The European Conference on Educational Research 17-21 September 2012 Cadiz The Effect of Family and Preschool on Academic Achievement in Primary School Dr. maša Vidmar Educational Research Institute, Slovenia

BACKGROUND Ecologocial system theory Academic achievement Individual‘s development takes place in a complex system of relations that are affected by multiple levels of the environment Academic achievement Early achievement is among the best predictors for later academic achievement Academic achievement is linked to later (mal)adjustment in other domains, i.e. social and personal

Different precursos at the microsystem level problem Academic achievement Family Preschool Different precursos at the microsystem level

PRECURSORS At the microsystem level Family Preschool Maternal education Maternal psychological functioning Parenting Parental school involvement Preschool Enrolment into preschool

AIMS Latent contructs Contribution of each predictor for academic achievement in grade 1 Contribution of all predictors in a single complex model for academic achievement in grades 1 and 2

Method: Participants 39 Slovene basic schools Students: T1 = Start 1st grade : N = 328, M = 6;3 T2 = End 1st grade: N = 325, M = 6;11 T4 = End 2nd grade: N = 323, M = 7;10 49% girls Three groups of preschool enrolment: never, 3 years, 5 years Mothers, teachers

METHOD: INSTRUMENTS Academic achievement Attainment of Performance Standards for 1st grade (Zupančič, 2006) and for 2nd grade (Vidmar & Zupančič, 2007; Zupančič, 2006)for Slovene, Math and Environmental Education Maternal psychological functioning Life orientation test – revised, Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994 Rosenberg self-esteem scale, Rosenberg, 1989 Satisfaction with life scale, Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985 Depressed mood/Depressive tendencies, Alsaker, 1992 Parenting Family Environment Questionnaire, Zupančič & Kavčič, 2005 Parental school involvement Teacher Questionnaire, Vidmar, 2007

Method: procedure T1: mom-reported questionnaires Education Psychological functioning Parenting T2: teacher-reported questionnaires Academic achievement Parental involvement T4: teacher-reported questionnaire

Results: CFA Parenting Power assertion Authoritativeness anchor Power assertion Authoritativeness Stimulation Ineffective control CFI = 0,997 RMSEA(IZ) = 0,05(0,00-0,17) SRMR = 0,02 χ2(1) = 1,92, p = 0,17

Results: CFA Maternal psychological functioning Depressive tendencies anchor Depressive tendencies Optimism Self-esteem Satisfaction with life CFI = 0,99 RMSEA(IZ) = 0,07(0,00-0,15) SRMR = 0,02 χ2(2) = 4,80, p = 0,09

Results: CFA Academic achievement Academic achievement Grade 2 Grade 1 anchor anchor Math Math Environmental Education Environmental Education Slovene Language Slovene Language CFI = 0,99 RMSEA(IZ) = 0,11(0,07-0,15) SRMR = 0,03 χ2(6) = 30,47***

Results: single predictor models Predictor Academic achievement Maternal education: coefficient = 0,30*** Parenting: coefficient = 0,22** School involvement: coefficient = 0,32*** Maternal psy. functioning: coefficient = 0,19** Preschool: n.s.

Results: complex model Education Mediation test: Parenting – AA1 – AA2 = 0,28** 0,36*** Psychological functioning Academic achievement Grade 1 Academic achievement Grade 2 0,52*** 0,86*** 0,28*** 0,15* Parenting CFI = 0,96 RMSEA(IZ) = 0,07(0,05-0,08) SRMR = 0,07 χ2(83) = 199,08***

Results: complex model Education Parental involvement 0,36*** 0,40*** 0,27*** Psychological functioning Academic achievement Grade 1 Academic achievement Grade 2 0,41*** 0,85*** 0,26*** 0,16** Parenting Mediation tests: Parenting – AA1 – AA2 = 0,28** Involvement – AA1 – AA2 = 0,21** CFI = 0,96 RMSEA(IZ) = 0,06(0,05-0,07) SRMR = 0,07 χ2(96) = 215,67***

conclusions Protective factors Possible mechanism of effect of maternal education is through her psychological functioning and parenting Enrolement into preschool Family-level interventions should target: parenting : workshops, continuous seminars, counseling parental school involvement: building teacher-parent relationship, educational seminars psychological support for mothers: counseling

PROS AND CONS Structural equation modeling Longitudinal design Large sample of children from randomly selected schools Complex models Errors: same reporter, hallo effect, different assessment criteria Generalizability Other predictors

Future studies Enrolment into preschool and academic achievement: maternal eduation as a moderator Follow-up on academic achievement in later grades

THANK YOU! MASA.VIDMAR@PEI.SI