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Exploring Parental Involvement in Early Years Education in China: Development and Validation of the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS)

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Title: Exploring Parental Involvement in Early Years Education in China: Development and Validation of the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS)
Language: English
Authors: Lau, Eva Yi Hung, Li, Hui, Rao, Nirmala
Source: International Journal of Early Years Education. 2012 20(4):405-421.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2012
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Descriptors: Employment Level, Measures (Individuals), Foreign Countries, Early Childhood Education, Interviews, Marital Status, Parent Participation, Focus Groups, Parent School Relationship, Validity, Preschool Children, Teacher Attitudes, Parent Attitudes
Geographic Terms: China, Hong Kong
DOI: 10.1080/09669760.2012.743099
ISSN: 0966-9760
Abstract: This study developed and validated an instrument, the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS), that can be widely used in both local and international contexts to assess Chinese parental involvement in early childhood education. The study was carried out in two stages: (1) focus group interviews were conducted with 41 teachers and 35 parents in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Teachers and parents were found to hold different perceptions of parental involvement. Responses further revealed that Chinese parents practiced more home-based involvement than preschool-based involvement, and that Chinese parents also have layers of responsibilities that limit their level of involvement in children's early development; (2) items of the CEPIS were developed using focus group responses. To validate the scale, 319 parents were asked to complete the new CEPIS. Results from principal-components factor analyses established that the resultant 26-item CEPIS consists of six parental involvement dimensions. Further analyses revealed that parental involvement differed as a function of parents' marital status and employment status. The major findings, implications and limitations of this research are discussed, together with directions for future research. (Contains 4 tables.)
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 46
Entry Date: 2013
Accession Number: EJ988527
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0084140015;54r01dec.12;2019Feb13.17:20;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0084140015-1">Exploring parental involvement in early years education in China: development and validation of the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS). </title> <p>This study developed and validated an instrument, the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS), that can be widely used in both local and international contexts to assess Chinese parental involvement in early childhood education. The study was carried out in two stages: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>) focus group interviews were conducted with 41 teachers and 35 parents in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Teachers and parents were found to hold different perceptions of parental involvement. Responses further revealed that Chinese parents practiced more home-based involvement than preschool-based involvement, and that Chinese parents also have layers of responsibilities that limit their level of involvement in children's early development; (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>) items of the CEPIS were developed using focus group responses. To validate the scale, 319 parents were asked to complete the new CEPIS. Results from principal-components factor analyses established that the resultant 26-item CEPIS consists of six parental involvement dimensions. Further analyses revealed that parental involvement differed as a function of parents' marital status and employment status. The major findings, implications and limitations of this research are discussed, together with directions for future research.</p> <p>Keywords: parental involvement; scale development and validation; early childhood education</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-2">Introduction</hd> <p>Parental involvement has been advocated in Western countries since the 1980s, as a result of studies verifying its importance in children's development (Anderson and Minke [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref3">1</reflink>]; Greenwood and Hickman [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref4">14</reflink>]; Ice and Hoover-Dempsey [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref5">24</reflink>]; Stevenson and Baker [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref6">42</reflink>]). These studies demonstrate that parental involvement in children's schooling (e.g., homework supervision) is associated with positive child outcomes, such as academic achievement and socio-emotional well-being (Li and Rao [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref7">28</reflink>]; Zellman and Waterman [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref8">46</reflink>]). Parental involvement also benefits the school by providing valuable resources (e.g., parent volunteers) (Ng [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref9">30</reflink>]; Sussell, Carr, and Hartman [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref10">43</reflink>]). Previous research has suggested that parental involvement is particularly critical during the early years, the period when children come to realise their role as learners and adjust to the education system (Hill and Taylor [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref11">16</reflink>]; Li, Corrie, and Wong [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref12">27</reflink>]). In their longitudinal study, Sylva et al. ([<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref13">44</reflink>]) find a relationship between parents' involvement in providing a home learning environment and preschoolers' cognitive development. However, empirical studies exploring parental involvement in early childhood education (ECE) in the Chinese culture are lacking as a result of the lack of a sound instrument to measure Chinese parental involvement.</p> <p>There is also a well-established strong positive correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) variables and parents' involvement in later schooling (Fan [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref14">8</reflink>]; Ice and Hoover-Dempsey [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref15">24</reflink>]; Kohl, Lengua, and McMahon [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref16">25</reflink>]). For instance, parents' educational background seems to affect their attitudes towards their contribution to their child's schooling and development (Green et al. [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref17">13</reflink>]). Furthermore, parents with lower income and less education may experience financial and social constraints that hinder their ability to become highly involved (Fan [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref18">8</reflink>]; Fantuzzo, Tighe, and Childs [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref19">11</reflink>]). Finally, parents with a higher status at work may have more flexibility in their work schedule and, therefore, be more able to take an active role in their children's education than parents with a lower status at work (Fuller and Olsen [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref20">12</reflink>]; Kohl, Lengua, and McMahon [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref21">25</reflink>]). However, there is little research on Chinese parental involvement in ECE, and whether the above factors influence Chinese parents' involvement in early education cannot be ascertained without the development of a valid and reliable measure of parental involvement.