Teacher-parent relationships and school involvement among racially and educationally diverse parents of kindergartners

In this study we examined associations between the quality of teacher- and parent-perceived relationships and teacher-reported parental involvement among families of children in kindergarten and whether these associations were moderated by racial/ethnic or socioeconomic factors. Participants were 483 parents and 431 teachers of children from the 2002-2003 kindergarten cohort from the National Center for Early Development and Learning Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten. Parents were selected if their children were identified as African American (27%), Latino (23%), or white (50%). 52% of parents were from low-income homes. The teachers were 98% female, and had an average of 14.65 (SD- 9.96) years of experience. Teachers were 80% white, 9% Latino, 7% African American, 3% multiracial, and 1% Asian American and represented 225 schools across 6 states. Kindergarten teachers and parents completed scales during the spring of the 2002-2003 school year. Regression analyses revealed that both parent- and teacher-perceived relationship quality moderately to strongly predicted teacher-reported parental involvement regardless of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic factors. However, African American, Latino, and less educated parents were less involved in school than whites or more educated families. There were no significant interactions between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic factors. Implications for researchand practice are discussed.