Abstract
Parental involvement has attracted extensive research attention in the last decades because of its positive influence on children (Hong & Ho, 2005; Griffith, 1996). Bandura (1997) argues that parental efficacy, which is defined as the beliefs of parents toward their contribution to their child__s schooling and development, may influence their choices of parental involvement. In particular, parents who feel confident in their ability to promote their child__s academic achievement are more likely to have higher levels of parental involvement than those who are not confident (Waanders, Medez, & Downer, 2007). However, limited studies have examined the relationships between parental efficacy and parents__ collaboration with school during the early years. Therefore, this study is designed to extend the parental involvement literature using a preschool sample to determine the relations between family SES, parental efficacy and home-school collaboration. Approximately 229 children with a mean age of 64.4 months participated in this study. Class teachers reported on parents__ involvement behaviors in school using the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (Lau, Li, & Rao, 2012), while each parent completed the 10-item Parental Efficacy subscale of the Parental Locus of Control Scale (PLOC) (Campis, Lyman, & Prentic-Dunn, 1986). Results suggested that parental efficacy was positively correlated with fathers__ school involvement, while parental efficacy was not related to mothers__ school involvement. Implications for parent education will be discussed.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - Oct 2015 |