</p> <p>In fact, many studies of parental involvement are limited in their assessments of parental involvement; many have simply assessed one aspect of parental involvement and have relied exclusively on teachers' global assessments of parental involvement practices in later schooling (e.g., Griffith [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref22">15</reflink>]; Marcon [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref23">29</reflink>]). For instance, Marcon ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref24">29</reflink>]) assesses four dimensions of elementary school-based parental involvement using a global teacher rating, with participants responding 'yes' or 'no' to each item. This type of assessment is limited as it only examines school-based involvement, and the global rating fails to capture the degree of parental involvement in each dimension. Also, teacher reports may not accurately reflect parents' involvement because of teacher bias (e.g., personal preferences) and teachers' lack of understanding of parents' involvement outside the school. Finally, such assessments have limited applicability to parents of preschool children and in the Chinese context. As a result, a parent self-report that assesses various dimensions of Chinese parental involvement in ECE is urgently needed. This study develops the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS) using the focus group approach, and validates the scale using factor analyses.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-3">Conceptual framework of parental involvement</hd> <p>When developing a scale to assess parental involvement, it is necessary to define the constructs clearly. There is as yet no clear and consistent operational definition of parental involvement; it has been defined and measured inconsistently across different studies depending on their research aims. Nevertheless, researchers generally agree that parental involvement is multifaceted in nature and encompasses a wide range of parenting practices (Fan and Chen [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref25">9</reflink>]; Ho [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref26">18</reflink>]; Lau, Li, and Rao [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref27">26</reflink>]). Epstein ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref28">6</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref29">7</reflink>]) conceptualises parental involvement in terms of the collaborative relationship between home and school. Epstein's model has been widely used in the field and consists of six dimensions: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref30">1</reflink>) <emph>Parenting</emph>: schools providing resources to help parents establish a positive home environment to foster children's development; (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref31">2</reflink>) <emph>Home–school communication</emph>: communication between home and school concerning children's development; (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref32">3</reflink>) <emph>Home learning activities</emph>: parents' involvement in various learning activities that take place at home; (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref33">4</reflink>) <emph>Volunteering at school</emph>: parents providing assistance to facilitate the school's functioning; (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref34">5</reflink>) <emph>Decision-making</emph>: parents collaborating with the school in making school management decisions; and (<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref35">6</reflink>) <emph>Collaborating with the community</emph>: parents identifying and using the available community resources for promoting children's learning and development (Epstein [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref36">6</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref37">7</reflink>]).</p> <p>Ho ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref38">18</reflink>]) conceptualises parental involvement using a bi-dimensional model, with one dimension concerning the locus of involvement (home vs. school) and the other concerning the extent of involvement (active vs. passive). Ho ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref39">18</reflink>]) further categorises parental involvement into four types. The first two types of parental involvement are home-based involvement. Specifically, parents who practice <emph>home discussion</emph>, that is, actively spend time talking with their children about the school, and parents who practice <emph>home supervision</emph> are relatively passive, as they are restrictive in supervising their children's learning outside the school. The other two types of parental involvement are school-based involvement. <emph>School participation</emph> is an active form of involvement in which parents volunteer in the school or participate in school governance, and <emph>school communication</emph> is a passive form of parental involvement in which the parents and teachers exchange information about children's development (Ho [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref40">18</reflink>]). Although both Epstein's and Ho's models have been largely applied to parental involvement in later school years, their models serve as important references for conceptualising the complex nature of parental involvement in the early years. Hence, both models are used in the present study as conceptual frameworks for developing items for the CEPIS.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-4">Parental involvement in the early years in China</hd> <p>Forms of preschool education in China include nurseries (0- to 3-year-olds), kindergartens (3- to 6-year-olds), pre-primary classes (5- to 6-year-olds) and a variety of other forms of ECE programmes. Due to the various policies implemented to promote preschool education in China, there has been an increase in the proportion of children accessing preschool education over the last decade. At the same time, preschool attendance in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), is high by world standards; nearly all children aged 3–6 years are attending full-day or half-day kindergartens or early childcare and learning programmes (Rao and Li [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref41">36</reflink>]). Children in both China and Hong Kong are required to commence primary school at age six and children may have various adaptation problems during this transition period. Therefore, parental involvement in preschool education lays a good foundation for formal education (Lau, Li, and Rao [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref42">26</reflink>]).</p> <p>Parental involvement in education has long been promoted in Chinese culture. Traditionally, Chinese people believe that doing well academically is the clearest path towards a better life and, therefore, they involve themselves in their children's education (Ho [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref43">18</reflink>]; Shek [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref44">40</reflink>]). Furthermore, the one child policy in the People's Republic of China, which limits couples to one child, has changed the child-rearing practices of Chinese families and has resulted in a greater degree of parental involvement in childcare and education (Short et al. [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref45">41</reflink>]). In Hong Kong, parental involvement in schools has also been promoted by the Education Department since the early 1990s. In accordance with the recommendation of the Education Commission Report No. 5 (Education Commission [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref46">5</reflink>]), the Committee on Home-School Co-operation was established to encourage schools to involve parents in their children's learning as a way of promoting quality education. Existing findings, however, indicate that Chinese parents are passive with respect to most school-based involvement and tend to trust and respect teachers' decisions regarding school matters (Ng [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref47">30</reflink>]; Ho [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref48">19</reflink>]). However, because homework (e.g., worksheets and artwork) is assigned to students starting in the preschool years, Chinese parents show a high level of home-based involvement during the early years (Lau, Li, and Rao [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref49">26</reflink>]). To support quality education in the early years by improving parental involvement, it is first necessary to develop the CEPIS so that parental involvement of Chinese parents can be accurately assessed.