Parents’ and teachers’ ratings of family engagement: Congruence and prediction of outcomes.

This study examined parent-teacher agreement regarding three forms of family engagement in kindergarten: home-school communication, school-based involvement, and parent-teacher trust, as well as whether parent-teacher agreement predicted children's behavioral and academic outcomes. Parent and teacher ratings of parent engagement and child internalizing and externalizing behavior were obtained for a sample of kindergarten students (N = 122). Academic outcomes were directly assessed. Parents and teachers showed high levels of agreement in their perceptions of home-school communication, school-based involvement, and parent-teacher trust. Parents' educational background moderated the level of agreement for school-based involvement between parents and teachers. Parents and teachers reported higher levels of involvement for parents with higher educational levels; however, the differences in involvement levels were greater between parents from higher and lower educational backgrounds when using teacher ratings versus parent ratings. Positive associations between parents' and teachers' ratings of all engagement types were small to moderate. Higher levels of parent-teacher trust predicted lower levels of parent and teacher-reported externalizing behavior. Discrepancies in parents' and teachers' ratings of school-based involvement predicted lower internalizing symptoms for children. Findings replicated research suggesting positive associations between parental engagement and children's behavioral/academic functioning, while also expanding the limited understanding of how parent-teacher agreement regarding family engagement predict outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).