Peer-reviewed article
Barriers to Parental Engagement in Early Childhood Education
Clark, Jordan E ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined barriers that prevent parents from engaging in early childhood education programs, focusing on three main obstacles: disabilities, socioeconomic status, and weak parent-teacher relationships. The research found that community-centered approaches can reduce these barriers and strengthen partnerships between schools and families. The study included a family engagement event at a childcare center serving children with developmental delays to test how a welcoming space could help families connect with educators and their children.
Key points
- Three primary barriers to parental engagement identified: disabilities, socioeconomic status, and underdeveloped parent-teacher relationships
- Intentional, community-centered approaches can effectively reduce barriers to engagement
- Such approaches strengthen school-family partnerships
- A family engagement event was developed with a childcare center serving children with developmental delays
- The event created a relaxed and welcoming space for families, educators, and children to connect
Limitations
The document does not specify the geographic location(s) where the study was conducted, nor does it provide detailed quantitative results or comparison data. The actual outcomes and effectiveness metrics of the intervention are not presented in this abstract.
Abstract
Parental engagement in early childhood education has long been recognized as a foundational contributor to children's academic success. However, many families face persistent barriers that limit their participation. This study examined three primary obstacles to parental engagement: disabilities, socioeconomic status, and underdeveloped parent–teacher relationships. The findings suggested that intentional, community-centered approaches effectively reduce barriers to engagement, strengthen school–family partnerships, and offer replicable models for promoting equitable participation in early childhood education settings. To bring these strategies to life, the study included a family engagement event developed in collaboration with a childcare center serving children with developmental delays, which provided a relaxed and welcoming space for families, educators, and children to connect meaningfully.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Community-centered family engagement event developed in collaboration with a childcare center, providing a relaxed and welcoming space for families, educators, and children to connect
- Population
- Families of children with developmental delays and educators at a childcare center
Key finding
Community-centered approaches can reduce barriers to engagement