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-5">The present study</hd> <p>Existing studies on parental involvement are largely limited in their assessment of, and lack of investigation into, Chinese ECE. This study aims to overcome these limitations by developing an instrument, the CEPIS, that captures the multidimensional nature of parental involvement in Chinese ECE settings. With the development of the CEPIS, Chinese parental involvement can be thoroughly examined and used to promote quality ECE worldwide. The study has two stages: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref50">1</reflink>) focus group interviews were conducted with both Chinese parents and teachers to examine their perceptions, and practices and to identify the factors perceived to influence parental involvement; (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref51">2</reflink>) items for the CEPIS were developed using focus group responses, and the scale was validated using both focus group responses and principle components factor analyses.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-6">Methods</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0084140015-7">Participants</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0084140015-8">Research sites</hd> <p>Because there may be significant heterogeneity among people in a single cultural group (Ho, Peng, and Lai [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref52">17</reflink>]; Tardif and Miao [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref53">45</reflink>]), two Chinese cities, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, were chosen to increase the representativeness of the sample. One preschool with students from families with low SES, two preschools with students from families with medium SES and two preschools serving students from families with high SES were purposively selected in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen to represent the socioeconomic variations within each city. Altogether, there were 10 participating preschools and all parents of the upper-preschool class students (5- to 6-year-olds) in each participating preschool were invited to participate in this study.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-9">Focus group interviews</hd> <p>Nineteen Hong Kong parents (5 fathers) and 22 Shenzhen parents (5 fathers) participated in the focus group interviews. These parents had a median age of 31–40 years, and the majority of them were married (Hong Kong: 100%; Shenzhen: 95.4%). The median education levels completed by the Hong Kong and Shenzhen parents were high school and college, respectively (Table 1).</p> <p>Table 1. Background information of participants.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td /><td>Hong Kong</td><td>Shenzhen</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><italic>Focus group interviews</italic></td></tr><tr><td>Parents</td></tr><tr><td> Number of parents</td><td>19 (5 fathers)</td><td>22 (5 fathers)</td></tr><tr><td> Married</td><td>100%</td><td>95.4%</td></tr><tr><td> Age range (median level)</td><td>31–40</td><td>31–40</td></tr><tr><td> Education (median level)</td><td>High school</td><td>College</td></tr><tr><td>Teachers</td></tr><tr><td> Number of teachers</td><td>22</td><td>13</td></tr><tr><td> Age range (median level)</td><td>31–40</td><td>21–30</td></tr><tr><td> Tears of teaching experience (mean)</td><td>16.2 (SD<italic>=</italic>5.39)</td><td>12 (SD = 6.0)</td></tr><tr><td> Education (median level)</td><td>High school</td><td>College</td></tr><tr><td><italic>Scale development and validation</italic></td></tr><tr><td>Parents</td></tr><tr><td> Number of parents</td><td>158 (33 fathers)</td><td>161 (28fathers)</td></tr><tr><td> Married</td><td>96.8%</td><td>93.8%</td></tr><tr><td> Age range (median level)</td><td>31–40</td><td>31–40</td></tr><tr><td> Education (median level)</td><td>High school</td><td>College</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Thirty-five female preschool teachers participated in the focus group interviews. The median age of the Hong Kong teachers was 31–40 years, their median educational level was high school, and the mean number of the years of teaching experience was 16.2 (SD=5.39). The median age of the Shenzhen teachers was 21–30 years, their median educational level was college, and the mean number of years of teaching experience was 12 (SD=6.0).</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-10">Scale development and validation</hd> <p>The participating parents from Hong Kong in the scale development sample consisted of 33 fathers and 125 mothers, with the majority aged between 31 and 40 years (70.4%). Most of these parents reported being married (96.8%). The median education level of the Hong Kong parents was high school. The sample of Shenzhen parents included 28 fathers and 133 mothers, the majority of them reported an age range of 31–40 years (83.6%). As many as 93.8% of the Shenzhen parents were married. The median education level of the Shenzhen parents was college.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-11">Procedure</hd> <p>From the parents who had provided consent, five were randomly selected from each preschool for focus group interviews, and all upper-preschool class teachers in each preschool were invited to participate in the interviews. A total of 20 focus group interviews were conducted. Each focus group consisted of from three to five participants, and each interview lasted about 30 minutes. Three major interview questions were asked: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref54">1</reflink>) what is parental involvement? (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref55">2</reflink>) what are the practices of parental involvement? and (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref56">3</reflink>) what are the factors that influence parental involvement? All interviews were videotaped for later transcription and analyses. Focus group examples of commonly practiced parental involvement were used to develop a scale that contained items concerning parental involvement in ECE. A draft of the scale was sent to all focus group participants and to the principals of each participating preschool to evaluate the content validity of the scale. The scale was further modified, and all participating parents were then asked to complete the final version of the scale for scale validation. Details of the stages of the development of the CEPIS are given in Table 2.</p> <p>Table 2. Stages in the development of the CEPIS.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><tbody><tr><td>(1) Focus group interviews</td><td>Responses about commonly practiced parental involvement activities during the ECE years in a Chinese context were obtained from focus group teachers and parents.</td></tr><tr><td>(2) Scale development and validation – Phase 1</td><td>The first two authors reviewed responses from focus group interviews and the existing literature.</td></tr><tr><td /><td>The initial set of 63 items was developed.</td></tr><tr><td /><td>Focus group participants assessed the content validity of the 63 items.</td></tr><tr><td>(3) Scale development and validation – Phase 2</td><td>20 items were eliminated after Phase 1.</td></tr><tr><td>Focus group participants reviewed the 43 items.</td></tr><tr><td /><td>319 parents completed the 43-item CEPIS.</td></tr><tr><td /><td>After the first-round of principal-components factor analysis, 17 items were eliminated, leaving a total of 26 items.</td></tr><tr><td>(4) Scale development and validation – Phase 3</td><td>During the second-round of analysis, a principal-components factor analysis was conducted on the remaining 26 items.