Robert L. Nix|Karen L. Bierman|Mojdeh Motamedi|Brenda S. Heinrichs|Sukhdeep Gill
Parent engagement in a Head Start home visiting program predicts sustained growth in children’s school readiness
University of Wisconsin–Madison|Pennsylvania State University|Pennsylvania State University|Pennsylvania State University|Pennsylvania State University
study examined three components parent engagement enriched head start home visiting program intervention attendance working alliance parents home visitors parents use program materials sessions study identified family child characteristics predicted different components parent engagement study tested whether components predicted sustained growth childrens school readiness skills across four years preschool second grade ninetyfive lowincome parents four yearold children attending head start 56 white 26 black 20 latino 44 girls randomly assigned receive home visiting program assessments included home visitor parent teacher ratings well interviewer observations direct testing children data analyses relied correlations hierarchical multiple regression equations results showed baseline family characteristics warm parentchild interactions child functioning predicted working alliance use program materials raceethnicity predicted intervention attendance use program materials strongest predictor growth childrens literacy skills social adjustment home intervention period contrast working alliance emerged strongest predictor growth childrens language arts skills attention skills social adjustment school second grade two years end home visiting intervention maximize intervention effectiveness across school readiness domains time home visiting programs need support multiple components parent engagement particularly working alliance use program materials sessions