How parents’ beliefs and expectations influence their investments in children’s early learning environments: A social exchange perspective Abigaiel F. Paulino July 16, 2012

Predictors of School Readiness School readiness - predictor of individuals’ achievements and productivity Contexts influence children’s learning, development, and school readiness ( Bronfenbrenner, & Morris, 2002; Burchinal, Roberts, Riggins, Jr., Zeisel, Neebe, & Bryant, 2000; NICHD and Duncan, 2003 ). ▫Home learning environment and parent-child learning focused activities at home ▫Child care type, quality, and parental involvement

Parental Investments and Children’s Context.. Parental gate keeping – parents may influence children’s context or determine how context/environment affect children’s development – through investments Parental Investments (PI) - a general term that refers to all material and non-material support that parents give and do in support of children’s learning and development. Predictors of parental investments ▫Resources and availability ▫Parents demographic characteristics and beliefs ▫Children’s characteristics Parents’ motivations when planning their investments - HUMAN CAPITAL THOERY (Becker, 1992).

Parental Investments and Parental beliefs and expectations PE and PB is positively associated with parental investments (Hill, 2001; Chao, 1996, Ewing, & Wilhelm, 2009) Parents’ expectations (PE) - refers to parents’ aspirations for their children’s school achievements and future employment (Hill, 2001). ▫Parental expectations is positive associated with children’s cognitive development and academic achievements (Chao, 1996). Parental beliefs (children’s school readiness) (PB) – whether children are ready or not to attend kindergarten. ▫Parental beliefs about children’s readiness for school has been associated with choice of academic based care settings (Ewing, &Wilhlem, 2009).

Parental Investments and Social Exchange (Sabatelli & Shehan, 1993). Social Exchange PropositionsStudy Propositions Relationships involve exchanges of rewards Rewards are any commodities or symbols given out in interactions that allows other individuals to provide reciprocal rewards. Human behaviors are motivated by self interests. Parental Investments (parent cost/child reward); Children’s development (parent reward/child cost). Children’s development is a source of parental satisfaction (Henry and Peterson,1995 ) and a form of investment for future security (Benokraitis, 2002).

Parental Investments and Social Exchange (Sabatelli & Shehan, 1993). Social Exchange PropositionsStudy Propositions Individuals can have a range of Exchange Orientation (EO) In interactions, human beings aim to maximize rewards and minimize costs. Individuals use all available information to guide behaviors, the most profitable alternatives usually wins out. Parents’ exchange orientation may determine their monitoring of parenting rewards, costs, and satisfaction Parents may invest more on children’s education if they see more worthwhile benefits over other investments. Parents may only base their assessments using their knowledge of school readiness and development indicators.

Parental Expectations about Children’s Academic Achievements Parents’ Exchange Orientation towards Parenting Parental Beliefs about Children’s Readiness for Kindergarten Parental Investments Conceptual Framework + Indicators of Investments Choice of Type of Child Care (Centerbased/Homebased)  Choice of Quality of Child Care (ECLS-B ECEP Interview)  Parental Involvement in CC (Frequency of Communication)  Parental Involvement at home (ECLS-B PCAI In HE items)  Value towards learning and development as factor in choosing child care (Importance of development focused CC) N = 2,701 CC Interview N = 3,418 Home Interviews N

Research Questions 1.To what extent do parents’ educational expectations for children, beliefs about their child’s preparedness to enter Kindergarten, and their exchange orientation towards parenting predict their investments in early education? 2.Does exchange orientation towards parenting moderate the relationship between parents’ expectations and beliefs and their investments in early education?

Questions cont. 3.Do the relationships examined in Research Questions 1 vary according to ethnicity (i.e., White, Black, Hispanics, or Asians)?

Hypotheses: Hypothesis 1. It is hypothesized that parents’ expectations about children’s academic achievements, beliefs about children’s school readiness, and exchange orientation toward parenting, will be predictive of their investments in early education. Hypothesis 2.a. It is hypothesized that parents’ expectations about children’s academic achievements and beliefs about children’s school readiness will be more strongly associated with the five indicators of investments in early education among parents with high versus low exchange orientation.

Hypotheses Hypothesis 2.b. It is hypothesized that parents’ expectations about children’s academic achievements interacts with parents’ beliefs about children’s school readiness and their effects on all five indicators of parental investments are moderated by parents’ exchange orientation about parenting. Hypothesis 3. It is hypothesized that the effects of parents’ educational expectations for children, beliefs about their child’s preparedness to enter Kindergarten, and their exchange orientation towards parenting on the five indicators of parental investments may vary according to ethnicity possibly due to different value placed by different parents on learning and development, and other variables not measured in this research.

