Parent perceptions, interests and involvement in a campus childcare center

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the involvement of parents within a campus childcare center for the 2000-2001 school year. The subjects of this study were parents of children (ages 6 weeks-6 years) who attended childcare at the UW-Stout campus childcare center at UW-Stout in Menomonie, WI. There were 85 surveys distributed and 43 were returned for analysis. The return rate was 50%. The instrument used for this study was designed and developed by the investigator based upon the literature review. It consisted of four sections: general information, parent perceptions, parent interests in participation, and family activities. Section I of the survey contained nine items that pertained to demographic characteristics of the population. These items included age, gender, race, marital status, highest educational level completed, employment status, student status, number of children, and ages of children. The independent variables for the analysis were age, gender and educational level. Section II included 17 perception statements that were rated on a Likert scale from 1-5, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The findings revealed that respondents perceived doing activities with their children and being aware of the activities in their child’s classroom as important. They also felt comfortable participating in center activities. Section III, interest statements, included twelve statements. These statements were divided between seven center activities and five home activities. It was found that respondents were most interested in parent teacher conferences and reading the parent letters that were sent home. Section IV included 12 family activity statements that were rated just as the items in Section III. The respondents indicated that the two activities that they most frequently participate in as a family were talking to their child about their day and eating one meal a day together. The responses of the surveys were analyzed by the University of Wisconsin Stout Computer user support services using descriptive statistics. Frequency counts and percentages were used in Section I. Means, standard deviation and rank order were computed for Section II, III and IV. A T-test, ANOV and the Newman-Kuels Multiple Range Test was used to analyze the objectives. It can be concluded that these parents felt strongly about being involved with their child at home and knowing what their child is doing at school. They felt that parents and teachers should work as a team and that the center staff should do more to encourage parent involvement.