Latinx and Chinese Immigrant Parents' Reasoning About School Readiness Skills

• In Event: Poster Session 1: Parents and Families in Early Childhood

Abstract

This mixed method study investigated school readiness beliefs of parents who are immigrants, an understudied population. Sixty-three immigrant parents from China, Dominican Republic, and El Salvador completed a Q-sort where they ranked the importance of 36 school readiness skills, were interviewed about their rankings, and completed measure of acculturation. Two school readiness belief profiles emerged. Some parents emphasized academic skills, whereas others emphasized learning-related skills. Parents’ country of origin predicted parents’ profile membership. Six themes emerged that shed light on why parents believe select school readiness skills are more or less important. Although parents in the two profiles prioritized different skills, parents’ reasoning about the importance of select skills showed many similarities.

Authors

• Brook Sawyer, Lehigh University

• Bridget V. Dever, Lehigh University

• Peggy A. Kong, Drexel University

• Susan Sonnenschein, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

• Cassandra Lynn Simons, University of Maryland - Baltimore County