Children's classroom engagement during the first years of formal schooling is foundational to their academic success. Previous research has found that the quality of communication between parents and teachers as well as child and family characteristics are associated with children's engagement scores in the classroom. However, research remains limited, and most has been conducted among middle and high school students. Even less is known about the role of communication quality between parents and teachers on children's classroom engagement during preschool, when children are encountering the formal education system for the first time and the foundation for their school trajectories are being laid. This study explores the association between parent-teacher communication quality and child and family characteristics on the classroom engagement scores of 326 low-income, ethnoracially and linguistically diverse children attending Head Start, using a teacher and observer-rated measure of child engagement. Results showed that when teachers perceived having a high-quality communication with the child's parent, the child was rated to be more engaged in the classroom by both their teachers and independent observers. However, parent and child characteristics (i.e., parent race/ethnicity, children's English language skills, child gender, and child age) were only significantly associated with children's classroom engagement when rated by their teachers but not by independent observers. These findings suggest that building relationships with families early on might be a promising way that schools can support the wellbeing of minoritized children.

中文翻译：

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家庭与教师的沟通质量以及儿童和家庭特征是否与儿童课堂参与的领先程度相关？情况很复杂

儿童在正规学校教育头几年的课堂参与是他们学业成功的基础。先前的研究发现，家长和老师之间的沟通质量以及孩子和家庭的特征与孩子在课堂上的参与度分数相关。然而，研究仍然有限，而且大多数是在初中和高中学生中进行的。学前班期间，当孩子们第一次接触正规教育系统，并为他们的学校轨迹奠定基础时，家长和老师之间的沟通质量对孩子课堂参与度的作用了解甚少。本研究采用教师和观察员评定的儿童参与度衡量标准，探讨了家长与教师沟通质量与儿童和家庭特征之间的关系，以及 326 名参加 Head Start 的低收入、种族和语言多样化儿童的课堂参与度得分。结果显示，当老师认为与孩子家长进行了高质量的沟通时，老师和独立观察者都会认为孩子在课堂上更加投入。然而，父母和孩子的特征（即父母的种族/民族、孩子的英语语言技能、孩子的性别和孩子的年龄）仅在由教师评分时与孩子的课堂参与度显着相关，而由独立观察者评分则不然。这些发现表明，尽早与家庭建立关系可能是学校支持少数民族儿童福祉的一种有前途的方式。