses affirmed three salient and reliable family involvement dimensions for a large sample of urban first- through fifth-grade students: Home-based Involvement, School-based Involvement, and Home–School Communication. Multivariate analyses demonstrated the significance of caregiver educational background, family characteristics, and child gender to involvement dimensions. Caregiver age or children's grade level did not significantly relate to family involvement dimensions. This study contributes to evidence for a multidimensional understanding of family involvement.