</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0084140015-12">Results</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0084140015-13">Focus group interviews</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0084140015-14">Perceptions of parental involvement</hd> <p>All focus group teachers and parents regarded the involvement of parents as vital to children's development and valued parents' involvement in many different aspects of children's education. However, teachers and parents gave different definitions of parental involvement. A comparison of the results showed that teachers tended to view parental involvement as parents offering support to teachers, whereas parents tended to define parental involvement as any activities that they engaged in to support their child's learning and development. The teachers indicated that many different forms of assistance were provided by parents (e.g., giving opinions about the preschool and storytelling in the classroom). However, parents across all focus groups conceptualised parental involvement as a multifaceted construct and believed that being involved at home and at preschool was equally important because each has a unique effect on children's educational well-being. The first excerpt below shows a teacher's perception of the different roles that parents play in assisting the preschool, and the second excerpt shows a parent's perception that parental involvement is multidimensional in nature.</p> <p>Parents' involvement consists of assisting the preschool; for example, parents coming to assist us during the activities at our morning assembly, preparing some tools for children's performance and offering help in the classroom. (Shenzhen Preschool A-Teacher A)</p> <p>I think there should be many aspects of involvement. First, it should be the relationship between parents and preschool. For example, when the preschool organises some activities, I think parents should join to learn more about their child's preschool life. Also, parental involvement refers to children's activities at home. I am more involved at home. (Shenzhen Preschool B-Parent B)</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-15">Practices of parental involvement</hd> <p>Both teachers and parents agreed that parents should be involved in both preschool and home activities and provided numerous examples of involvement practices in both contexts. Responses obtained in the discussion of involvement practices were used for scale development and some of the major practices discussed are included below.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-16">Home-based involvement</hd> <p>It should be noted that parents indicated that they had a higher level of involvement at home than in preschool. The most commonly discussed home-based involvement was homework supervision. Unlike most Western preschools, homework is regularly assigned to preschool students in China to strengthen and extend the knowledge the children acquired at school. Most interviewees suggested that with parents' involvement, children were more likely to accomplish the home-learning tasks assigned by teachers and were more likely to become interested in learning. In general, teachers highly valued and encouraged parental involvement in their children's homework. In the first excerpt below, a Shenzhen teacher discusses her preschool's methods for involving parents in children's home learning tasks. In the second excerpt, a Hong Kong parent discusses her involvement in her child's homework to ensure her child's mastery of knowledge and to enhance her own understanding of her child's learning progress in preschool.</p> <p>For example, when preparing an activity for a new theme, we would send a letter to parents so that they would be able to help their child to collect and understand the related learning materials. This is a task parents and children can complete together. (Shenzhen Preschool C-Teacher C)</p> <p>Primarily, I focus on reviewing his homework to see if he understood it, if he paid attention in preschool, and if he knew how to do it after getting back home. (Hong Kong Preschool A-Parent A)</p> <p>The participants also discussed examples of parent–child communication aimed at enhancing the parents' understanding of their children's development and other learning-related issues. Surprisingly, most of the focus group parents and teachers thought that although these practices of parent–child communication occur all the time, their importance was sometimes not recognised by parents. The excerpt below from a Hong Kong parent suggests that a daily conversation between parents and child could lead to a better understanding of the latter's ability and development, which could help the parents to modify their parenting practices accordingly.</p> <p>When he comes home, you need to understand what activities he has done in preschool that day. The structural part includes what he had as a snack followed by how he did his homework. Then you should also know whether he had emotional problems in preschool. You can come to know about his overall preschool life by talking to him. (Hong Kong Preschool D-Parent C)</p> <p>In addition to the home-based involvement presented above, many parents believed that the purpose of conducting home learning activities was to foster their child's all-round development. Because the resources in preschools are limited, both groups believed that parents must provide children with learning activities outside the preschool, such as sports, language and cognitive activities to enrich their early experience. In the following excerpt, a parent reveals that she takes her child to the park on weekends to informally introduce new knowledge to her child and to create opportunities for her child to interact with other children through play.</p> <p>I mainly go to the park with my child to play on weekends. We would also let him engage in physical activities, such as roller skating and playing table tennis. He does not know how to play yet, but we will teach him and play with him. In Shenzhen, children do not seem to have many opportunities to play with other children. When there are other children, I will try to let him go and have fun. (Shenzhen Preschool C-Parent B)</p> <p>Finally, focus group teachers and parents discussed the need for parents to be involved in improving children's self-care ability for a better transition to primary school. Both teachers and parents noted that the routines in primary school are very different from those in preschool. Thus, it is necessary for parents to facilitate children's self-care skills through direct instruction and supervision during the early years before they enter primary schools. Parent C in the following excerpt expressed her concern about her son wetting his pants in primary school and, therefore, she stresses the importance of teaching her son issues related to the use of washroom.</p> <p>You need to teach him when to go to the washroom and how to clean up himself afterwards. If he wet his pants in primary school, this would be a trouble. He cannot go to the washroom immediately after he requests going to the washroom in primary school, which is different from the practice in preschool. So I need to prepare spare panties for him to change in case he needs to do so. (Hong Kong Preschool D-Parent C)</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-17">Preschool-based involvement</hd> <p>In focus group interviews, participants agreed that parents could enhance the preschool's operation by giving critical opinions and providing assistance for different preschool activities. Parents' preschool-based involvement could also enhance their knowledge of ECE and improve their practices at home. Two major forms of preschool-based involvement activities emerged from the responses. First, participants suggested that parents could communicate with teachers (e.g., during pick-up and drop-off time, phone calls and through notes) to exchange their observations regarding children's learning and development. In the following excerpt, a Hong Kong parent provides an example of parent–teacher communication that explores the reasons for a child's behavioural problems in preschool.</p> <p>The teacher will take the initiative to call me when there is something wrong with my child. For example, 'Lately, your child has been very naughty and seems to be absent-minded for some reason'. The teacher will call to notify us and see if we know what has been going wrong with our child. (Hong Kong Preschool E-Parent C)</p> <p>Second, participants suggested that parents could involve themselves by taking part in or organising preschool activities and participating in preschool administration. For instance, parents could volunteer to help the teacher in the classroom or become involved in the preschool governance. In the following excerpt, a Shenzhen teacher reports how she invited parents with certain specialisations to come to the class to teach children.