Associations of parent and staff factors with parent engagement in after-school programs

Abstract

This 2‐study research examined staff and parent predictors of parent engagement in after‐school programs. A parent engagement measure tailored to after‐school programs was developed based on existing theory and literature. Two distinct factors, parent engagement and parent participation, emerged from factor analyses and were subsequently tested. A 2‐level model was run on 4 program/staff and 6 parent predictors using staff and parent data from 26 after‐school program sites (Study 1) and nine sites (Study 2). Program quality, staff educational levels, and length of employment in the after‐school program were significantly associated with parent engagement and parent participation but in opposite directions, with other findings contrary to hypotheses. For parent factors of engagement and participation, there was a significant positive association between parental age and parent engagement, while having more than 2 children in a program was significantly and positively associated with parent participation only. Results and implications are discussed.

Exploring Children’s Creative Self-Efficacy Affected by After-School Program and Parent–Child Relationships

“…On the other hand, our society has witnessed the rise of after-school care in the context of the structural change in most families, which has been driven by the economic needs and the improvement of women's status in the family as well as their working ability. As a result, women's employment opportunities have increased and their functions in the family are different (Malm et al, 2017;Smith et al, 2018). Related research also found that school-age children have much higher needs in care than pre-school children.…”