Validation of the Spanish form of a multidimensional assessment of family engagement for early childhood programs

• Published in: Psychology in the schools Vol. 61; no. 12; pp. 4608 - 4628
• Main Authors: Bouza, Johayra, Bulotsky‐Shearer, Rebecca J., Bichay‐Awadala, Krystal M., Bailey, Jhonelle, Gaona, Patricia, White, Lisa, Fernandez, Veronica A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-12-2024
• Subjects: Academic readiness; Childhood; Children; Conferencing; Confirmatory factor analysis; Early childhood education; Educational programs; Families & family life; family engagement; Head Start; Head Start project; Hispanic families; Indexes; measurement; Measures; Parent participation; Parents & parenting; Questionnaires; Satisfaction; Spanish language; Spanish translation; Teachers
• ISSN: 0033-3085; 1520-6807
• DOI: 10.1002/pits.23298

The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Family Involvement Questionnaire‐Short Form (FIQ‐SF) for use with Spanish‐speaking families of children enrolled in early childhood education programs. This study examined the factor structure of the FIQ‐SF and established criterion validity for the resulting FIQ‐SF dimension scores. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses replicated the three dimensions of the English FIQ: Home Engagement, School Engagement, and home–school Conferencing. Mean differences across family demographics were examined. Criterion‐related validity for the three FIQ‐SF dimensions was established by examining correlations with scores on measures of parent‐reported satisfaction with educational experiences, program records of family engagement, direct assessments of child language skills and teacher‐reported approaches to learning. Future directions and practice implications for the use of the Spanish FIQ‐SF to inform program policy and interventions are discussed.
Practitioner points
Early childhood programs need validated tools that measure multiple aspects of family engagement for Spanish speaking families.
This study examined the Spanish form of the Family Engagement Questionnaire‐ Short Form for parents from Spanish speaking backgrounds enrolled in Head Start.
The three scales measured family engagement reliably and were related to parents' report of satisfaction with the program and children's school readiness outcomes.