</p> <p>We started the theme 'tea' a few days ago. There is a parent who owns a tea shop, and he came to demonstrate tea-making and to instruct our students on tea-related knowledge. He is very professional concerning tea. We often utilise these parent resources to help students learn more. Every semester, we invite parents to come to the class to talk about their specialties. (Shenzhen Preschool D-Teacher B)</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-18">Factors influencing parental involvement</hd> <p>Some of the perceived barriers to parental involvement in children's education are related to parental attitudes and parents' SES background. It has been suggested that parents' perceived self-efficacy has a great influence on home–school collaboration. Some of the study participants noted that most parents are particularly reluctant to participate in formal school bodies, such as the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the School Board, as parents considered such involvement as official and worried that their lack of knowledge would result in their voices being ignored. Other participants also mentioned the limitations due to work-related demands on parents' time. In particular, most parents who work in large cities such as Hong Kong and Shenzhen have prolonged working hours, which may restrict their involvement in children's education. The following excerpt from a Hong Kong parent suggests that her lack of participation in preschool activities is a result of work and childcare commitments.</p> <p>I need to work and it is difficult to take a day off. If the preschool gives me a notice a few weeks in advance, I can take a day off. As long as it is important, I would take the time to go. However, I rarely participate in those parent seminars explaining about hygiene. I now have another baby girl and if I want to attend, I will need my mom's help to baby-sit (Hong Kong Preschool B-Parent B)</p> <p>Participants also suggested that parents' educational attainment was a key indicator of the degree of parents' involvement and parents' belief about their role in children's education. It was suggested that parents with a lower level of educational attainment might see educating children as the teacher's job and would have a lower level of involvement than parents who perceived their involvement as an essential part of parenthood. In the excerpt below, a Shenzhen teacher indicates that parents are likely to rely on teachers to educate their child when they have less knowledge about education.</p> <p>Parents have different education levels and so they have different knowledge. Some parents may be less educated, in which they think that while the child is in the preschool, it is the teacher's responsibility to teach and so he will not take the initiative to collaborate with you. (Shenzhen Preschool E-Teacher B)</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-19">Scale development and validation</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0084140015-20">Phase 1</hd> <p>Information obtained from the focus group interviews and the existing parental involvement literature (e.g., Epstein's and Ho's parental involvement models) was used to develop items for the CEPIS. Specifically, the first two authors carefully scrutinised all parental involvement examples provided by focus group participants. After a thorough discussion, the two authors combined all similar practices and developed an initial set of CEPIS items. This draft of the CEPIS contained 63 items covering a broad range of parental involvement practices in ECE. The draft was sent to all focus group participants, who were asked to assess its content validity by rating the relevance of each item to parental involvement using a 5-point Likert scale (1= highly irrelevant to 5=highly relevant). The mean scores of the reported item relevancy ranged from 2.67 (SD=1.56) for item 12 (being a preschool's parent committee member) to 4.86 (SD=0.43) for item 1 (believing parents are the first teachers of their child).</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-21">Phase 2</hd> <p>Upon completion of the content validation in Phase 1, 20 items were eliminated because of their low relevancy score. The modified version was then sent to all focus group participants for further review (e.g., wording issues) before the final version was sent to all participating parents (<emph>n</emph>=319) for assessment. The final sample size of 289 (using list-wise deletion) was regarded as sufficient to avoid computational difficulties in the factor analysis of the 43 items (Comrey and Lee [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref57">3</reflink>]). The minimum amount of data from the CEPIS was acceptable for factor analysis, with over 6.7 cases per variable. The factorability of the correlation was also tested. First, 42 of the 43 items correlated with a value of at least 0.4 with at least one other item, suggesting reasonable factorability. Second, Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant [χ<sups>2</sups> (<reflink idref="bib903" id="ref58">903</reflink>)=6621.63, <emph>p <</emph> 0.001], and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.92, which was above the recommended value of 0.6 and further confirmed the construct validity of the scale. Finally, the communalities were all above 0.4, which further confirmed that each item shared some common variance with other items. Given these overall indicators, factor analysis was conducted with all 43 items.</p> <p>In the first-round of factor analysis, principal-components factor analysis was used because the primary purpose was to identify and compute composite parental involvement scores for the factors underlying CEPIS. The initial Eigen values (>1.0) showed that there were nine factors explaining a total of 63.1% of the variance. The solutions of these nine factors were examined using a varimax rotation of the factor loading matrix. The levelling of Eigen values on the scree plot after the first nine factors, and also the insufficient number of primary loadings made it difficult to interpret the subsequent factors. A total of 17 items were eliminated because they either had low factor loadings or they did not seem to be related to the content of other items on that particular factor. Therefore, only 26 items were included for the second factor analysis.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-22">Phase 3</hd> <p>In the second-round of factor analysis, principal-components factor analysis was again conducted with the remaining 26 items using a varimax rotation. Results showed that there were six factors derived from the 26 items, which explained 63.3% of the variance. All items had primary loadings over 0.5. Internal consistency for each of the scales was examined, and the Cronbach's alphas for the 6 subscales of the CEPIS were moderate, ranging from 0.60 (preschool involvement) to 0.90 (parent discussion). An approximately normal distribution was evident for the composite score data in the present study (Table 3).</p> <p>Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the CEPIS.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td /><td>Number of items</td><td><italic>M</italic> (SD)</td><td>Skewness</td><td>Kurtosis</td><td>Alpha</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Parent instruction</td><td char=".">7</td><td char=".">4.37 (0.50)</td><td char=".">−0.49</td><td char=".">−0.46</td><td char=".">0.87</td></tr><tr><td>Parent discussion</td><td char=".">5</td><td char=".">3.61 (0.82)</td><td char=".">−0.57</td><td char=".">0.24</td><td char=".">0.90</td></tr><tr><td>Language and cognitive activities</td><td char=".">5</td><td char=".">3.85 (0.62)</td><td char=".">−0.28</td><td char=".">−0.05</td><td char=".">0.76</td></tr><tr><td>Homework involvement</td><td char=".">2</td><td char=".">4.13 (0.64)</td><td char=".">−0.52</td><td char=".">−0.22</td><td char=".">0.70</td></tr><tr><td>Home-school conferencing</td><td char=".">3</td><td char=".">4.07 (0.85)</td><td char=".">−0.87</td><td char=".">0.53</td><td char=".">0.71</td></tr><tr><td>Preschool involvement</td><td char=".">4</td><td char=".">3.27 (0.74)</td><td char=".">−0.27</td><td char=".">0.35</td><td char=".">0.60</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0084140015-23">Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale</hd> <p>As shown in