Early Care and Education (ECE) settings play an important role in child development for many children of preschool age. The powerful positive impacts of ECE programs on young children's development may be strengthened when programs work with parents. Parent engagement in early learning activities has been positively linked to children's school readiness and social-emotional well-being (Hindman & Morrison, 2011; Powell et al., 2010). The specific mechanisms by which ECE programs influence parent engagement, however, and how this engagement improves children's development, remain unclear. The goal of this project was to examine how ECE program factors are linked to parent engagement in child care, and in turn how this engagement leads to school readiness and child well-being being among children enrolled in center-based care in preschool. This project was funded by the Administration for Children and Families and OPRE Projects. 

Co-Investigators were Ann Mastergeorge from Texas Tech and Melissa Barnett from the Family Studies and Human Development Academic Program at the University of Arizona.