Study Sample- (ECLS-B dataset) N = 2,150 ▫Parents using non-parental care for at least 2.5 hours/day ▫≤200% poverty adj. by fam. size ▫White, Black, Hispanics, and Asians, Multi-racial, others ▫26% with some college experience, 15% with HS Diploma Additional Requirements for ECEP Interview ▫Provider was same as identified by parents ▫Not a minor ▫Not the primary caregiver of child ▫Take over the same center as provider identified by parent

Constructs and Measures OUTCOME VARIABLES Type of Child Care (CC) ▫ centerbased = 1 ▫ homebased = 0 Quality of CC ▫30 item ECEP subscale (Learning Envi.) ▫Ease of finding good CC in community – Cov. Parental Involvement in CC – frequency of communication (Lahaie, 2008) Parental Involvement in child’s home learning ▫10 items Home Envi. subscale of PCAI (Lahaie, 2008) Preference for care that prepares child for kindergarten (Kim, & Fram, 2009) ▫4 item variables

Constructs and Measures PREDICTORS AND MODERATOR Parental Expectations ▫How far parents expect their children to go in school Parental Beliefs (school readiness) ▫If parents have any concerns about child attending kindergarten Exchange Orientation ▫5 PSI aggravation subscale, alpha =.780 ▫Covariate – mothers’ depression score

Constructs and Measures COVARIATES Family Income Maternal Education Maternal Depression Availability of good child care in the community (mothers’ report)

Analysis AnalysesVariables Preliminary analyses demographic differences among variables Correlations of IV and DV One way ANOVA/Chisquare: Relation bet. DVs Hierarchical Linear Regression/ Logistic Regression PE, PB, EO as IV and 5 indicators of PI as DV Test of Moderation (Kenny, 2009)PE and PB as IV; EO as Moderator, and the 5 indicators of PI as DVs EO and Interaction of PE & PB as IV 5 indicators of PI as DV Ordinary Least Square Regression/Logistic Regression PE, PB, EO as IV and 5 indicators of PI as DV (samples split according to children’s ethnicity)

Results Preliminary Analyses Parental Beliefs – 80% of parents believe their children are ready for kindergarten Parents’ Expectations – 62.95% of parents believe their children will finish college Exchange orientation – M = 2.07, SD = % used center-based care. 89% claimed it is very important that child care prepares their children for kindergarten Early Education Quality = M = 22.1, SD = 6.29 Parent Involvement = 58% regularly communicates with early education providers Home Environment = M= 4.97, SD = 1.76

Preliminary cont…… Parents’ Beliefs per ethnicity Hispanic (84%), Blacks (81%), Asians (80%), and White parents (79%). Parents’ Expectations per ethnicity (F = 11.8, df = 5/ 2,150, ρ<.000, eta 2 = 1) Multi-racial (M = 3.78, SD =.61); Asian (M = 3.78, SD =.58); Hispanic parents (M = 3.6, SD =.7); Black (M = 3.5, SD =.78); Native American (M = 3.4, SD =.75); and White parents (M = 3.3, SD =.79).

Exchange Orientation according to ethnicity Asian (M = 2.34, SD =.07); Black parents (M = 2.17, SD =.03); Multi-racial parents (M = 2.09, SD =.139); Hispanic (M = 2.01, SD =.03), White parents (M = 2.00, SD =.02); and Native American parents (M = 1.95, SD =.05)

Parents’ expectations about their children’s academic achievement has a small but significant positive correlation with family income (r=.14, ρ<.01), mothers’ highest level of education (r=.25, ρ<.01), and a small negative correlation with maternal depression (r=-.09, ρ<.01 Parental beliefs about children’s school readiness is not associated with either mothers’ highest education level or family income but is negatively associated with maternal depression (r= -.08, ρ<.01). Parental expectations about children’s academic achievements has a significant positive correlation with their beliefs about children’s school readiness (r=.10, ρ<.01). Exchange orientation has a positive correlation with maternal depression and a negative correlation with family income.

Major Analyses Parental Investment (type of care, quality of care, preference for care, involvement, and home environment) = Use of center-based care – approaching significance Quality of care - (∆R=.013, ρ<.02; PB ß =.045, ρ<.05 and PE ß =.047, ρ<.05) Preference - (∆R =.007, ρ<.01; PE ß=.104, ρ<.000) Involvement – not significant Home Environment – (∆R =.007, ρ<.01; PE ß=.071, ρ<.001.) Cumulative Investment – (∆R =.009, ρ<.001; PE ß= -.014, ρ<.001.)

Analysis 1:Interpretation of Findings Parents’ expectations influence decisions about type of child care, quality of care, preference for care that prepares for kinder, home learning environment, and cumulative investment. Parents’ beliefs influence parents’ choice of child care quality. Provide some support to the social exchange and human capital propositions that individuals weigh their investment decisions by their expected outcomes (PE) and the probability of realizing those outcomes (PB).

Test of Moderation Effects The moderation effects accounted for a modest.6%,.4%, and a.2% increase in the prediction of the probability of use of center-based care, the quality of child care that parents chose, and the quality of the home environment that parents’ provided children respectively. There was no significant moderation effect found for parents’ preference for child care that promotes school readiness and parents’ involvement in children’s child care.