Table 4, the final 26-item CEPIS covered six dimensions: <emph>Parent Instruction</emph> (7 items), <emph>Parent Discussion</emph> (5 items), <emph>Language and Cognitive Activities</emph> (5 items), <emph>Homework Involvement</emph> (2 items), <emph>Home-school Conferencing</emph> (3 items) and <emph>Preschool Involvement</emph> (4 items). Among the six dimensions, four can be categorised as home-based involvement: <emph>Parent Instruction</emph> includes items assessing parents' direct guidance and instruction in children's development (e.g., self-care ability and emotional regulation); <emph>Parent Discussion</emph> assesses parent–child conversations about primary school issues (e.g., teachers and school routines); <emph>Language and Cognitive Activities</emph> consists of items concerning parents' participation in home language and cognitive related learning activities; and <emph>Homework Involvement</emph> examines parents' involvement in their children's completion of preschool assignments at home. The last two dimensions of parental involvement concern preschool-based involvement: <emph>Home-school Conferencing</emph> assesses parents' involvement in different forms of communication with the preschool and <emph>Preschool Involvement</emph> examines parents' participation in preschool functioning. The CEPIS was designed to assess parents' self-reported involvement in their child's learning and development using a 5-point Likert scale (1= highly inaccurate to 5=highly accurate) to indicate whether each item accurately described their involvement behaviour in that particular preschool year.</p> <p>Table 4. Summary of factor analysis results for the CEPIS.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Variable</td><td>Parent instruction</td><td>Parent discussion</td><td>Language and cognitive activities</td><td>Homework involvement</td><td>Home–school conferencing</td><td>Preschool involvement</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Instruct child to take off/put on clothes</td><td char=".">0.774</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Instruct my child to self-feed</td><td char=".">0.745</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Instruct child to self-clean after using the toilet</td><td char=".">0.731</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Instruct child to pack schoolbag</td><td char=".">0.702</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Teach child not to throw tantrums easily</td><td char=".">0.666</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Teach child to solve peer problems</td><td char=".">0.646</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Teach my child to share with others</td><td char=".">0.577</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Discuss differences between kindergarten and primary school</td><td char="." /><td char=".">0.837</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Discuss classroom rules and discipline</td><td char="." /><td char=".">0.804</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Share stories in primary school</td><td char="." /><td char=".">0.789</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Talk about the primary school that my child is going to</td><td char="." /><td char=".">0.747</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Discuss primary school issues</td><td char="." /><td char=".">0.709</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Read stories to my child</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.780</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Let child read stories to me</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.625</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Give extra-curricular knowledge</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.605</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Play cognitively stimulating games</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.544</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Give safety knowledge to my child</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.510</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Instruct child to complete homework</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.797</td><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Check homework and schoolbag</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.785</td><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Help child with arts assignments</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.507</td><td char="." /><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Use written means to communicate</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.653</td><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Call the teacher to communicate</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.646</td><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Participate in parent–child activities</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.820</td><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Attend parent–teacher conferences</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.742</td><td char="." /></tr><tr><td>Volunteer in kindergarten</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.601</td></tr><tr><td>Participate in administrative events</td><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char="." /><td char=".">0.564</td></tr><tr><td>Eigen value</td><td char=".">8.55</td><td char=".">2.35</td><td char=".">1.68</td><td char=".">1.47</td><td char=".">1.40</td><td char=".">1.02</td></tr><tr><td>Percentage of variance</td><td char=".">32.89</td><td char=".">9.03</td><td char=".">6.45</td><td char=".">5.67</td><td char=".">5.39</td><td char=".">3.92</td></tr><tr><td>Cumulative %</td><td char=".">32.89</td><td char=".">41.92</td><td char=".">48.36</td><td char=".">54.03</td><td char=".">59.42</td><td char=".">63.34</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>To examine whether Chinese parental involvement in ECE differed as a function of family structure or SES factors, several sets of one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were conducted. Parents' marital status, parent education, employment status and family income level were entered as independent variables, and parents' total mean CEPIS scores were entered as the dependent variable. Results indicated that parental involvement did not differ as a function of parent education (<emph>P</emph>s > 0.05) or family income level (<emph>P</emph>s > 0.05). However, parental involvement differed as a function of marital status [<emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref59">3</reflink>, 283)=2.97, <emph>p</emph><0.05] and employment status [<emph>F</emph> 2, 284)=3.80, <emph>p</emph><0.05]. Post hoc analyses revealed that (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref60">1</reflink>) married parents were more involved than divorced parents; and (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref61">2</reflink>) parents with no employment had higher involvement than full-time employed parents.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-24">Discussion</hd> <p>The present study used the focus group approach to develop and validate an instrument for assessing Chinese parental involvement in ECE. Responses from the focus group interviews provided in-depth knowledge and localised information about the perceptions and practices of Chinese parents' involvement in ECE. The responses of the focus group could be used to develop teacher and parent seminars or programmes. The CEPIS may be well suited for use in the fields of ECE, psychology and social work to advance the theoretical and practical understanding of parental involvement in the early childhood years in different Chinese contexts. Major findings of the present study are discussed below.