Predictors of Parent-Teacher Relationship Quality in Head Start Classrooms

The ability for parents and teachers to work together serves as a foundation for a collaborative and effective parent-teacher relationship. The quality of the parent-teacher relationship contributes to children’s school readiness, increased academic motivation, and social competence. Additionally, the quality of this relationship contributes to parents’ efforts to engage in their child’s education such that when parents and teachers are able to collaborate, parents are more likely to engage in school-based activities. Conversely, parent-teacher relationships that are perceived to be negative or ineffective, can have the potential to harm teachers’ perceptions and interactions with students and families. Identifying factors that are related to positive parent-teacher relationships in early care and education settings is necessary in order to support the home-school partnership. Using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014-2015, we explore the extent to which teacher professional background, demographics (parent-teacher racial/ethnic match) and classroom racial/ethnic composition of children influences the parent-teacher relationship. We found that teacher professional background and racial/ethnic match is not associated with parents’ level of comfort or their perceptions of family-centered practice (two key components of the effectiveness of parent-teacher relationship). Additionally, we found that classroom ethnic composition is significantly related to how parents and teachers perceive their classroom practice. When classroom have greater number of children from diverse minority backgrounds, parents and teacher report lower utilization of family-centered practices (i.e. collaborative practices). The work presented here has profound implications for future studies examining the parent-teacher relationship and more importantly how the classroom context may influence classroom practice.