Parents' Exchange Orientation College or higher Some College Graduate from HS Less than HS diploma Parental Expectations Use of center based care (%) Analysis 2:Prediction of use of center- based care For parents with high PE, choice of center care decreases with increases in EO. For parents with low PE, choice of center care increases with increases in EO. At the mean of EO parents with high PE choose center care more than parents with low PE.

Parents' Exchange Orientation College diploma or higher Some college Graduate from HS Less than HS diploma Parental Expectations Child Care Quality Score At the mean of EO, parents with high PE choose higher quality care. For parents with high PE, choice of quality of care decreases with increases in EO. For parents with lower PE, choice of quality of care increases with increases in EO. Analysis 2: Quality of Care (early ed.)

Parents' Exchange Orientation College Diploma or higher Some College HS Graduate Less than HS diploma Parental Expectations Home Environment Score Analysis 2: Home Environment At the mean of EO, parents with high PE are putting the highest level of home investment. Home investment increases with increases in EO for parents with high PE. Home investment decreases with increases in EO for parents with lower PE.

Analysis 2: Interpretation of findings There is a difference in the associations of PE and EO with child care related investment and the home environment investments. Sample’s home investment behaviors lend support to the proposition that parents will invest on children more if they have high expectations and are invested in those expectations. The opposite is true for early education investments. Parents appear to be investing more if they have low expectations but are keen on children doing better.

Analysis 3: Parental Involvement Parent Involvement Parental Expectations of Children's Academic Achievement Ready Not Ready Parental Beliefs Parent Involvement Involvement is higher for parents who have high beliefs even with low expectations. Involvement increases for all parents regardless of beliefs as expectations increases but rate of increase is higher for those who have low beliefs. Involvement is greater for parents who expect children to graduate from college but believe them to be not ready for school.

Analysis 3: Interpretations of findings Findings are opposite of what was hypothesized. It appears that in regard to involvement, parents are over-compensating in order to make children more ready for school, especially if they have high expectations for children’s achievements. Although not as hypothesized, this is consistent with the idea that low-income parents find ways to invest in children beyond material means.

Analysis 4: Use of center-based care Parents' Exchange Orientation HBHE HBLE LBHE LBLE Beliefs/Expectations Groups At the mean of exchange orientation, parents with HBHE are choosing center- based care more, whereas those with HBLE are least likely to choose center care. This remains true as EO increases. Among parents with low beliefs. Choice of center- based care increases among those with low expectations and decreases among those with high expectations as EO increases. Use of Center-based Care (%)

Analysis 4: Quality of early education Parents' Exchange Orientation HBHE HBLE LBHE LBLE Beliefs/Expectations Group Investment of HBHE and LBHE parents drops as EO increases; investment of HBLE and LBLE rises as EO increases. The investment in quality of parents with HE and high and low PB is similar at mean of EO. Both drops as EO increases. Drop of LBHE is steeper. The investment of LE parents is lower at the mean of EO, both increase as EO increases. The rate of increase in LB parents is steeper. Child Care Quality

Analysis 4: Home environment Parents' Exchange Orientation HBHE HBLE LBHE LBLE Beliefs/Expectations Groups At the mean of EO, the home investment of parents with HE is higher compared to those who have LE regardless of PB. The trend persists as EO increases The home investment of parents with HB increases ore remains the same as EO increases, whereas the home investment of parents with LB decreases as EO increases. Home Environment Quality

Analysis 4: Interpretations of findings Generally, higher beliefs and expectations are associated with higher investments, this persist with increases in exchange orientation. The investments of parents with low beliefs but high expectations may be initially high but generally drop as exchange orientation increases. The investments of parents with high/low beliefs and low expectations are generally low but increase as exchange orientation increases.

Cont… It appears that higher exchange orientation is generally associated with higher investment except for parents with low beliefs/high expectations. May be tied with parental role/relationship satisfaction. Expectation of low satisfaction may lead to lesser involvement.

Ethnicity and Investments Neither beliefs nor expectations was significant in predicting White parents’ investments. Parents’ beliefs were significant in predicting some investment behaviors of Asian, Hispanic, and Multi-racial parents. (Asians – quality, use of center care; Hispanics – quality; Blacks – home environment; Multi- racial – involvement) Parents’ expectations were significant in predicting the investments of Native Americans and Black parents. ( Native Americans – use of center care, quality of care, and preferences about curriculum; Blacks; quality of care )

Limitations Use of secondary data and less than precise measures. Single-item measures for some variables of primary interest Some important constructs that were not measured Probability of a type 1 error Weak associations between variables

Implications Research -These findings may be modest but they merit further investigation about the influences of exchange orientations on parents’ investments. Practice - Lends possible new insight about the investment behaviors of low income families that needs further exploration and validation.

Suggests the importance of parents’ welfare in order for them to support children’s development