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-25">Chinese parental involvement during the early years</hd> <p>Existing studies suggest that teachers and parents often disagree with each other about the definition of parental involvement, which may inhibit parents' involvement and limit their positive effect on children (Fantuzzo et al. [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref62">10</reflink>]; Pelletier and Brent [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref63">34</reflink>]). Specifically, researchers have suggested that there is a clear distinction between the roles of parents and teachers in Chinese culture, and that Chinese teachers tend to view themselves as more professional with respect to educational matters and expect parents to assist teachers in supporting children's education (Fan and Chen [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref64">9</reflink>]; Pang [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref65">32</reflink>]). Similarly, in the present study, focus group interviews revealed that although teachers and parents both believed that parental involvement is important, they had different views regarding the role of parents in parental involvement during the early years. These differences may reflect their differential power and may hinder the positive influence of home-school collaboration.</p> <p>Most of the previous studies on parental involvement (e.g., Coleman [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref66">2</reflink>]; Raffaele and Knoff [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref67">35</reflink>]) refer solely to preschool-based involvement, which often underestimates the significant educational effect of home-based involvement. However, focus group responses in the present study revealed that teachers and parents discussed practices of both home-based and preschool-based involvement. More importantly, responses revealed that parents practiced more home-based involvement than preschool-based involvement. This particular finding may further confirm the belief that Chinese parents more commonly become involved at home, rather than in school, throughout their child's education (Ho [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref68">19</reflink>]; Huntsinger and Jose [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref69">23</reflink>]). As parental involvement in the school context is thought to enhance parents' knowledge of effective parenting, it should be encouraged from the early years. In fact, previous findings have suggested that teachers' invitations and involvement strategies can increase parents' school-based involvement (Epstein [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref70">7</reflink>]; Green et al. [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref71">13</reflink>]; Pelletier and Brent [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref72">34</reflink>]). School philosophies and resources have also been identified as crucial in affecting the opportunity for home-school collaboration (Epstein [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref73">7</reflink>]; Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref74">37</reflink>]).</p> <p>As in the existing literature (Fan [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref75">8</reflink>]; Fantuzzo et al. [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref76">10</reflink>]; Hornby and Lafaele, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref77">22</reflink>]), responses obtained from focus group participants revealed that most parents, particularly in big cities like Hong Kong and Shenzhen, have multiple responsibilities. Results from the quantitative analyses also revealed that being divorced or working full time has a profoundly negative influence on parents' involvement; the stress that parents experience from the divorce may contribute to their significantly lower level of involvement compared to non-divorced parents. Furthermore, parents' full-time employment may also lower the amount of time and effort they give to their children's learning and development. Contrary to both the existing literature and the responses from focus group interviews, parent education and family income level did not influence Chinese parents' involvement practices in ECE. It is possible that the influences of the two factors may only emerge during later schooling when parents' educational knowledge is required to assist their children's acquisition of academic concepts and when more economic resources are needed to invest in children's learning materials and activities.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-26">Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale</hd> <p>Existing studies on parental involvement have been limited in their assessment of parental involvement in Chinese ECE settings. The CEPIS consists of six valid and reliable parental involvement dimensions that are valid for Chinese contexts. In fact, all six dimensions of the CEPIS have been found to be related to positive educational outcomes in other studies. In particular, Parker and colleagues ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref78">33</reflink>]) have suggested that <emph>Parent Instruction</emph>, which involves parents encouraging their children, helps children develop school readiness related skills and parents who engage in <emph>Language and Cognitive Activities</emph> help promote their preschool children's literacy development and cognitive skills (Li and Rao [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref79">28</reflink>]; Ortiz, Stile, and Brown [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref80">31</reflink>]).</p> <p>Other parental involvement studies of school-aged children have found that parents' <emph>Homework Involvement</emph> can help reinforce children's academic knowledge by strengthening the connection between learning at home and learning in school (Copper, Nye, and Lindsay [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref81">4</reflink>]; Sanders [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref82">38</reflink>]). Coleman (1998) found that when parents communicated with their children about schooling (<emph>Parent Discussion)</emph>, the children had higher levels of school satisfaction and academic achievement. For school-based involvement, Hill and Taylor ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref83">16</reflink>]) have argued that parents who practice <emph>Home-School Conferencing</emph> acquire knowledge from the teachers that enables them to facilitate their children's early development. Finally, the CEPIS includes the dimension of parents' involvement in the preschool (<emph>Preschool Involvement</emph>), which Marcon ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref84">29</reflink>]) has suggested was valuable, because when children see that their parents value education and take an active role in their school, they are more positive about learning. Parents' involvement in decision-making in schools also affects the work of school and therefore their children's learning (Epstein [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref85">7</reflink>]; Ho [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref86">19</reflink>]). The design of the CEPIS is multidimensional in nature, making it suitable for studying and understanding the full range of Chinese parental involvement dimensions and their influence on young children's development worldwide.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-27">Implications for practices in the early years</hd> <p>The results of the present study have several implications. First, as a positive educational outcome for children is thought to hinge on the relationships parents and teachers develop around shared commitments to parental involvement (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref87">21</reflink>]), sharing activities and an effective parent–teacher communication platform are needed to develop a shared understanding of parental involvement. Second, the present study confirmed existing findings about Chinese parents' reluctance to get involved in the preschool context. Because preschool-based involvement is thought to benefit both the preschool and the parents and because parents tend to become less involved as children progress throughout the school system, preschool stakeholders (e.g., preschool principal, teachers and parents) should develop effective strategies to enhance parents' self-efficacy and to re-allocate some preschool resources towards increasing the opportunities for home-school collaboration. Third, responses obtained from focus group participants revealed that many parents have responsibilities that may constrain their involvement. Results from the quantitative analyses also revealed that being divorced or being full-time employed has a profoundly negative influence on parental involvement practices. To truly partner with families in planning for children's education, it would be important to take these diverse needs into account. Unexpectedly, parent education and family income level were not found to influence Chinese parents' involvement practices in the present study. Therefore, preschools should put extra effort into encouraging the involvement of parents of disadvantaged families to increase their self-efficacy. Finally, although the CEPIS was developed to assess Chinese parental involvement, its use is not limited to Chinese contexts. The CEPIS can be used by researchers and preschool teachers in other countries to examine the parenting practices of minority Chinese parents and to improve home–school collaboration. The CEPIS could also be utilised to assess non-Chinese parents through the selection of culturally appropriate dimensions in the scale.