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Authors:Yubo Xu, Suh-Ruu Ou, Arthur Reynolds
Background: Supported by Expectancy-Value Theory (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), the impact of parent educational expectations on child educational outcomes has garnered increasing attention over the past decades. However, we know less about the role of preventive interventions in positively impacting child educational attainment through improving parental educational expectations. Furthermore, racial/ethnic minority groups have been underrepresented in this research area. The current study focused on African American families participating in the Child Parent Center (CPC) intervention, a comprehensive early childhood program that provides educational and family support services to children and their families. Our key aims included examining: 1) the impact of the intervention dosage (i.e., 0 to 2 years) on parental educational expectations at age 12 and 2) the mediating role of parent educational expectations and children’s academic achievement in the association between intervention dosage and child educational attainment.
Methods: Participants included 1396 African American children at risk of school failure who attended the CPC preschool for 1 year (n = 412), or 2 years (n = 491) along with a comparison group that attended standard preschool (n = 493).
Results: An ANCOVA revealed that there was a significant difference between the comparison group and the 2-year CPC group (p < 0.05), with 2-year participants reporting higher educational expectations than those in the comparison group. A serial mediation model revealed that parent educational expectations (i.e., mediator 1) play an important indirect role by influencing academic achievement (i.e., mediator 2) and mediated the association between CPC dosage and educational attainment (serial mediation effect = .016, 95% CI: .0.004, 0.031).
Discussion: Two years of CPC led to higher parent educational expectations relative to the comparison group and those who attended 1 year, with greater intervention-related changes in expectations and academic achievement predicting greater child educational attainment. These findings may highlight parent' beliefs and expectations about their children’s educational progress as a promising target in preventive interventions.
| Conflict of interest | No |
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