What do parents do? Patterns of early literacy and numeracy activities before school based on TIMSS/PIRLS combined – a European comparison
Author(s):
Maike Hoeft (presenting / submitting) Michael Schurig Heike Wendt Anke Walzebug
Conference:
ECER 2014
Network:
09. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Format:
Paper

Session Information

09 SES 11 A, Findings from International Comparative Achievement Studies (Part 3): Relationships in Multiple Domains

Symposium: continued from 09 SES 08 A and 09 SES 10 A

Time:
2014-09-04
17:15-18:45
Room:
B010 Anfiteatro
Chair:
Tjeerd Plomp
Discussant:
Jana Strakova

Contribution

  • There is increasing evidence that participating in numeracy and literacy activities during the preschool years has beneficial effects on children’s later acquisition of numeracy and literacy skills. In most European countries, research on parental engagement in early numeracy and literacy activities, has not played an important role over time, but the importance of providing children with basic mathematical and literal competencies in early years has increasingly been recognized (e.g. http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice./eurypedia_de.php). Furthermore, research shows that the socio-economic and cultural capital of students’ home substantially influence the way parents support their children (e.g. Bodovski 2010), such as reading or counting with the child. Based on the unique dataset of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 combined (Martin & Mullis, 2013), this paper focus on parental engagement of early numeracy and literacy at home before primary school.

The research questions are:

  1. Comparing the parents according to their areas of engagement, what patterns can be found across the different European countries that participated in TIMSS/PIRLS 2011 combined?
  2. Are there patterns across the areas of engagement, and if so, then:
  • How does their occurrence differ across the European countries?
  • Do they differ in terms of their socio-economic and cultural capital?

Method

This paper presents analysis based on the TIMSS/PIRLS 2011 combined databases including all 34 countries and three benchmarking countries that participated in this study module (Martin & Mullis, 2013). Learners from these countries participated in all three assessments on reading literacy, mathematics and science. In addition, parents were asked about their engagement in early numeracy and literacy activities before the child began primary school (e.g. Mullis & Martin et al. 2012a, p. 126; Mullis & Martin et al. 2012b, p. 196). On the basis of the work of Bosch (1984), Coltheart (1978), Mannhaupt (2001), Günther (1986), Vygotsky (1964/1987), Labov & Waletzky (1967), Hausendorf & Quasthoff (1996), Ehlich (1983), Grüßing (2009) the fifteen items on early literacy and numeracy activities were grouped into the following five scales/dimensions reflecting different “areas of parental engagement”: “Numeracy: number skills” (3 items); “Numeracy: logic” (3 items); “Literacy: letter knowledge” (4 items); “Literacy: interactive dialog” (2 items) and “Literacy: instructed literacy experience” (3 items). Frequencies for the different ‘areas of engagement’ by country were calculated by making use of the SPSS 21 combined with the IEA International Database (IDB) Analyzer. To identify different types of parental engagement across the “areas of engagement” latent class analysis is conducted. Then regression analysis with different indicators for home background characteristics is performed to identify differences between the different parental types of engagement according to their socio-economic and cultural capital.

Expected Outcomes

Preliminary analyses show that, when comparing the frequency patterns of the areas of engagement in the different European countries, the “interactive dialogue” and the “instructed literacy experience” are the areas of engagement in which almost all parents in Europe report to be most active when it comes to numeracy and literacy activities before primary school. On international average for the numeracy areas “counting skills”, 8 out of 10 parents report to have been actively performing activities in these areas with their child. On average, about 6 out of 10 parents report to be least active in activities addressing “letter knowledge”. Interestingly, these patterns of activities are not the same in all European countries. Most East European countries reported frequencies across the areas are rather homogeneous, whereas parents in the Scandinavian and to a lesser extent in central European countries are comparably less active in engaging with their child in activities on “letter knowledge” and “counting skills”. It can be assumed, that these first results are linked with educational policy developments in the different European countries. Considering the little variance between the items, we expect to be able to identify two to three different types of parental engagement. On the basis of the work of Bourdieu (1986), we expect to find a strong relationship with indicators for the cultural capital.

References

Bodovski, K. (2010). Parental practices and educational achievement: social class, race, and habitus. In: British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31(2), 139-156. Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.). Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241-258). New York: Greenwood. Ehlich, K. (1983). Erzählen im Alltag (pp. 11-26). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Gasteiger, H. (2012). Fostering Early Mathematical Competencies in Natural Learning Situations. Foundation and Challenges of a Competence-Oriented Concept of Mathematics Education in Kindergarten. In: Journal for Didactics of Mathematics, 33(2), 181-201. Günther, K. B. (1986). Ein Stufenmodell der Entwicklung kindlicher Lese- und Schreibstrategien (pp. 32-54). In: Brügelmann, H. (Hrsg.) ABC und Schriftsprache. Konstanz: Faude. Grüßing, M. (2009). Mathematische Kompetenzentwicklung zwischen Elementar- und Primarbereich. Zusammenfassung und Forschungsdesiderata (pp. 53-58). In: Heinze, A. & Grüßing, M. (Hrsg.). Mathematiklernen vom Kindergarten bis zum Studium. Kontinuität und Kohärenz als Herausforderung beim Mathematiklernen. Münster: Waxmann. Hausendorf, H. & Quasthoff, U. (1996). Sprachentwicklung und Interaktion. Eine linguistische Studie zum Erwerb von Diskursfähigkeiten. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH. Klann-Delius, G. (1999). Spracherwerb. Sammlung Metzler, Bd. 321. Stuttgart: Verlag J.B. Metzler. Mannhaupt, G. (2001). Lernvoraussetzungen im Schriftspracherwerb. Eine Studie zur Entwicklung der Schriftsprach- und ihrer Teilfertigkeiten sowie deren Voraussetzungen im Vor- und Grundschulalter. Köln: Kölner Studien-Verlag. Martschinke, S., Kirschhock, E.-M. & Frank, A. (2002). Diagnose und Förderung im Schriftspracherwerb. Der Rundgang durch Hörhausen. Erhebungsverfahren zur phonologischen Bewusstheit. Donauwörth: Auer. Martin, M. O. & Mullis, I.V.S. (2013). TIMSS and PIRLS 2011: Relationships Among Reading, Mathematics, and Science Achievement at the Fourth Grade—Implications for Early Learning. Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College. Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Foy, P., & Arora, A. (2012a). TIMSS 2011 International Results In Mathematics. Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College. Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Foy, P., & Drucker, K.T. (2012b). PIRLS 2011 international results in reading. Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College. Vygotskij, L. S. (1969). Denken und Sprechen. Frankfurt: Beltz.

Author Information

Maike Hoeft (presenting / submitting)
TU Dortmund University
Institute for School Development Research
Dortmund
Michael Schurig
TU Dortmund University, Germany
Heike Wendt
TU Dortmund University, Germany
Anke Walzebug
Institute for School Development Research
Dortmund

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