</p> <hd id="AN0084140015-28">Limitations and future directions</hd> <p>Although informative, the results of the present study are limited in certain respects. First, the findings from the focus group interviews are regional because Hong Kong and Shenzhen represent a very privileged population in China, and participants in other parts of China may have very different perceptions and practices of parental involvement. Nevertheless, it was surprising to find that the Chinese parents in these two most Westernised Chinese cities tended to practice less preschool-based involvement than home-based involvement. As previous studies have suggested that home-based involvement predicts achievement more strongly than school-based involvement (Fantuzzo et al. [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref88">10</reflink>]; Ho and Willms [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref89">20</reflink>]), further studies are needed to explain the above phenomenon. Second, because parental self-report is based on subjective judgement, parents' responses may be biased (e.g., Griffith [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref90">15</reflink>]; Seefeldt et al. [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref91">39</reflink>]). It is also not clear whether the use of this instrument can be extended to teachers. Hence, future studies should further investigate the validity and reliability of the CEPIS. In addition, the CEPIS only focuses on assessing parents' behaviours; future studies should examine other critical aspects of parental involvement, such as parents' allocation of resources, the degree to which parents value education and parents' involvement mechanisms. 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  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Exploring Parental Involvement in Early Years Education in China: Development and Validation of the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS)
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  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lau%2C+Eva+Yi+Hung%22">Lau, Eva Yi Hung</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li%2C+Hui%22">Li, Hui</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rao%2C+Nirmala%22">Rao, Nirmala</searchLink>
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  Label: Source
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22International+Journal+of+Early+Years+Education%22"><i>International Journal of Early Years Education</i></searchLink>. 2012 20(4):405-421.
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  Label: Availability
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  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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  Data: Y
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  Label: Page Count
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  Data: 17
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
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  Data: 2012
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Employment+Level%22">Employment Level</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Measures+%28Individuals%29%22">Measures (Individuals)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interviews%22">Interviews</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Marital+Status%22">Marital Status</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parent+Participation%22">Parent Participation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Focus+Groups%22">Focus Groups</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parent+School+Relationship%22">Parent School Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Validity%22">Validity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Preschool+Children%22">Preschool Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Attitudes%22">Teacher Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parent+Attitudes%22">Parent Attitudes</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22China%22">China</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hong+Kong%22">Hong Kong</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
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  Data: 10.1080/09669760.2012.743099
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 0966-9760
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This study developed and validated an instrument, the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS), that can be widely used in both local and international contexts to assess Chinese parental involvement in early childhood education. The study was carried out in two stages: (1) focus group interviews were conducted with 41 teachers and 35 parents in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Teachers and parents were found to hold different perceptions of parental involvement. Responses further revealed that Chinese parents practiced more home-based involvement than preschool-based involvement, and that Chinese parents also have layers of responsibilities that limit their level of involvement in children's early development; (2) items of the CEPIS were developed using focus group responses. To validate the scale, 319 parents were asked to complete the new CEPIS. Results from principal-components factor analyses established that the resultant 26-item CEPIS consists of six parental involvement dimensions. Further analyses revealed that parental involvement differed as a function of parents' marital status and employment status. The major findings, implications and limitations of this research are discussed, together with directions for future research. (Contains 4 tables.)
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  Data: 46
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  Data: 2013
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  Label: Accession Number
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  Data: EJ988527
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        Value: 10.1080/09669760.2012.743099
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      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 405
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Employment Level
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Measures (Individuals)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Early Childhood Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Interviews
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Marital Status
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parent Participation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Focus Groups
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parent School Relationship
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Validity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Preschool Children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teacher Attitudes
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      – SubjectFull: Parent Attitudes
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      – SubjectFull: China
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hong Kong
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Exploring Parental Involvement in Early Years Education in China: Development and Validation of the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS)
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