"Talk to Me": Parent-Teacher Background Similarity, Communication Quality, and Barriers to School-Based Engagement Among Ethnoculturally Diverse Head Start Families

• Published in: Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology 2023-04, Vol.29 (2), p.267-278
• Main Authors: Li, Lok-Wah, Ochoa, Wendy, McWayne, Christine M., Priebe Rocha, Leticia, Hyun, Sunah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Caregivers; Child; Child, Preschool; Communication; Communication Barriers; Cultural Diversity; Family; Female; Human; Humans; Language; Male; Parent School Relationship; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Project Head Start; Schools; Student Engagement; Teachers
• ISSN: 1099-9809; 1939-0106
• DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000497

Objective: Primary caregivers (e.g., parents, grandparents, other family members) from low-income and ethnically minoritized families tend to face a host of barriers when participating in their children's school activities. Research suggests that demographic match and quality communication between caregivers and teachers could support minoritized families' school-based engagement. This study examined the associations among caregiver-teacher demographic match, caregivers' perceived communication quality with the teacher and caregivers' perceived barriers to school-based engagement. Method: Caregivers (n = 565) from 49 Head Start classrooms completed the parent-report versions of the surveys: Barriers to Family Engagement, reporting resource, cultural/relational, and program/context barriers to school-based engagement; and Family-Teacher Communication, reporting communication quality with their children's lead and assistant teachers (n = 102). Caregivers and teachers also completed demographic surveys to provide information about their family background, such as race/ethnicity, primary language, and education level. Results: Multilevel modeling results showed that among the three demographic match variables (i.e., race/ethnicity, primary language, formal education), only language match was associated with caregivers' perception of fewer cultural/relational barriers. Latine and Black non-Latine caregivers reported more cultural/relational and program/context carriers than White, non-Latine caregivers. Finally, caregivers who perceived better communication with their children's teachers reported fewer cultural/relational and program/context barriers. Conclusions: Primary language match and high-quality communication between families and teachers appear essential in creating a welcoming preschool environment that could alleviate some of the barriers to engagement typically faced by ethnically minoritized and low-income families. Public Significance Statement Primary caregivers from low-income and ethnically minoritized families tend to face a host of barriers to participating in their children's school activities. This study showed that when caregivers and teachers speak the same language and parents perceive good quality communication with their child's teachers, they are likely to experience fewer barriers related to culture and program contexts as they participate in their children's preschool program. Findings underscore the need for early childhood educati