Exploring the psychometric validity of the Échelle du Souvenir Maternel de l’Engagement Scolaire (ÉSMES)
Several parental variables are known to influence children’s academic success, including maternal education. This variable, however, tells us very little about the nature and quality of mother’s experiences while she was in school. To refine our understanding of the mechanisms through which maternal past experiences influence children’s academic outcomes, this study explores the concept of maternal memories of her classroom engagement. To this end, we used secondary data to validate L’Échelle du souvenir maternel de l’engagement scolaire (ÉSMES ) amongst a sample of 373 mothers of preschool children. Results of the principal component analysis (PCA) suggest the existence of two dimensions of maternal memories of classroom engagement: Behavioral engagement and Cognitive engagement. Results further indicate that the instrument has good construct validity as well as appropriate predictive validity. This study represents a first step in the empirical study of parental memories of school engagement and could help sensitize researchers and stakeholders to the importance of this concept.